what do I do about the neighbor's rooster?

[jameverywhere]

I have three seven-week-old feral pullets and a cockerel that I rescued when their feral mom died. For now I am keeping them confined to a run until they are big enough to defend themselves from feral cats and mongooses, the only real predators around here (I live in Hawaii).

There's a rooster that lives nearby, totally feral except my neighbor feeds him. He hangs around my yard and my coop all the time, and has even eaten out of my hand before, so I thought he was pretty docile. Well, yesterday my chickens all escaped their run (I'm dumb and didn't latch the door properly), and the rooster started chasing them around, plucking at their tail feathers and pecking them really hard in the chest, and my little girls were screaming!! I was so mad at him. Then he and one of his hens went in my run and started eating all the feed. So I trapped them in there.

I got a different neighbor to help me get the rooster out of the coop (we let the hen go). This neighbor hates that he crows all night and was going to relocate him to a park like seven miles away. But something happened--I'm not sure what, but the rooster is now free and back running around outside.

I was going to free-range my birds when they got big enough, but now I'm afraid this rooster is just going to attack them if I try to let them out. And if I trap or kill this feral rooster, I'm afraid my neighbor who feeds him might hurt my birds if they fly over his fence.

What can I do? I'm so mad at this bird for attacking my little pullets, and I know that once I start free-ranging my girls he's going to come steal all their feed. I just want him gone, or at least out of my yard for good. Technically he doesn't belong to anybody, but I saw my neighbor holding and petting him this morning.

Would I be a hypocrite if I trapped & relocated him next time he comes into my yard, but let my own birds free-range (and possibly go into the neighbor's yard)? I'm going to get rid of my own rooster, fwiw, once he starts crowing, and I would never hurt or harm a hen that came into my yard unless she was injuring my birds too for some reason. And if one of my birds was injuring someone else's pet, I wouldn't hold it against them if they caught or even killed one.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I have three seven-week-old feral pullets and a cockerel that I rescued when their feral mom died. For now I am keeping them confined to a run until they are big enough to defend themselves from feral cats, the only real predator around here (I live in Hawaii).

There's a rooster that lives nearby, totally feral except my neighbor feeds him. He hangs around my yard and my coop all the time, and has even eaten out of my hand before, so I thought he was pretty docile. Well, yesterday my chickens all escaped their run (I'm dumb and didn't latch the door properly), and the rooster started chasing them around, plucking at their tail feathers and pecking them really hard in the chest, and my little girls were screaming!! I was so mad at him. Then he and one of his hens went in my coop and started eating all the feed. So I trapped them in there.

I got a different neighbor to help me get the rooster out of the coop (we let the hen go). This neighbor hates that he crows all night and was going to relocate him to a park like seven miles away. But something happened--I'm not sure what, but the rooster is now free and back running around outside.

I was going to free-range my birds when they got big enough, but now I'm afraid this rooster is just going to attack them if I try to let them out. And if I trap or kill this feral rooster, I'm afraid my neighbor who feeds him might hurt my birds if they fly over his fence.

What can I do? I'm so mad at this bird for attacking my little pullets, and I know that once I start free-ranging my girls he's going to come steal all their feed. I just want him gone, or at least out of my yard for good. Technically he doesn't belong to anybody, but I saw my neighbor holding and petting him this morning.

Would I be a hypocrite if I trapped & relocated him next time he comes into my yard, but let my own birds free-range (and possibly go into the neighbor's yard)? I'm going to get rid of my own rooster, fwiw, once he starts crowing, and I would never hurt or harm a hen that came into my yard unless she was injuring my birds too for some reason. And if one of my birds was injuring someone else's pet, I wouldn't hold it against them if they caught or even killed one.

Aloha,
I live in Hawaii as well. Mongoose are also a problem here where I am anyway. They only attack the small chicks but I also keep Silkies so I keep my birds in a run for the most part. As these roosters are technically wild, I think it is legit to catch them and relocate them to the park you describe. These animals have been born in the wild and have lived in the wild and can survive, so I don’t think there’s anything ethically wrong with that. There is no law in Hawaii against trapping the wild chickens. Unless this bird is your neighbors personal property then you could just catch him and release him somewhere else.
Good luck!

 

[jameverywhere]

Aloha,
I live in Hawaii as well. Mongoose are also a problem here where I am anyway. They only attack the small chicks but I also keep Silkies so I keep my birds in a run for the most part. As these roosters are technically wild, I think it is legit to catch them and relocate them to the park you describe. These animals have been born in the wild and have lived in the wild and can survive, so I don’t think there’s anything ethically wrong with that. Unless this bird is your neighbors personal property then you could just catch him and release him somewhere else.
Good luck!

Oh yeah I forgot about mongooses! I'll add it to the original post.

I'm just really upset that my neighbor promised to relocate him and then didn't. I don't know if maybe the neighbor that feeds the bird intervened? But it's not like he really "owns" the bird, I know he sleeps in a tree in yet a different neighbor's yard. It would be different if he kept a coop and everything.

I wonder if the rooster will fall for being trapped in the run again. If I leave my girls in the coop in the morning and bait the run, maybe he'll go in...??

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Oh yeah I forgot about mongooses! I'll add it to the original post.

I'm just really upset that my neighbor promised to relocate him and then didn't. I don't know if maybe the neighbor that feeds the bird intervened? But it's not like he really "owns" the bird, I know he sleeps in a tree in yet a different neighbor's yard. It would be different if he kept a coop and everything.

I wonder if the rooster will fall for being trapped in the run again. If I leave my girls in the coop in the morning and bait the run, maybe he'll go in...??

Worth a try! He’s probably looking for company.
I had a feral rooster hanging around my birds similarly to your story. I let him hang around as long as he stayed in the periphery when we let our birds out under supervision. My little Silkie cockerel attacked him one day, I was quite surprised because I thought he was a bit of a wimp!
I quickly intervened so he wouldn’t get hurt as the feral rooster is probably three times his size. Then the feral rooster tried to attack some of my young pullets, that was the last straw. So I caught him and sent him packing to the local nature Park where I have seen he is happily living with some hens!

 

[3KillerBs]

What about putting up a fence to keep your chickens in your yard and chickens that aren't yours out of your yard?

 

[jameverywhere]

What about putting up a fence to keep your chickens in your yard and chickens that aren't yours out of your yard?

There is a fence--the rooster just flies over it.

 

[neo71665]

If the neighbor refuses to care for it I would have done had it in my freezer.

 

[bobbi-j]

Just curious - what’s the difference between trapping and relocating, and killing it as far as your neighbor is concerned? Either way you’re removing the bird that they feed. Isn’t there as much chance of retaliation either way?

 

[jameverywhere]

Just curious - what’s the difference between trapping and relocating, and killing it as far as your neighbor is concerned? Either way you’re removing the bird that they feed. Isn’t there as much chance of retaliation either way?

Well, I don't like lying. If I were asked about what happened to the bird, I could say, "he was harassing me and my birds so I relocated him to X place," instead of saying "he was harassing me and my birds so I killed him."

The emotional impact of hearing your bird was killed vs. relocated is different, so if the neighbor found out what happened, he'd probably be less likely to get unreasonably angry at me. Although I imagine he'd be angry either way, the degree of anger would be different.

I haven't actually spoken to this neighbor though. I only saw him petting the bird today before letting him go again. This is such a weird situation, tbh. I want the rooster gone because he attacked my pullets... I'm going to try to catch him in the morning and relocate very far away, and hopefully no one will notice me doing anything so no one will ask me about it...

 

[MissE]

Well, I don't like lying. If I were asked about what happened to the bird, I could say, "he was harassing me and my birds so I relocated him to X place," instead of saying "he was harassing me and my birds so I killed him."

The emotional impact of hearing your bird was killed vs. relocated is different, so if the neighbor found out what happened, he'd probably be less likely to get unreasonably angry at me. Although I imagine he'd be angry either way, the degree of anger would be different.

I haven't actually spoken to this neighbor though. I only saw him petting the bird today before letting him go again. This is such a weird situation, tbh. I want the rooster gone because he attacked my pullets... I'm going to try to catch him in the morning and relocate very far away, and hopefully no one will notice me doing anything so no one will ask me about it...

Moving him is only going to pass your problem onto someone else. If he belongs to your neighbor, and your neighbor won't care for him, call animal control. If he is truly feral, find out what the game laws are in your area to see if you can dispatch him if he is harming your property.