My neighbor's rooster escaped and joined my hens for a week, what a mess that was

I live in a suburb outside Austin where roosters are technically allowed but nobody really has them. Well last Tuesday I go out to feed my 4 Rhode Island Reds and there's this massive black rooster just strutting around my run like he owns the place. Turns out my neighbor 3 houses down got a rooster without telling anyone and it flew over like 2 fences to get to my girls. For a whole week this guy would crow at 4:30 AM, fight my biggest hen for the best snacks, and even tried to mate with my plastic feeder. I finally caught him with a fishing net after he pecked my ankle through my boots. My neighbor was super chill about it, just laughed and said his rooster has wanderlust. Now I keep a closer eye on my fence gaps and put netting over the top of my run. Has anyone else had random roosters show up uninvited?

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cameron_chen6311d ago

Did your plastic feeder survive the awkward encounter or is it still recovering from the trauma? My own chickens gave me the side-eye for weeks after I accidentally let a stray bantam roo crash their coop for a weekend, so I feel your pain on the whole unexpected guest situation. At least your neighbor was cool about it, mine just shrugged and said "birds will be birds" which was honestly not the solidarity I was hoping for.