A CALL OUT for responsible pet ownership! Unwanted roos, ducks, etc.

[featherz]

I ponder on which is more humane, being killed at birth (when you buy sexed pullets) or being killed later after having a decent (but short) life. I really can't decide on that one.

As a vegetarian, I don't eat my birds. I will however cull them as needed for illness. I hate doing it, but it's gotta be done. I haven't had TOO much difficulty getting rid of extra roos - and a side benefit is that I've found out that I can actually get away with keeping a few roosters without the neighbors coming by with pitchforks.

That said, I agree - especially if you hatch you need to come to grips with the fact that most of those extra boys will be dinner, if not for you, then for someone else.

I try and send my roos to homes/farms that will raise them up as humanely as possible before processing. A few 'special' ones I try to find good homes for, but with the understanding that if needed, they too will become dinner. Just don't write me about how yummy he was.

My thoughts are that I would never convince everyone I know to stop eating meat, and I'd rather have them eating humane, pasture raised chicken then eating factory farmed meat birds.

I don't plan on hatching much in the future, not sure if replacement birdies will be hatchery or hatched.

 

[dawg53]

Excellent post Beekissed. I agree with you 100%.

 

[porkchop48]

Very good thread

I just "rescued" a flock and it is my first chickens. There was said to be 2 roosters and the other 50 were hens. Instead there is about 8 roosters. They were beating each other up due to being stuck in a small area. ( pervious owner said it was molting)

I do plan to get every one better and healthy and then butcher the roos and some of the hens. They were fed corn and bread before. Now they will getting a proper diet, water and plenty of room.

We have no probelms butchering here. Our plans are to hatch out 2 groups a year and butcher them ourselves for our own freezer. We currently process our own cows, deer and pig. Adding chickens to the mix just saves me from having to buy it at the store.

 

[LeelooD]

Quote:
She's your friend, so of course you are the best judge of the situation, but from my perspective, if she's not prepared to step up and Take him, It's not her place to object to his usefulness as food. I'm a firm believer in "putting your money where your mouth is."

Well, she hasn't been a great friend lately so if she does ask, I might tell her the truth and if she wants to cut me off totally, so be it!

 

[WoofMeowCluck]

Beekissed,

This is quite possibly the best post on BYC. It should be on the very first page of BYC and read by everyone considering getting into chickens, or that already has chickens. There are worse things than being culled or eaten (chickens are yummy).... A slow death over years of being over crowded, constant tension, fighting, poor husbandry and nutrition is CRUEL.

I nominate your post for an Oscar.

Thanks for your honesty and the time you took to write it.

Annie

 

[southerndesert]

Quote:
X-2

 

[BooBear]

I process the extra boys for eaten. They taste so much better than store bought chicken.
I do not have duck so have never had the chance to eat any.

Extra girls are easy to rehome as everyone wants them for eggs. It is the poor boys that get the short end of it.

 

[Oregon Blues]

[[[.....so if she does ask, I might tell her the truth ......]]]]]

Just a suggestion: if the matter ever comes up again, from anyone, you simply smile sweetly and tell them that if they want for the roosters to have a guaranteed life home that they are welcome to provide that home. If they can't take them, that you'll do the best you can, but no guarantees about what happens to them.

If you smile when you say it, it is very unlikely to start a fight. You've just told them it is not their business what happens to your chickens, so then you don't have to lie to them about where the birds went, or even, for that matter, tell them anything at all.

 

[harveyhorses]

Quote:
I agree with this completely. I get really tired of posts where someone is shock, astounded, outranged that the free buffet that they left out got eaten by a predator! Then instead of people being straight with that person, they get consoled and told to hunt down the dastardly beast that killed thier birds - that they left unprotected or inadequately protected. Often this happens to the same people over and over again. IMO, these kind of chicken owners fit into the "irresponsible" catagory, too. I don't like all the excuses about it, either: "its too expensive, i don't have time, blaj blah blah...) Sorry - rant. lol

This!! I am so glad I am not alone in thinking this way. If you are not going to provide protection or shelter, why on earth are people so shocked that somehting ate their flock?

And the 'I have to incubate' or chicken math, Have a Plan. Schools do it every spring, and then have to place the chicks. I had a slight rant with a teacher who was going on about how great it was for the kids to see the chicks hatch, so I asked if they were prepared to see them on the table. The class had hatched 20 chicks and had NO plan what to do with them. I said she was teaching irrisponsibility.

This thread needs to be a Must Read. Well done.
BTW, I have 5 hens, they are pets with the benifit of laying eggs, all 17 months old. will cull as needed, and they will have a proper Christian burial.

If I had to I could put them on the table, but this is the purpose they were bought for.

 

[creekrats]

Great thread!

I have absolutely no problem culling the "extras". For this reason, even though I had plenty of chickens, when my RIR hen Clara went broody, I let her hatch her babies. I even hatched one that she left on the nest after all others had hatched. It's looking as if "my baby" - Itty Bitty - is going to be a roo. Will I send him to freezer camp? You bet I will.

My oldest son wanted chickens after caring for a friend's flock when she was on vacation. I said, when you have a place to keep them, you can have chickens. But be prepared. We got chickens the end of February and they've been a joy, but it's not all fun and games. We have way too many roos and decided to get rid of a few. So bright and early Saturday morning my son and I got up and did the deed.

Yes, people, please think before you go out and get chickens. Then think about it some more.

Thanks Bees for starting this thread!