Mysterious rooster hanging around my hens

[Hoofless]

Hey guys, I am fairly new to BYC, and to raising g and owning chicken s in general so excuse me for any silly questions before hand
I currently own five beautiful red sex-link hens, all of whom lay nice and large eggs.

Recently (about four days ago) I opened my backyard door to a rooster racing across my backyard, crowing loudly.
I had never seen this rooster before, and tried approaching it. I have had my hens ever since they were chicks so they are very desensitized to people,and I have never really had any contact with other chickens, so to me, this rooster seemed EXTREMELY skittish.
Anyway, later on when I went to shut my girls away that night, I had to chase the rooster out of their coop, as he had been inside with them. This behaviour continued for a couple of days. He would hang around the coop waiting for me to let my girls out in the morning, and he was trying to hang out amongst them (while simultaneously avoiding me) at night. By the third day I had begun to chase him away, as he was stealing the food I put out for my chickens and being a general nuisance. He seems to be determined to be around them, and clucks continuously when he is bear them
Any attempts to chase him away, he always manages to double back so as to not stray too far away from my coop

Can anyone explain this behaviour? Why is he suddenly here? I have never seen this rooster before and now he is around constantly. What should I do about it? What is he trying to do?
Sorry for the lengthy thread, thank you in advance!

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

It is most likely that someone abandoned him there. That pretty normal behaviour, and he sees your coop as home and your hens are his harem. You could keep him or get rid of him. I think that if you can have a rooster, it is a good idea to keep him unless your hens don't like him. How do they act around him?

 

[lazy gardener]

I agree with PP. Your option to make a decision based on quarantine issues is long gone, as that horse is now out of the barn (so to speak). What are your flock goals? How big is your coop? Do you eventually want to replace your hens when their production days come to an end? Are you allowed to have roosters in your zoning district? Does his crowing bother you? Is he a nice roo? Good to the hens? Not at all people aggressive? Do you have children, in which case you MIGHT NOT WANT to have a strange roo in your yard while your kids are out playing. Your answers to all these questions will help you decide what to do.

You can: Invite him to stay. (since he's already invited himself)
Catch him and take him to the local pet shelter. (You can call your local animal control officer for a suitable trap)
Catch him and contain him in your crock pot.

If you decide to let him stay, do not try to make a pet out of him. Maintain an "arm's length away at all times" policy. Make it a daily ritual to walk where ever he happens to be standing so he HAS to get out of your way. Any human aggression results in immediate default to option #3.

 

[Hoofless]

Hey, thanks for all the speedy answers
Sadly i actually don't have much idea how he acts around my hens, as he seee me coming from a mile away and starts running
As for my overall flock goals, my hens were originally for egg laying only (and they now make good companions). I don't have any children so that's not really an issue. I was not really planning to have more little chickens (but since he hangs around them for hours alone while I'm at work, there's not much i can do to stop breeding)
He's not at all aggressive (if anything he is too skittish and afraid). My coop was built by the previous owners to accomadate way more hens than i have, so there is plenty of room for him. I live way out in the country so there are no anti rooster laws.

One last thing. The rooster is a different breed to my hens (ive looked around the site and i cant identify which breed it is), which i doubt is an issue, but compared to even the smallest of my hens, he is quite...compact shall we say. Is there any possible chance of him trying to breed with my hens?

Thabks again guys

 

[TheKindaFarmGal]

Yeah, he'll try to mate with them. If you decide to keep him, start throwing food from a distance and backing off to wait for him to eat the food. Soon he'll warm up and not be so skittish. If you can get one, try posting a picture to the What Breed or Gender is this? forum and we'll try and see if we can figure out the breed.

 

[lazy gardener]

He may be a bantam. If you are wanting to eventually raise chicks, my recommendation would be to get a full sized rooster. And, yes, he IS breeding your hens. that's really not an issue. That's what chickens do. It will not make any difference in your egg quality. Good luck with your roo!

 

[GC-Raptor]

Size doesn't matter,if you're hens crouch for him. Hopefully he's healthy,he's already had contact with the hens, so keeping him away now won't help.he's got good eyesight to look out for predators. If he's not aggressive to you or the hens, I would keep him, with your large coop.
Just take a head count when you close the coop, if you don't want chicks. GC

 

[bobbi-j]

Collect eggs daily, don't allow a hen to brood, you won't have to worry about chicks. Like GC said, just do a head count before putting them to bed at night. (Make sure no one is on a nest somewhere)