Am I Being Mean??

[jbrookebarrow]

I have 4 white roosters, probably White Leghorns, that are total terrors and hurting my flock. I catch them standing on top of Fatty, my Cornish X, or beating up my Seabright bantams.

Tonight was the last straw when one came after and jumped on me while I was busy catching another one and showing him who's boss. I locked the 4 outside of the coop, but I'm having a hard time feeling like I'm doing the right thing. I know they can't hurt the others when they're outside, but I feed sad that they're separated from the rest, and I'm just concerned they'll get hurt. But at the same time, I feel like I'm protecting the flock from "bullies."

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I don't have any other place to put them aside from a plastic dog kennel.

 

[BorderKelpie]

Are these roos something you plan on keeping for breeding or as pets?

If not, perhaps either give them away, sell them or freezer camp.

If you want to keep them, maybe get a dog kennel (the chain link one from TSC works well for my seramas), get them a dog house and make them live in there. Sort of their own boys' club house/pad.

Good luck.

 

[jbrookebarrow]

No, I don't want to keep them. I've posted them on Craigslist already but I put a price on them to try to recoup some of my cost. Do you think I'll be more successful just giving them away for free? I feel so bad making them stay outside tonight, but I know my other babies in the coop will actually be able to relax.

I'll post them again on CList and just offer them for free. I'd love to eat them but I don't have the know-how to prepare them.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

You would be doing everyone a great favor by inviting the one that attacked you to a 4th of July barbecue or picnic. Personally, I'd dispatch the lot because bullying chickens need to be called out of the gene pool.

Don't feel sorry for them; they have each other in their separate enclosure. I'd save my sympathy for the other chickens that they were cannibalizing.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Quote:
You could go check out the meat bird section, there is a very nifty post with step by step pictures on how to process chickens. Its how I learned to do the deed, and its not as difficult as you would think

You would probably have better luck getting rid of them if you posted them for free, but then you wont get back any of the money you put into them. Good luck!

 

[srpaint]

I posted roos on craigslist that i didn't want to keep. First for $2 each with no responses. Then for free. They were gone the next day. I met the people at a local gas station though. I did not want them coming to my property in case they had any diseases in their flock.

 

[sourland]

You're not being mean. It is your responsibility to protect all of your chickens. Four roosters gang breeding or fighting the other chickens can kill or permanently damage them. It's time for those roosters to go. Not doing something would have been mean.

 

[TreeHugger]

I believe peace in the flock is worth more then hanging on to extra roos trying to get a few bucks for them. I usually give my extra roos away for free or take them to the local animal auction when they are still young. I don't have LF so processing them would not be worth my time and effort. You'll feel better and so will the rest of your flock when they are gone. Don't feel bad for them, they are not alone if there are four of them

 

[wingsofglory]

I found out after processing my chickens myself the hard way that there is an easier, quicker way my friend demonstrated to me 'cause I was skeptical. My extra roosters had pooped all over his tool bench and tools in his shop. He was in a hurry to go somewhere. He does wild grouse this way all the time.

One doesn't have to cut them open and gut them or pluck them. This way takes about 5 minutes or less.

95% of the meat is the breast, legs, and first section of the wings. And one can do without the skin.

So after dead, just lay on back, remove skin from breast folding it back, fillet the breast meat off the bone, cut the legs off and remove the skin, cut wings off and cut off last joint with wing feathers, and skin the section left - the one between the body and the wing. Set the meat and dish and put in refrigerator for two days to rest. Then cook or freeze.

 

[jbrookebarrow]

Well, I have news. The day started out crappy enough, but when I got home, I was witness to one rooster standing on my sweet Cochin bantam, grabbing him on the comb, then literally flinging him over his shoulder to the ground. I figured out a way to recognize him as the offender, went in the house for a .38spl, and did the deed. I actually got a clean throat shot and took him down at once, then gave him a second to end any suffering. It was less dramatic than I had expected all along, and I only felt guilty for a few seconds while he was flopping.

Plucking wasn't difficult, but it did take me about an hour to process him from kill to oven. The other chickens all hung around while I processed him, and it was funny to watch them grab clumps of feathers and run around with them.

All in all he was pretty small, but I didn't want his life and death to be in vain so he's baked and ready to be eaten. I really don't think I'll be processing the others (guilt). I'm going to just post them on CList again for free and hope they go. The "4-Piece" has now become the "3 Musketeers."