Will neighbor's rooster steal my hens?

[linatag]

Sorry if this is a lame question, but I searched around and can't find an answer.

We've had 5 girls since early Spring. They have a coop and run, but we also allow them to free range several hours a day. We live in a heavily wooded area with everyone on minimum 1 acre lot and the whole shebang surrounded by rural farmland.

After bringing our girls home, several neighbors became interested in owning chickens. We thought the more the merrier!

However, our across the street neighbor is the only nearby house with a rooster.

Lately he's been guiding his girls across the street into our treed side yard. We don't mind the trespassing, but I'm concerned the rooster will try to incorporate our girls into his flock? Is this possible?

Any information would be great. Thanks!

 

[Mattemma]

Yes it is possible.You may not mind it yet,but trespass is never a good idea.Best for everyone to keep their animals in their OWN yards.

 

[speckledhen]

If he is a disease carrier, he could also infect your hens, as they could him if they had anything. I wouldn't tolerate that situation, personally. I'd somehow fence in my birds so they had to stay in my yard and then tell the neighbors that you don't want theirs over at your place.

Any rooster who makes his way up to my place (thankfully, I'm not in a close n'hood, but in the mtns, though many chickens are in the vicinity) would be culled by me so he couldn't contact my birds.

 

[linatag]

Knowing the rooster CAN steal my hens is good information! Thanks! I'll keep a close eye on the situation and try to shoo the rooster back to his side of the road, maybe after a bit, he'll no longer be interested in our side.

I'll also discuss the situation with the neighbor. I'm sure we can figure something out, but first I wanted to get an idea of the problem.

While it would be ideal for everyone's pet to stay on their own property, I don't see how it's possible. Fences aren't common in rural PA and yards are loosely defined.

Thank you!

 

[speckledhen]

I have 5.37 wooded mountain acres, not a "yard", but 2 acres of it is perimeter fenced with a driveway gate which stays locked and closed when we are home. We did it with steel U-posts and livestock fencing, one 330 ft roll at a time, as we could afford it and we are on a fixed military retirement income. I doubt you're anymore rural than I am.

Within that perimeter fence, each coop has a pen attached to it for when we are not home and the birds do not free range unless we are home.

If you want to fix the situation, you can do it. If you don't want to, just know what can happen and probably will happen and be prepared.



Quote:
That won't work. Trust me. He will be back as long as you have hens he is interested in.

 

[donrae]

Hopefully you and your neighbor can work together to settle this. But yeah, once he knows there are hens there without a male claiming them, he will see them as his. And that mating/protection instinct is stronger than self preservation in roosters, so not much luck breaking it once it becomes a habit.

 

[linatag]

We're in a similar setting but instead of mountains, we have forest. We have 4+ acres with about 3/4 of an acre in mowed meadow (aka really bad lawn

). Our coop and run are nestled just inside our tree line behind our back yard. My hens stay pretty close to me and the back yard when they're out and about and so far the rooster isn't aware of their existence since he's only been on the edge of our side front yard (with heavily wooded area and detached oversized garage blocking access to our back yard, hard to explain the arrangement but it's totally different sections of space).

I'd prefer not to fence my entire yard, not due to cost, but because of aesthetics and general vibe of our small friendly neighborhood.

So if the rooster doesn't know about my girls, do you think it's possible to dissuade him from this side of the road at this point? It's been 3 days of him coming to this side and we seem to be on the edge of their circuit.

If not, as far as disease, is this something that can only happen with close contact? Or does the disease carry in the droppings, etc? Given we're in a very natural area with TONS of wildlife I assume disease is a possibility regardless?

Sorry if my questions are basic. The more information the better

Thanks again!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

The odds are, especially if he is free ranging with a flock, that this is a healthy rooster. Since your hens are tame and happy and well fed, it may be more likely they would steal the rooster and lead him home to roost. Flocks like that don't usually integrate, as the hens will not tolerate new chickens, and the rooster won't leave his hens.. I've had segregated flocks ranging on one property. I don't think you have much to worry about, but you may get some fertilized eggs...and then again you may not...your hens may not accept a new chicken either...including the roos. Merely shooing won't work well, it has to be more like scaring...why not just watch and see?

 

[linatag]

Thank you! This was my first instinct too! I'm glad to know it's possible to be a wait and see kind of situation. I'm more of a 'can't we all get along' kind of person, but also want to be a responsible chicken owner so I'll try to find this balance

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: Not sure how you figure that. Free ranging has nothing to do with whether or not a rooster is a carrier of something like Chronic Respiratory Disease. Yes, maybe he is okay, but whether he free ranges or not has little to do with if he has been exposed or is a carrier of something.