We have nine white layer hens. They have a deluxe coop that they sleep in at night, but sometimes a few of the girls like to go "camping" and will roost in our lilac trees. When that happens we'll go and pluck them out and they'll run to the coop. The other night I went to put the chickens in and one of them was in the lilac. It was almost dark and I tried to kick her out of the tree but was having more difficulty than usual. Finally I got her out of the tree and on the ground. Usually they will run for the coop, but tonight she just wouldn't go that way. I chased her around and got annoyed and just figured I'd leave her out. she'd go back in the tree and would probably be fine. I went in and counted and saw eight hens, which made sense with the one outside. But I did notice the one outside looked a little funny, her feathers seemed a bit droopy....
A few days ago I was visiting a friend and she was talking about how sometimes when you've got a bunch of chickens and they're all female one will take on the roll of rooster and will actually start crowing in the morning and all sorts of silly things.
The next morning as we're sleeping I hear a rooster crow. Sometimes I'll hear the rooster from up the road, but this sounded really close. We were heading out early for a workout so Dave went out to let the chickens out. He came back in and said we had all nine of our hens in the coop, that chicken is not ours! So he's hanging out with us, we're trying to figure out where he could be from. Dave did his workout down the street yesterday and went by the neighbors who have chickens were out. Dave asked them if they were missing a white rooster and they said yes! Awesome! They said they'd be up later to grab him. A little later they show up with a net and I take them over to where he's been hanging out. They see the rooster and exclaim, "that's not our rooster!"
What are the chances that they would misplace a white rooster and a white rooster would show up at our place, and it wouldn't be theirs! He's been getting along well with our girls, he's a heritage breed and a bantam, so he's actually a little smaller than our hens.
Here's my dilemma.... It's entirely possible that he comes from up the hill. We are not on good terms with the guy up the hill. Not something I really want to get into here, but he's a not very nice guy who feels entitled to more than his. He's tried to kick us off our own property, and he's threatened to call the sheriff if we come on his property (we've never had any desire to go on his property). With that threat from him I'm not feeling warm and fuzzy about going up and asking if it's his chicken. I suppose I could find his number and call and ask, but I really don't even want to talk to him.
What is the right thing to do? Do I get over my reluctance and call and ask, or do I take his threats seriously and just leave him completely alone? Do we even want a rooster? Tonight we put him in the coop with the girls, hopefully that will also cut down on the volume of cocka-doodle-doos in the morning!
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