Blue Orpington or something else?

[NatJ]

Do they start trying to mate this early?

It depends on the cockerel, with some starting before 8 weeks and some waiting more than 6 months.

I haven't seen any attempts yet, but a few of the cockerels have been pulling feathers on each other's or the pullets heads, usually just when they're going to eat in the morning and I assume it's a pecking order thing..

Sometimes that's a pecking order thing, but sometimes it's cockerels trying to figure out how to mate-- grabbing the feathers on the back of the hen's head is the first step.

I don't really have anywhere I can separate them without building another run, so I guess the solution will be butchering sooner rather than later.

Definitely the easier choice.

There's definitely one roo in particular who pecks everyone and just has a mean look all the time. He's not the biggest, but I think he'll be the first to go.

Sounds like an excellent way to decide!

 

[Pippin quail]

It depends on the cockerel, with some starting before 8 weeks and some waiting more than 6 months.


Sometimes that's a pecking order thing, but sometimes it's cockerels trying to figure out how to mate-- grabbing the feathers on the back of the hen's head is the first step.


Definitely the easier choice.

Sounds like an excellent way to decide!

My daughter came in from putting the chickens in their coop tonight and told me one of her favorite roosters started pecking her a bunch (hard). He's not usually mean, but he may end up being first in line now since he's pecking the hand that feeds him!

And thanks for the advice... Now I just need to work up the nerve to butcher them(or get my husband to work up the nerve!) We're new to farm life and neither have ever killed anything bigger than a mouse! There's a first time for everything though.

 

[NatJ]

Now I just need to work up the nerve to butcher them(or get my husband to work up the nerve!) We're new to farm life and neither have ever killed anything bigger than a mouse! There's a first time for everything though.

If you haven't already decided how to kill them, I suggest a method that cuts the head completely off. The body will flap around after the bird is dead, and when the head is OFF I can be sure it really is dead, not flopping around in pain.

I find it gets somewhat easier with practice-- the first times I worried that I would injure the bird instead of killing it, or that I would mess up the gutting part, but by now I trust myself to do those things correctly. (And when I did "mess up" something about plucking or gutting, I still had an edible bird at the end. It just didn't look quite as pretty.)

 

[Pippin quail]

If you haven't already decided how to kill them, I suggest a method that cuts the head completely off. The body will flap around after the bird is dead, and when the head is OFF I can be sure it really is dead, not flopping around in pain.

I find it gets somewhat easier with practice-- the first times I worried that I would injure the bird instead of killing it, or that I would mess up the gutting part, but by now I trust myself to do those things correctly. (And when I did "mess up" something about plucking or gutting, I still had an edible bird at the end. It just didn't look quite as pretty.)

Good to know, head OFF = for sure dead. A few people have recommended a kill cone, I'm not sure if you cut the head off completely that way or just slit the throat. I was hoping my sister's fiance, who grew up on a farm and has butchered many chickens (and others animals) would be here to do it or at least show us how. But he just got shipped off to the Arctic for a few weeks with the military and I'm not sure I want to wait until he gets back to at least start on some of them. I guess I'll be watching some YouTube videos and fumbling through the first few.

 

[NatJ]

A few people have recommended a kill cone, I'm not sure if you cut the head off completely that way or just slit the throat.

You can do it either way, slitting the throat or cutting the head entirely off while the chicken sits in the cone upside down.

Plenty of people use a sharp knife, to slit the throat or cut off the head, but I've also read of people who use loppers (things like scissors to cut tree branches, with curved jaws big enough to go around a broomstick and handles several feet long) to cut off the head.

Personally, I use a hatchet or machete and hold the chicken with its neck on a chopping block, because it's the way I first learned. There is a knack to holding the chicken right (feet and wingtips in your hand, chicken upside down with the neck sticking out), and of course you have to be able to chop on the neck instead of missing.