Location) 133-165 Onetangi Road, Waiheke Island 1081
Phone) N/A
Hours) 7 Days) 7am – 10pm
Website) N/A
Socials) N/A
Parking) Rooster Reserve Parking Lot
Wheelchair Access) Yes
Category) Reserve
Toilet) No
Overview
Rooster Reserve is a place where you can take your family/guests/kids to feed Roosters and Ducks, plus a few other species of birds. It is our local free petting zoo. The birds will come right up to you when you feed them, so you can get plenty of photos of you with them. Just make sure to use bird safe food like grain, fruit and seeds. There are lots of different breeds of Roosters and Ducks. If you are lucky you might even see a goose and some bantams.
Do not feed them bread, as it swells in there stomach and can cause more health problems.
Dark Roots
But sadly its not all sunshine and roses, there has been a community war going on down at the rooster reserve. But like any war there are two sides and we are going to digest this.
Tourist Destination
Most locals and tourists just visit the Rooster park to enjoy it. But a select few volunteer to care for and feed these roosters, in the early days this was not as bad because not so many Ducks were stealing the Roosters food.
The Duck Takeover
The volunteers/community have had to implement advanced feeding techniques that only roosters have access too. This leaves the ducks fighting for dregs/leftovers of what people drop off. Ducks are not pets (typically) and don’t require feeding to survive. This is why advanced feeders were installed.
Rooster Facilities
Coops and water stations were also installed to keep the roosters in a dry environment with proper hydration. From our personal experience most roosters just hang in the trees once it gets dark, maybe some of the older or weaker ones use the coops.
Illegal Rooster Dumping
Sadly a lot of these roosters have been dumped by locals/breeders as it is illegal to have roosters on non farmland properties. So the only solution many think of is leaving them at the rooster reserve, believing it will give them a better life. Unfortunately many roosters don’t make it due to the pecking order, it is a tough life for a rooster, with many fights sometimes leading to death, starvation, dehydration, dogs and also vehicles.
The Waiheke community is trying to stop this, sadly it’ll mean our little rooster reserve will be no longer, just a duck reserve, roosters are already slowly disappearing over the years from being a full on rooster park now there’s a select few.
Reserve Summary
- 50+ Roosters
- 50+ Ducks
- Feed only Grain/Bird Food
Access Information
- Smaller Car – Rooster Reserve Parking Lot
- Wheelchair – Rooster Reserve Parking Lot
- Truck/Boat – Rooster Reserve Parking Lot
- Bike – From Main Entry Obrien Road
- Walking – From Main Entry Obrien Road
Rooster Reserve is on the left soon as you drive through the main gate entry on Obrien Road to the sports park.
The speed limit on the road to the Sports Park is 30kmph, also be careful of roosters and ducks on the road.
Close To Rooster Reserve
Onetangi sports Park – Onetangi Sports Park is a huge park that is 1000s of acres, The park has a wide range of supported sports and amenities. Each key Sport will have its own page.
Frisbee Golf – Frisbee Golf is similar to golf except it is cheaper to start playing. Its also fairly hard to lose a frisbee on grass. Onetangi Sports Park has a course of 18 Baskets.
Onetangi Tennis Courts – Onetangi Tennis Courts are a free to use for the public and open 7am – 10pm, it features 4 tennis courts and some shade seating, this is a part of Onetangi Sports Park.
Rugby Field – Onetangi Rugby Field is the main Rugby Field of Waiheke, it is the official size and pretty flat, with big grass berms for sitting on and watching the games.
Soccer Field – Onetangi Soccer Field is the main Soccer Field of Waiheke, it is the official size and pretty flat, with big grass berms and some smaller bleachers.
Gallery
