Its a challenge alright.
I feel guilty for keeping them in, but the funny thing is, that when the doors are open, most of them still spend most of the afternoon inside the runs. A lot of mine are six and seven years old so they enjoy laying around. They like standing in pools of water too.
Im having raccoon problems. I trapped one, but it escaped. I was in the backyard today, so i let the chickens out of their runs. A raccoon came into the chicken yard and grabbed my oldest hen. She was almost 9 years old. I feel horrible because I couldn't get to her in time. He killed her before...
I hope it works out for you, and for the rooster. I hate that roosters are undervalued just by virtue of their gender. I hope if it doesn't work out, that you can find him a good home.
Personally I would not use one of those collars. They work by choking off the crow. When the rooster crows, he stretches his neck upwards. The collar slides and can get stuck in a larger area, when he relaxes his neck after crowing it can cut off his oxygen supply.
I am not judging. I am...