I believe our wild rooster is dead. He has been missing for a couple of days, and today after walking around the backyard I notice 2 spots of feathers. My dad thinks it is not the rooster as there is no body and no large feathers, just a bunch of small feathers (should there be large feathers?). We got him a couple of chickens a few months ago and he is with them every morning until bed time and I do not think he would leave them. The last 2 years when the turkeys come around he spends time with them but I just don't think he would leave the girls for the turkeys. If anything I think he would try to get the girls to spend time with the turkeys with him. There is a small hawk in the area but I am told he wouldn't be able to carry the rooster away. I am thinking he did. We removed the raccoons that came into the neighborhood just before we got the girls so there has been no other sightings of them around. There is a dog that was seen roaming but I still think the hawk must have killed it. Or I could be totally wrong and the rooster is hanging out with the turkeys...I just don't think so. So the question is, where is the body, would there be a body and would there be the large feathers around the smaller feathers??? And the other question is did we endanger him by bringing in the chickens in the first place? So, we are all sad thinking he is gone. Lisa
I hope nothing has happened to him. But to answer one of your questions there maybe no body to find. My dog got one of my hens earlier in the year and all that we could find was a few feathers. My hen didnt have any exceptionally long feathers however so it was just the smaller feathers we found. I dont think you endangered him by bringing him the girls. Predators will find prey. But then again I am new to chickens so take my advice with a grain of salt. I am hoping you find him with the turkeys tomorrow.
Aw, I'm sorry about that, we do miss them when they're gone. He must have been nabbed at night when he was roosting? There's not much you could have done if he was wild. Did you do a thorough search?
my dogs have made chickens disappear completely without a trace... so it is possible (especially if you found some feathers) that something has eaten it... just bear with it.. it happens... move on... sorry for your loss..
The rooster was used to visiting up to 5 neighbors so when we did our search, we included the yards of those neighbors. The feathers we found were in our backyard but the far back of the yard where he didn't usually go. We are still hoping for the best as the turkeys are still around.........it would be great to see him come into the yard like nothing was wrong! I think the girls miss him a lot as they are not acting their usual self. When we let them out to free range, they just go and stand under their favorite bush and make soft sounds. I think they are either calling him softly or they are crying...do chicken cry? The rooster used to lead them all over the yard and they would follow him but they do not wander all over now, just to that bush and back. He used to walk them home when it was time to go in then he would go to his favorite tree until morning. Oh, it is still so sad just thinking of the girls missing him. Yesterday they didn't even eat their favorite bread when we threw it out to them. I was going to go last weekend but didn't have the time and we were going to fix the coop so that we could "catch" him while he was in the run with them and make it so he couldn't get out. The whole point of the girls was so that he would finally have a safe place to go at night instead of the trees and be protected from predators and the weather. He would see the girls and think, hey they have a really nice house to live in...I think I'll try that instead of being out here. But nope! lol We were going to put something over the top of the run and keep the door to the run closed so that he couldn't get out and would hopefully realize he was supposed to go inside for the night. After a week or two we would then let them out again. If that didn't work, then we were going to try it again when he went back into the run with the girls like he did every morning and then just keep them locked into the coop and run until spring. Surely he would have gotten the idea by then! If only I had just made the time last weekend instead of saying I would come the next weekend! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Thanks everyone for your replies. I do feel better knowing it wasn't our fault for bringing him the girls! Lisa
Where my husband worked before he retired there was a bantam rooster very beautiful that someone had dumped out and he hung out with the wild turkeys, He lived there for over a year and then one morning he was gone. I felt so bad that someone including me didn't try to rescue him from the perils of the woods. Hopefully your guy will come back. If not then check it out to learning and get those girls another roo, they need one for protection, just keep in in the run til you feel he knows where he lives. Ours go in every night. It's so heart breaking when one goes missing. Could one of the neighbors have him locked up?
We thought the girls would convince him that life was better living inside then in the trees and when that didn't happen fast enough we decided to try to help that idea along. We just didn't act fast enough. The neighbors all knew that he roosted in the trees in our yard and was happy to let him do so. No one bothered him and a few actually put food out for him for the times he wandered into their yard. He was the talk of the neighborhood and they often commented that he must really like our care because he stayed here and that we must buy the best food for him. He was a great conversation piece for sure! And we are still deciding what to do with the girls now that he is gone. We only got them for him and now there is no him! Lisa
Don't do anything to soon! Just wait awhile, he may just be wandering or hanging with the turkeys. It would be sad if you got rid of the girls or got another roo and then he came back. Give it another week or two to see if he doesn't show up before you do anything. If he doesn't come back I would suggest getting another roo for the girls.
Lisa, I'm sorry for your apparent loss. It's wonderful that you gave a home to a rooster when the vast majority are cast aside. There is no shortage of free roosters on craigslist at any given time. Be well.
