Is this a realistic goal or an unlikely dream?

[LizGio]

To begin with, I am located in Southeastern Pennsylvania, about 40 minutes away from Philadelphia center City. I started with backyard chickens this spring and I'm falling in love more everyday as I interact with my flock and learn all there is to know about chickens. I might be a little bit obsessed. There's been an issue that's really been breaking my heart, the roosters. For those of you who raise them to cull for food, that is perfectly fine and I respect that. I may even do the same one day. But to those of us who raise these little love bugs to find out they're a rooster instead of a hen, we've already developed a bond with the boys. We feel a sense of guilt for not being able to keep them. They've learned to trust us, depend on us, and even reciprocate affection. They take care of our girls and then one day when they start crowing we give them the boot. Oftentimes it's hard to find a place for them to go where their safety is somewhat guaranteed. Space is limited in rescues and rooster relief programs are scarce. I want to help.

I could see myself establishing and running a rooster relief program, if I had the land and the capital to start. Unfortunately, I do not have a job or the qualifications to bring in a lot of income to make this dream a reality. I don't know if a GoFundMe would be successful for this if I would have a large enough support system to help me launch my idea. Any advice or thoughts you could all offer would be excellent.

 

[DebbieMarler]

There are plenty of people in the world to feel like you do. I don't think they'll be on this message board. I might be wrong. For me, hatching out eggs, I know at some point I will have to get rid of roosters. Mine will meet a humane end. I would gladly box them up and ship them to you if you wanted to give them a place to live. I just feel like finding someone to financially support you might be the problem.

 

[TheOgdensmenagerie]

I want to start first by saying I have grown up raising animals for processing. While it's not always a fun thing, I would rather know where my meat came from. I would rather know in its life it was loved and cared for in the best possible way before making its way to my plate. The animal was highly respected. With that being said, here's a slightly different perspective...

Roosters & Hens do not think like people do. Most animals don't. People often get attached and like to think the animals have the same exact attachment as we do. There is some form of attachments mainly regarding food, but it is not the same as ours. Very important to remind ourselves.

Now, roosters when kept together in large numbers aren't really a great thing. I believe for every rooster its recommended there be 5-10 hens and LOTS of space. Roosters can be VERY aggressive towards one another and often hurt each other over lack of space and hens. Or honestly some are just mean and like to hurt others. So how much land you would need to run an actual rescue of more than just a couple roosters would be significant at least around 5 acres or so. Then you're talking 5-10 hens per rooster and their own coops and runs. Something to keep in mind also as a "Rescue" hardly anyone will bring you the "good" roosters. You'll more than likely get all the mean ones that people don't have the heart to cull.

Will you have the heart to keep these roosters in their own pens alone, so they don't hurt others? Will you have the heart to keep these mean unfriendly roosters for years that attack you every time you walk into feed?
As a rescue you don't have the I raised you from a chick bond. It's a very different ball game. I say this as I have taken on others who were moving and couldn't take their full-grown birds and have had many issues with them. Including the integration of birds. Chickens have pecking orders and introducing new birds all the time isn't really a great thing either.

Finding funding for a non-kill chicken farm that would just keep up with feed would be hard enough; but you're talking enough to buy farmland and run it with no other income really? That's a deal of a lifetime.

I wish you the best with your roosters. I hope you find a fitting home for the animals you have come to love. It's a hard thing to let them go sometimes!