What do you do with you extra roosters? (POLL)

[GoldenSparrow]

I know many people hatch chicks every year. So I was curious as to what you do with all the extra roosters?
I can imagine there must be tons of extra roos, since the hatch rate hens to roos is 50/50.

I my self have a few roos that I am not quite sure what to do with.

Thanks everyone

 

[Mahonri]

sell them, give them away, Craig's list them, take them to the feedstore, take them to my cousin's farm. ... you get the drift.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I raise mine to eat. The meat is more important to me that the eggs.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

I raise mine to eat. The meat is more important to me that the eggs.

What age do you eat them?

 

[ThePigeonKid]

What age do you eat them?

X2 what age?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm different than a lot of people. I generally free range mine, so they find a lot of their own food. I don't have to spend as much money as some people to feed them. I don't want to fill my freezer with meat, even though I have a generator to deal with power outages. I like older chicken. It makes better broth and has a better flavor to me. There are several different cooking methods to handle older chicken. I have a lot of space so they generally get along with each other.

So with all that, I generally start processing my excess chickens when they are maybe 15 or 16 weeks old. They are generally big enough by then. But I only process a few at a time. Once those are eaten, I'll do another batch. I generaly eat my roosters first, then eat the excess pullets. It is not at all unusual for me to keep some young roosters around until they are 30 weeks old, and some pullets are even older when they are processed.

 

[RThomas]

sell them, give them away, Craig's list them, take them to the feedstore, take them to my cousin's farm. ... you get the drift.

This.

Usually, the only extra roos we get come as packing peanuts if we order them online. We sell them or give them away asap. We don't eat any of our chickens as we consider them all as pets.

 

[bobbi-j]

To be honest, this will be my first year with extra roos (hopefully). In the past, I've had laying hens only, but have now decided to raise a dual-purpose flock. I'm getting a straight-run package of Buckeyeys/mystery chicks this spring. I plan on breeding & raising the Buckeyes for meat and eggs. I currently have a big Brahma roo and a mixture of other hens that are all 2+ years old. I may hatch out some eggs from this flock also, just for some variety in egg colors (I have 5 EEs right now, all laying and I get 5 different shades of light blue to olive green - don't want to give that up). Anyway, my plan is to process the extra roos and older hens. Maybe freeze the roos, and definitely pressure can the hens. It tenderizes them nicely.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I voted, although I don't ever have any "extra" roosters. The only chickens here are Cornish Cross and I deliberately buy roosters and they are bought specifically to eat.

My excess drakes and ganders are eaten, though, if that counts.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

when I say "extra roos" I mean roosters that you hatched or have that you can not keep.