Neighbor’s rooster and my flock

[TerryBowleg]

I have a flock of 20 hens…my neighbor has 2 roosters and 6 hens (terrible ratio). Both flocks free range for a good part of the day. The neighbor’s roosters, different one on different days, come over and stay around my hens. I haven’t seen them mount yet but I’m sure they’re working up to it. The constant crowing is annoying. How do you think something like this will play out? Right now my flock sees me as the rooster and they all submit to me.

 

[TerryBowleg]

Well, one just tried to mount.

 

[jpalmatier83]

Good fences make good neighbors?

Any reason you have a problem with fertilized eggs?

Any reason you would have a problem with your hens seeing a rooster as “the rooster”?

The two real issues I see here:

1- Your hens may try to follow their roosters home.

2- Your hens might not appreciate the attention and the roosters get aggressive.

May not happen. But if it does, see above, good fences make good neighbors.

As a side note, from a flock health standpoint, it’s hard to enforce quarantine protocols when the neighbor (you or them) introduces new birds and the flocks are mixing.