Stray Rooster

[RedRoxy]

Not sure this is the right place for this…. At the first of the year a rooster showed up in my neighborhood and has decided to live at my house. I live in town and none of my neighbors have chickens at all. I don’t know how this poor little guy got here. I very much live in a city/town neighborhood. I have literally no idea what I am doing. I bought a coop from Amazon only to find out from some other blog it is terrible . I have bought the little guy food which he ignores. I am worried for him. There’s big dogs people leave outside and of course cars. I want to know how to get him to go in the coop. How to get him to like the coop and I want to know how to give him a happy safe life.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Are you wondering how to catch him?

 

[CoopintheWoods]

He's probably an unwanted rooster someone dumped. Since he's only 1 chicken, I don't see how whatever coop you bought will be "bad" for him to sleep in, as long as he has room to exercise during the day.

The easiest way to catch him would be to lure him with food, but you said he's ignoring that, which makes sense. I have quite a bit of experience with semi-feral roosters and I've found that most of them feed themselves just fine.

If you really want to catch him, you're going to have to chase him into some sort of enclosure. Do you have anything like a chain-link dog pen that you could cover the top of and turn into a run? I've found pool noodles to be a very effective tool to chase escaped feral roosters, as they're soft enough that you won't worry about hurting him. You might have to "funnel" him into it using fences, netting, or something like that.

Before you get him into the coop, you're going to want to make sure there's enough food and water for a few days in the coop. I've found that after you initially catch a rooster, you do NOT want to open that cage for as long as you can to let him get settled. It will be best if the coop you have is connected to a (covered) pen or run, as your rooster will still need exercise during his settling period, and you will want to leave the door between the coop and run open for a little while, even at night. It does no good to lock him in a dark box and then try to open it in the morning (trust me).

Also, remember that he might not be friendly right away, so whatever enclosure he ends up in needs to be big enough that he doesn't feel threatened by you so he doesn't get aggressive. You might have to corner him to catch him at first, but after that, he should feel as safe as possible around you.

Honestly, he's a nice looking rooster, and I wish you the best of luck with him!

BYC is a great place to learn, and like I said, I (and many other users) have had a number of roosters like this, so ask any questions you have!

 

[RedRoxy]

He's probably an unwanted rooster someone dumped. Since he's only 1 chicken, I don't see how whatever coop you bought will be "bad" for him to sleep in, as long as he has room to exercise during the day.

The easiest way to catch him would be to lure him with food, but you said he's ignoring that, which makes sense. I have quite a bit of experience with semi-feral roosters and I've found that most of them feed themselves just fine.

If you really want to catch him, you're going to have to chase him into some sort of enclosure. Do you have anything like a chain-link dog pen that you could cover the top of and turn into a run? I've found pool noodles to be a very effective tool to chase escaped feral roosters, as they're soft enough that you won't worry about hurting him. You might have to "funnel" him into it using fences, netting, or something like that.

Before you get him into the coop, you're going to want to make sure there's enough food and water for a few days in the coop. I've found that after you initially catch a rooster, you do NOT want to open that cage for as long as you can to let him get settled. It will be best if the coop you have is connected to a (covered) pen or run, as your rooster will still need exercise during his settling period, and you will want to leave the door between the coop and run open for a little while, even at night. It does no good to lock him in a dark box and then try to open it in the morning (trust me).

Also, remember that he might not be friendly right away, so whatever enclosure he ends up in needs to be big enough that he doesn't feel threatened by you so he doesn't get aggressive. You might have to corner him to catch him at first, but after that, he should feel as safe as possible around you.

Honestly, he's a nice looking rooster, and I wish you the best of luck with him!

BYC is a great place to learn, and like I said, I (and many other users) have had a number of roosters like this, so ask any questions you have!

Thank you! That is all very good advice, I wouldn’t have thought of putting several days food and water in there and just not opening the “cage”. I had envisioned trying to feed him everyday. Lmao. The pool noodles are a great idea too. Thank you so much.

 

[Chicks in VA]

good luck

 

[RedRoxy]

Are you wondering how to catch him?

I hope to. I don’t think he is safe living like he does.

 

[Sally PB]

Have you caught him?

If he settles in one spot at night, you might be able to catch him then. Chickens don't see well in the dark. Gently putting a towel over him will freak him out, but he would be easier to pick up and put somewhere safe.

A headlamp with a red light would help too. They don't see red as well as we do.

 

[RedRoxy]

Thank you!!!

 

[Isadora]

I have found my long-handled net to be extremely useful in catching flighty birds.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I hope to. I don’t think he is safe living like he does.

The easiest time to catch a chicken is at night. That's when they're roosting. They often like to roost up in trees.