Should we feed the neighbor's chicken?

July 9, 2009 6:05 PM

Should we feed the neighbor's chicken? The neighbor (who I'm not crazy about) has a lot of chickens. One young rooster is being chased out of the flock by an older, more mature rooster. He's really cute. We are calling him 'Alfred'.

We don't really want to raise chickens, or roosters, or what-have-you, but the owners don't seem to care that Alfred is always in our front yard. Since the other rooster tears after him every time he goes back to their yard, we are a little concerned about where he'll find food and water.

These aren't really the kind of neighbors I want to go talk to about this -- we've had some problems relating to their birds, their lack of a coop, and our dogs. Fortunately, the dogs aren't interested in Alfred (and since they ate the neighbor's turkey eggs, long story, they have been very good). Do you think if I feed the chicken I'm crossing a line and will do damage to an already barely civil relationship?

posted by hilaryjade to pets & animals (15 comments total)

For your own sake, are you sure they're not planning to eat Alfred eventually?
posted by dilettante at 6:19 PM on July 9

Yes you should.
posted by vito90 at 6:24 PM on July 9 [1 favorite has favorites]

Keep in mind that when that young rooster grows up, he will be at least as vicious as the one currently chasing him. A friend tried keeping a rooster with his chickens for a few months this Spring, and ended up killing and eating it after it started constantly attacking his renters. Adult roosters are not nice creatures. If you feed Alfred until he is a healthy, mature rooster, there is a high probability that one day the older rooster will be dead on your neighbors lawn and Alfred the New Alpha will not be coming back to visit you.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 6:44 PM on July 9 [3 favorites has favorites]

If you're not on good terms with the neighbors anyway, it's unlikely that they'll take much of an interest in you providing sustenance for their under-cared-for rooster. Put out fresh water and kitchen scraps (no chicken, please) for him. Or do it quietly: Buy a bag of scratch and throw it out in the yard when your neighbors aren't looking. He'll find it.

This does make him, well, your responsibility in some way. Are you sure you're ready to accept it? Young roosters turn into large, loud and sometimes aggressive roosters. If you have small children, you do not want them around him, especially once his sharp little spurs start coming in. (Our kids give our rooster a wide berth. He hates them.)

dilettante, my understanding is that roosters taste terrible. Too much testosterone.

In the meantime, feeding him is a small, good thing. It's not his fault that his owners are neglectful of his welfare.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:46 PM on July 9

It is not OK for an animal to not have access to food, water and appropriate shelter. Feeding Alfred is fine and admirable in the short term, but were it me, my plan would be to check with your local ASPCA or equivilant and find out if they take and adopt out poultry. If you live in an area where it is not starkly unusual to have chickens, they probably do.

If so, I would be very inclined to err, assist Alfred with a great escape to the local shelter.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:48 PM on July 9 [1 favorite has favorites]

Well, I can tell you anecdotally that the aggessive rooster will most likely kill Alfred if given a chance. We (now) have a pair of ferals in our neighborhood. It started as rooster + hen + baby. The baby got bigger and turned into a rooster. The new rooster decided he was the best bird in town and killed his dad. Baby rooster (now adult) and hen had 5 babies. Two of the babies were initially rejected and left on the street (I am hoping someone took them in). The three remaining babies are now gone (speculation, they were killed by the father or just left to starve by their mother). We now have the second rooster plus original hen living on our street.

I guess what I'm saying is, roosters are territorial and violent. If the one rooster is running off Alfred, the things that I can see happening are 1) Alfred gets killed by aggro-rooster, or 2) you take him in and keep him away from the other rooster.

It's your decision to make, but I hope that you can at least talk a little to the neighbor and get a sense of what's going on. But I think the choices you have are to either ignore it (which is hard, I know), or try and take the rooster in as your own. I am not sure, though, what problems that would present with your neighbors.

Eesh! Good luck!
posted by waitangi at 6:48 PM on July 9

Oh, on post-preview, I agree with DarlingBri -- Alfred needs a saving.
posted by waitangi at 6:49 PM on July 9

Don't worry about it. Alfred, as a free-range chicken par excellence, is getting plenty to eat and drink. Throw some scratch out there if it makes you feel better. My guess is that if the neighbors think anything about it at all, they'll think it's funny.

If he gets big enough and mean enough, yes, he may go back and try to kill the other rooster. More likely, he will just edge in on his territory, or come to an agreement. It isn't an all or nothing deal. Roosters are individuals, just like people—some are hellbent on world domination, and some aren't.

Some predator will likely get him before the other rooster does, though.

Roosters taste just fine. They're the opposite of tender, though.
posted by bricoleur at 7:04 PM on July 9

And on post-post, I have to disagree with DarlingBri. Calling the ASPCA in this situation would be inadvisable and would probably alienate not just the neighbors but everyone in the county. Chickens fend for themselves very well. He is not suffering in his exile, other than for want of female company. Really, don't do that.
posted by bricoleur at 7:15 PM on July 9

Hmm, I grew up with lots of chickens, and lots of roosters of all sizes running around in the same yard. None of the roosters killed any of the other ones, and we had big giant brahmas, a wily barred rock with 4" spurs, araucanas, and tiny game bantams that would kick the sh*t out of your ankle if they were feeling ornery. I guess we just had enough hens and enough space that it was okay.

Anyway, I don't see why your neighbors would care if you feed Alfred. I think it's a nice thing to do. Big birds are fun, and can become quite tame. When my barred rock rooster was little he would fly up and sit on my shoulder.

(He also tried it a couple times when he was grown up, which was less fun. There's nothing quite as startling having a big flapping 10 pound bird suddenly deciding he is going to fly up behind you and perch on your collarbone for old time's sake. )
posted by oneirodynia at 7:15 PM on July 9

Thank you, everyone! We don't have kids, so that isn't a worry. The dogs are big and the backyard (and the house, of course) is their area, so they don't mind a rooster hanging out in the front. The cats are curious, but keep their distance, so I think our family is safe even if he does turn out to grow into a great big angry thing.....

And bricoleur -- I think you are right, the neighbors probably think it is funny that we are taking care of their chicken for free. So we are going to feed him -- we've put out a water bowl in the front yard for him and just gave him the corn cobs from tonight's dinner to peck at. We'll pick up some chicken food this weekend to toss out for him on occasion, but there are a lot of bugs around right now, so I bet he is eating pretty well.

If he is still hanging about come cooler weather, we'll figure out shelter.
posted by hilaryjade at 7:59 PM on July 9

Before you know it 'your' rooster will have a bunch of girlfriends you wil be able to invite home for dinner...
posted by Muirwylde at 10:13 PM on July 9

I know I'm late but I wanted to chime in and say feed Alfred. When I was a kid we had chickens and 2 roosters. There was the Good Rooster and the Bad Rooster. The Bad Rooster was a real asshole who would torment me and attack me - I have vivid memories of this. But he would only do it if the Good Rooster wasn't around. The Good Rooster was my protector, and the Bad Rooster wouldn't come near me if he was there. Feed Alfred. Maybe he'll be your Good Rooster too. Especially if that other rooster next door is such a dick.
posted by thejanna at 7:17 AM on July 10 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thing is, domestic chickens don't really need to be fed by humans if they're free ranging. If he has access to a decent sized patch of land that isn't covered by concrete -- and it sounds like he does -- he'll find plenty to eat. I mean, you can feed him, but he's not going to starve if you don't. (And if the alpha rooster finds Alfred's new source of food, it could cause more problems in the pecking order, and you could end up with an entire flock calling your place home.)

Make sure he has access to water, though. That's the most important thing.
posted by mudpuppie at 9:51 AM on July 10

Chiming in to take care of the poor little guy if you want - and also to say that the "roosters are nasty, mean creatures" comments are over the top and definitely don't hold true the majority of the time in my experience.
posted by Acer_saccharum at 3:20 PM on July 12