Feral Rooster - How to get rid of?!

[BackyardDove]

I have a bit of an unusual problem. The property that my chickens are on has had feral chickens running all through the neighborhood, long before I got there ten years ago. There used to be TONS of the little devils running around, which was always fun to watch, especially when the hens had their babies. But the roosters caused such a huge fuss that the city actually passed a "No rooster" ordinance a couple years ago, because, I don't know, I guess the feral roosters can read and would know they're no longer allowed?

Anyways, after I got my chickens, they started concentrating on sticking around my property, as to be expected. Through a painstakingly slow process of getting the feral chickens comfortable around me by using food, I've been able to trap just about every hen and rooster in the area. These guys are incredibly feral, even when raised by humans, so all the ones I got were taken to the local shelter so they can deal with them since I didn't have the heart to kill them myself.

There is one rooster left. He has been sticking around for about a year. He's comfortable enough to stick around my chickens, stand outside the window crowing, and steal from my emu's food bin. But if he sees a human, even if they're a distance away, he will go running. I previously would bait a very large wire dog kennel with chicken food, then wait a distance aways before they would eventually go in and I would go running to close the door on them, thus trapping them. I can't exactly do that with a rooster who runs at the sight of me and comes onto the property randomly.

I'm sick of this stupid bird. He's not even mine yet I'm feeding and having to listen to him as if he were mine! The city would be useless to capture the bird and I really don't want to catch their attention anyways since I do actually have two roosters of my own that I've had long before the ordinance was put in place. With trapping not an option, what can I do to kill this bird, without the use of a gun since I'm within city limits? I have an airsoft gun that I've wondered about if it could do the trick, but it's not particularly powerful and I would have to be in close range for it to be lethal to a small animal.

PLEASE HELP ME BEFORE I GO INSANE!!! Between this, the reoccurring lice on my Silkies that doesn't go away no matter what I do and causes an endless battle from March-December, and the persistent rat problem, I want to just throw in the towel after 8 years of owning chickens.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Why not set up the dog crate trap and tie a long rope to the dog door so that once this rooster goes in you can simply pull the door shut from afar without spooking him.

 

[SugarChick]

Wow what a story. So this is what I’d do. Find out where he sleeps at night. Does he by any chance sleep on your property at night sometime? If he does find out where. Maybe a tree. Look for lots of poop under a tree and wait for the sun to go down then grab a ladder and pull him out. I do that with my free range chickens when I want. They roost in the tree.

 

[Fishkeeper]

That dog crate thing could work, or what about a box-stick-and-string trap? Maybe even just a noose on the ground that you could pull on to snag his legs when he stood in it for food.
You could leave the dog crate out with bait for a few days in a row until he gets confident, then trap him.

I wouldn't suggest the pellet gun, it would be really hard to get a good shot at him and kill him quickly.

 

[red horse ranch]

Why not just buy or borrow a live animal trap? I've caught my chickens in them several times and I also use the traps for rabbits that I want to relocate.

 

[llombardo]

I had a stray rooster, never was able to catch him. Tried the net, live trap, did the dog carrier thing, at night he was to high up. Finally he jumped my neighbors fence and made his home with them and their last older chicken.

 

[BackyardDove]

Why not set up the dog crate trap and tie a long rope to the dog door so that once this rooster goes in you can simply pull the door shut from afar without spooking him.

That would take quite a long rope and he comes over the fence at random times. I don't actually live on the property, my mom owns it and I've been keeping my chickens there, so waiting around all day for a chicken to maybe walk into a trap is pretty fruitless.

Wow what a story. So this is what I’d do. Find out where he sleeps at night. Does he by any chance sleep on your property at night sometime? If he does find out where. Maybe a tree. Look for lots of poop under a tree and wait for the sun to go down then grab a ladder and pull him out. I do that with my free range chickens when I want. They roost in the tree.

He, unfortunately, sleeps over the fence, on the neighbor's property, and does not have a particular roosting tree. He also sleeps way up at the top of whatever tree he is in. I do have a long enough ladder, but since it's not my property(and I'd have to somehow toss a heavy ladder over a 6 foot privacy fence) I'm not too keen to go this route, though I didn't think about doing that before!

That dog crate thing could work, or what about a box-stick-and-string trap? Maybe even just a noose on the ground that you could pull on to snag his legs when he stood in it for food.
You could leave the dog crate out with bait for a few days in a row until he gets confident, then trap him.

I wouldn't suggest the pellet gun, it would be really hard to get a good shot at him and kill him quickly.

I've left the dog crate out for several months now, open, with food in it every now and then next to my chicken coop so he feels secure. Nothing, not a single spark of interest. He's a very smart chicken and only goes after the emu's food, which is situated in a way that can't really be "trapped" for a chicken. The noose on the ground posses serious issues for my emu and is absolutely not an option though, knowing her she'll trap herself and break the trap long before he ever even sees it. A kind of spring trap won't work either because of the emu - again, because she'll set it off long before he has the chance to.

Why not just buy or borrow a live animal trap? I've caught my chickens in them several times and I also use the traps for rabbits that I want to relocate.

Tried it, failed miserably. These are gamebirds, small and kinda stupid, but absolutely genius when it comes to evading capture. I borrowed the biggest trap I could find - one big enough to hold a full grown raccoon comfortably - and nothing. The opening to get in is still too small, they don't trust it, no matter how long I leave it out for them.

I had a stray rooster, never was able to catch him. Tried the net, live trap, did the dog carrier thing, at night he was to high up. Finally he jumped my neighbors fence and made his home with them and their last older chicken.

I don't think I'll get that lucky I'm the only one in the area with chickens and definitely the only one that has to put out poultry food.


I appreciate all the advice, but believe me, I've tried all of these. None have worked for this bird. Either he outsmarts it, doesn't trust it, or my emu foils my plans. And no, she can't be penned away from the area, the area he inhabits is her area and there is no where else to move her. Theoretically, I may be able to try a noose trap on top of my aviary's roof, a place I tend to find him on before he runs away and is out of reach of the emu. I don't foresee this being effective though since it could mean standing around, perfectly still, out of his potential sight, for up to several hours, then hoping I manage to get a foot when he does finally get onto the roof, since I won't be able to actually see him.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Do you have a pile of bird seed, roller skates and an acme rocket?

If you're handy maybe these pics will give some ideas or at least let you know you're not alone with your frustration.

 

[TwistedSteel]

They make some pretty darn good pellet guns now a days. Accurate, good range, damn quiet and not crazy expensive. If you can`t do it yourself you should not have much trouble finding a hunter in Texas that would do it for you.

 

[Unexpected chicken lover]

roosters caused such a huge fuss that the city actually passed a "No rooster" ordinance a couple years ago, because, I don't know, I guess the feral roosters can read and would know they're no longer allowed?

i REALLY needed that laugh...thank you