Random rooster just showed up - what now?

[mangobingo]

So here I was thinking how happy and content I am with my nine hens and one rooster, when I went out the other morning to find a NEW ROOSTER in the yard. He was hanging around with my three new young Easter Eggers but he legged it pretty quick when I stepped out of the house. Everyone free-ranges over our 1-acre lot, and the last few days I've seen him usually all the way at the front, while everyone else mostly stays around the back 2/3.

Everything's been fine so far, but I'm a bit worried about what will happen if the new guy keeps hanging around. He's gorgeous, looks like the magnificent fighting cocks they have round here, he's very shy and I think he might be quite young. He also seems to have something wrong with one of his wings, it hangs down all wonky and wrong-looking. Our rooster on the other hand is a small, scruffy silkie mix. He's tiny and daft-looking, but he's quite willing to put up a fight and thinks nothing of attacking me when I walk past. Kind of like the Scrappy Doo of roosters.

What would you do? Just wait and see what happens, or try to (somehow) get rid of the new roo before they get in a fight? I'd love to "adopt" him but I'm not sure that's such a good idea...

 

[silky_3699]

i would ask the people nearby and see if its thier roo. then see if they can try and keep it in thier pen. if no one owns it. well i'd keep it. or sell it.

 

[andrea98]

I would love to see a pic of your little scrappy roo lol

 

[mangobingo]

The people nearby who have roosters all have about 40 of them each, chained up to little wooden huts. I don't know if they'd want one with a broken (?) wing, and I'm not sure I'd want to give him back to them anyway. Also there are lots of wild chickens round here - maybe it's surprising that we haven't acquired a few before now!

Here's our Radcliffe, the "karate chop chicken" (as the in-laws named him). I swear he looks more respectable here than in real life. If he was any bigger I'd be scared of him, but as it is he's just funny. He came in our very first batch of chickens and we thought he was a silkie hen. The things you learn, eh?

 

[BooBear]

He is cute.

And the stray guy visiting could end up in a fight over girls n territory with your guy. Also, you do not know what kind of cooties the stray rooster has.

 

[gmendoza]

plus that stray might just coax some hens to go with him. you dont want that do you????

 

[mangobingo]

All good points, although I'm not sure our greedy fat hens would go anywhere they weren't guaranteed a good feed

How do you catch a shy wild rooster? Or would you just chase him until he gives up and and finds a new home? Sounds a bit brutal to me, but maybe that's the way to do it.

 

[Orange Ribbon]

Shotgun.

I'M JUST KIDDING!

Well, if I couldn't get it to leave or thought it would have a negative effect on my birds, then I might. Then I'd have chicken dinner.

Maybe one of those Hav-a-hart traps would catch him with some feed inside. Or a box leaned up on a stick with some food underneath with a long string you can pull the stick out with when he goes under. Tranquilizer gun....

 

[welasharon]

There were some feral chickens around here for more than 15 years. Now it is down to one rooster. He had two hens that he lost earlier this year. I felt so sorry for him. Then he started getting closer and closer to mine. I let them free range inside my picket fence during the day. Finally he hopped over. Now he spends the day with my girls...and what turned out to be two roosters (surprise huh?). They all get along fine although sometimes my black silkie roo (he looks like yours) gets a bit big for his fluff and has to be put back in his place. The feral roo gets the polish girls (I will soon be taking them back from him for breeding) except Claude-ee-ah who is a bit butchy and he has the big butt girls (a barred rock and a cuckoo marans). He has turned out to be the most wonderful rooster and really takes care of them and watches out for them. At night I put the girls back up and he goes off into the pines and flies way up and roosts till the next morning. I caught him one evening in the pen (mine are open air pens) when there was going to be a bad storm. I eventually had to let him out. He was flinging himself against the wire sides and up to the roof trying desperately to get out. I have enjoyed my random rooster! I think the risk of cooties is less with feral chickens than some someone has penned up. They can't survive without being strong and resilient.

 

[mangobingo]

He is just *gorgeous*. Look at that tail! New Roo looks a lot like that (as far as I can see; he runs away at the sight of me). Well, it's kind of out of my hands anyway as I'm going out of town for a while and the BF has a massive soft spot for lonely birds with no home to go to...