We have a flock of 7 chickens that we got as day old chicks at the end of April. We have been letting them free range all day, along with our flock of 15 guineas, and they are locked up at night. Everyone gets along well (guineas have a separate coop for sleeping), and all summer the chickens stayed close to the house, sometimes hiding in the woods, but never very far. Recently, the girls have started trekking about a half mile down the road to spend the day with our neighbor's rooster and chickens. We have gone from 6 eggs a day to one or two. We are not sure if they have just stopped laying because it is fall, or if they are laying somewhere else now. My question is, does anyone know if getting a rooster of our own will encourage them to stay home? They undoubtably will fall prey to something if they continue their high risk behavior!