Please tell me... is a single one of these a hen??!!??

[ruth]

I'd hang onto most of the black ones - they look like hens - but could be too soon to tell. I didn't see a single red/brown one that wasn't, for sure, a rooster.

The way I tell, on my flock, is that as soon as those back feathers, just before the tail, start to droop down the body I know it's a roo. On most, I can't tell by their combs till they are much, much older.

Edited to add: Don't give them away - process them yourself for good healthy food for yourself and your family. It's not that hard and they are young and would be tender and delicious.

 

[cashdl]

I still say girls on the black ones cause all their feathers have the nice round to it like girls do. I am no where near an expert though. Maybe give the for sure boys away and wait on the black ones for a month. They should start laying next month if girls

Lanae

 

[outdoorschik]

Rare Feathers Farm... that is an amazingly beautiful rooster! wow.
Cashdl & Ruth. I think that's what I'm going to do, keep the black ones and get rid of everyone else except a Barred Rock Rooster. Is it ever doable to keep more than one rooster in the same pen? I tried with two last winter and one killed the other... they had never fought before that.

 

[bburn]

I feel your pain.....29 and I have maybe 10 hens.....7 processed roo's, 4 sold, 4 more to rehome if the lady will still take them.
That leaves at least four more roo's in the pen.

Have they started fighting yet? Mine were all 20-21 weeks. And the fighting began but worse than that they started really harrassing the hens.

It really makes it hard. My standard line these days is never, ever buy straight run chicks again.......

 

[outdoorschik]

Ruth... I'm a vegetarian. BF is not and we certainly have a boat load of sled dogs that would love a rooster. I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it, hence the craigslist ad. While I wait around spineless, I feed them a TON a day in feed since I can't free range them with the dogs.

BBurn - I hatched them for the students at my school for a project. Then I gave some away (all apparently turned out to be female) and kept the rest. I'll have 6-7 females maybe.

They really gang up on the hens and er.... take turns and yes there is some fighting occuring which is why I really need to solve this soon. I posted the ad today and let BF know that either he processes them or they go... whichever comes first. I'm such a sap though.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Thanks--yes it's possible to keep more than one roo in the same pen--IF you have enough hens and IF you have enough space. Otherwise, you'll have some bald/beat up/over-bred girls and/or roosters fighting and possibly killing each other. Generally, one rooster is plenty, unless you have a massive free range area and/or a HUGE coop with LOTS of hens. I keep one roo per two or three hens in my breeder coops (hens have saddles) but otherwise, I've kept one rooster per 10-12 hens and did just fine.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Also, you could possibly find someone to process them for you and save the guts for the dogs? In turn, you could let this person keep a rooster or two for themselves or maybe give them a few dozen fresh eggs once your girls start laying?

 

[cashdl]

I processed my roos for the first time last month. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I did chicken out and not kill them. My cousin did that. Once they were dead it was fairly easy to think of them as dinner. We did 11 roos in under 2 hrs including clean up so not bad for first time. Its not something I want to do every day and I would have loved to wait untill they were bigger, but they get to be such thugs, they had to go. We have been having chicken tacos, chicken noodle soup, I made chicken stock, chicken pasta. Sooo nice to have meat in the freezer and not have to run to the store.

I have another roo pen that is only 3 months old. I am going to give them another 3 to 4 months and do it all over again. I found it is hard to give away roos in my area. I live in a farming town and aparantly everyone prefers to buy their chicken pre-packaged.

Lanae

 

[mdbokc]

Dang, those brown ones with multi-colored tails are just beautiful!