I can’t keep my rooster in the yard

[PolishAllTheWay]

My rooster will not stay in the yard he is supposed to be in, and unfortunately I will have to get rid of him if I can’t manage to keep him in the yard. I don’t know what to do since are fence is 8 feet tall and we already clipped his wings, I don’t wanna have to contain him for the rest of his life in a tiny chicken run, since I have over 20 chickens it’s hard to try to contain them all in a run and a chicken run can be expensive. Is there any other options to keep my rooster in the yard?

 

[aart]

I don’t wanna have to contain him for the rest of his life in a tiny chicken run, since I have over 20 chickens it’s hard to try to contain them all in a run and a chicken run can be expensive.

Then you might need to build a bigger run.....as big as you can afford then reduce your flock numbers to match it.

Is there any other options to keep my rooster in the yard?

You could tether him.

 

[aCoolChick]

My rooster will not stay in the yard he is supposed to be in, and unfortunately I will have to get rid of him if I can’t manage to keep him in the yard. I don’t know what to do since are fence is 8 feet tall and we already clipped his wings, I don’t wanna have to contain him for the rest of his life in a tiny chicken run, since I have over 20 chickens it’s hard to try to contain them all in a run and a chicken run can be expensive. Is there any other options to keep my rooster in the yard?

Hi, Polish
I have the same problem! I have a 4x6 ft. coop and a large (say 15' x 20' fenced run for two hens, one female duck and a rooster who was a nice pullet until s/he grew some really big tail feathers and developed a cock's crow. The fence is rather loose wire -- by that I mean it is not drawn tight and is left a little wobbly, so the birds avoid it -- they cannot trust it to roost on. However there are two wooden slate gates, and these are the escape routes. When I wired up the slats at the bottom, they discovered they could fly over. When I raised that top with more wire, they found another way -- haven't quite determined what that is yet. I tried clipping the wings of the rooster. He still gets out.

I have a double yard, and I want them to forage, but now they get out in the street and visit a neighbor down the road a couple of houses who also has hens. My roo thinks they're his! Now they've had to build up their fence! Not cool. Also on the way there, he brings the two hens AND THE DUCK with him, eating another neighbor's grass seed on the way. Not cool. Furthermore the traffic though here (a 25 mph zone) looks more like 50 most of the time ... I fear their immanent demise! I can't afford more fencing, and I'm too old to fix the set-up myself, so would have to hire help as well. So sweet Luci cum Lucifer is looking pretty tasty right now.

 

[alwaystj9]

I finally rehomed mine. I bribed the buyer with a hen.
I had to camp out for a day to see where mine were getting over the fence. Now I have tomato cages wired to the fence above the horse trough. Classy, right? They were getting on the edge of the trough which gave them just enough boost to hop to the top of the fence, they would kick off the edge of the chain link and go over..

 

[Parront]

contain him for the rest of his life in a tiny chicken run

Commercial chickens live their entire lives in tiny cages with less than 1 square foot/bird. A nice run with a shade cloth cover that gives him ~10 square feet is very humane. If you plan to add hens for him to breed, a 4x4 coop & nest box with an extra 10 sq ft per hen in the run would be plenty!

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I know what you mean by jumping problem I have a legshan roo that is 12 lbs and can (without using his wings) jump over my 4 1/2 - 5 foot fence

 

[3KillerBs]

I have a similar rooster issue, mine is a tremendous jumper so the wing clip did not slow him down at all. Is there some info on tethering available?

http://www.backyardpoultry.com/articles/tetheringpoultry.pdf

This article says not to tether the rooster too long, but game fowl breeders often tether their roosters for the majority of their lives.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/hredirect2.php?c=5642581

 

[aart]

I have never heard of tethering a chicken in a yard before, I don’t think that would work very well for him. I think he would strangle himself

Tether goes around the leg. Google it.

 

[PolishAllTheWay]

Tether goes around the leg. Google it.

I don’t wanna limit him to a tether that he will get tangled around. I would rather not tether, doesn’t sound very nice to the rooster

 

[azygous]

Put a few hens in there with him. Or construct his yard so it shares a fence with the pen the hens are in. Roosters are interested in hens, hens, and hens. If they have close proximity to hens, they won't be interested in going anywhere else.