Hen got da jungle fever... What do?

[PunaStyle]

Aloha all. Just signed up for this forum specifically for advice on this scenario.

So, I live in Hawaii, where wild chickens roam around everywhere. I have a small free ranging flock of 6 young hens and one rooster. The hens are Ameraucana and barred rock, 3 each. The rooster is the only speckled Sussex we raised from chicks that survived.

Anyways, the girls are getting right around laying age, and one of my barred rocks has been straying from the flock. It took me a minute to figure it out, but it seems that she's been hanging around with the wild rooster across the street. She has started roosting with him too, apparently. She just came back this morning and was all wet and messed up looking. Not injured or anything, just looked a mess. I put her back in the PVC hoop coop with food and water and closed her in... For now.

Not sure what to do... I would prefer to keep her part of the flock and encourage her to lay in the same box as the rest of the girls, but it might be an exercise in futility. I had the thought to let my rooster in the coop with her for some "getting to know each other" time as well, to try reprogram her habits a little... Is any of this worthwhile, or am I just meddling uselessly in the chicken soap opera going on?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Aloha !

welcome to BYC Forum, That might be the reason you came but we hope you stick around. lots of good advise here and friends to be made. As far as your hen goes. I would defenitly lock her up and the rest of them too. try a couple weeks and see how it goes. the thing is, wild chickens can carry illness back to your flock you wont want to deal with. It may not help but its worth a try .

 

[aart]

I'd be inclined to keep them all confined also at least for a couple months until your rooster takes charge and their laying is has been established in your coop nests.

Hopefully you have a roomy run attached to your coop to keep them safe if needed, like now.

A wet mussed hen sounds kinda like she maybe had a run in with a predator......dog slimed maybe?

 

[PunaStyle]

Hmm... Sounds reasonable to keep the girls penned up to control their egging habits. I have been getting eggs from my ameraucanas in the free standing nest box I built for the past few days. The barred rocks either aren't laying or being rather sneaky about it.

If I did have adequate materials for a run to be connected to their coop, I would keep them penned for awhile. The coop I have was fine while they were all small, but they'd be stressed and pecking each other if I put them back now. I started free ranging them after two girls lost their tails. They've grown back beautifully.

The wayward hen has been cooped thus far with minimal protesting. As far as her condition the other day, I'm pretty sure she was just roosting in a tree and got rained on, and possibly roughed up a bit by the wild rooster. Her comb started flopping to one side too. Not sure why.

 

[konachicks]

I'm in Hawaii too and those ****** wild Roos are a Pain in da butt! We have one with two hens a couple lots away, and apparently since he's seen my two Ameraucana girls cruising my yard he keeps coming closer and closer

I've chased him off many times. He hasn't come into my yard, so that's good. And so far my girls ignore him. Hope they always ignore him lol

 

[Spangled]

PunaStyle? Oh, I hope you're not being too affected by the lava flow. We took a trip to your island last February and drove all the way around, staying here and there. It was quite awe inspiring.

From what I could tell, no one owns the wild chickens, right? If so, I would be tempted to just catch that rooster somehow and put him on Craig's List. I hope that's not somehow disrespectful in a way I don't yet understand. Possibly there are some bad effects from that type of thing that I am unaware of. If so, I apologize for my unwittingly poor suggestion.

Once the wild rooster is gone, maybe your rooster would become the top cock of the neighborhood, which would be great, or maybe another wild rooster would move in and try to steal your hens. But for me, I think re-homing the wild rooster would be the simpler solution. Not easy, by any means, but long term it could be less trouble.

 

[PunaStyle]

Hey, good to know I'm not the only 808er on here. I'm lucky enough to have bought land in Orchidland Estates, a good few miles uphill from the current lava flow. Lava Zone 3, which means its been some 200-300 years since the last lava came this way.

If I do manage to catch the offending rooster, you better bet he won't make it to craigslist. Straight in the stew pot with dat bugga. Only snag is he's running around on my neighbor's property. They probably wouldn't mind a rooster removal service, but so far I haven't even seen the guy... He may have egg laying hens with him they want to keep around. My german shepherd/blue heeler caught me a roadside rooster awhile back. Had to boil him for a whole day before he was even chewable. Pretty tasty, though.

 

[PunaStyle]

Ha. As soon as I finished typing my last reply, the dang wild rooster showed up crowing across the way. Turns out he's got 5 wild hens with him. My young rooster was there, hungry for battle, but clearly a little intimidated as he wasn't crowing back at him. Chased 'em off with the dog. Seemed appropriate.

So if I were to get rid the wild rooster, you think his harem would come over here and join with my sussex boy? That would near double the size of my flock. Dunno how they'd all get along, tho.

 

[konachicks]

I never got a roo (even though I want one) because my neighbor is a rich, high Maka Maka jerk. And the wild one that keeps coming around is on his property too. They were on the empty lot away from us but have migrated our way.
I'm not sure what the hens would do if their roo disappeared. I've only ever seen wild hens with a roo so I'd think they'd try to find another. But if they're wild I'm not sure if they'd go for your boy. It would be interesting to see if they did!

 

[andreanar]

Best: I'd stew up that wild roo!
If you can't catch him, the next best thing I can think of, is to let your roo ,and that runaway girl of yours, bond so that he can keep her in line.