Boys are starting to be boys! What to do with these cockerels?

[TheBeardie]

I got my first crow this morning! From my 9 week old Sapphire boys when I went to let the chickens out! And it was a real “croak-a-croakel-koo”, and then I got about 5 more from him... but I couldn’t see who was doing it as they were still in their roost-box. They are still hiding in there... not too sure about this “outside” business. I have all their food and water out, I pulled some out and showed them breakfast. I’m sure they will get hungry and come out eventually.

The Sapphire crow also set my dominant cockerel in the other pen, Mr. Marans off... and he almost crowed as well!

Thats cool! My 5 month old bantam Cochin cockerel has only crowed once to my knowledge. I was just the other day, he got set off by the other Bantam cockerels crowing.

He's never been particularly masculine, so he's been the perfect candidate for flock cockerel.

 

[Kris5902]

So, this afternoon I decided I’ve had enough... my Sapphire boys are scrawny, raping a**hats that need to be halted. I rescued the 4 poor girls that were in with the 12 little jerks, and relocated them to Mr Marans tractor. No one is laying yet. There’s an age and size difference, sure... but his girls will come out and eat at least! He has very good manners, tidbitting, respectful of me, and seems to be very gentle when he jumps on his still not quite ready favorite girlfriend (she doesn’t scream like he’s trying to murder her at least!). The “wait til just past dusk and add them in” seems to have gone well so far for integration.

The second most dominant cockerel from that tractor has been moved in with three recovering? older hens... I thought he was getting picked on, but now we are having “if you don’t behave you’re going in the stew pot” talks. He actually managed to surprise me and took a chunk out of my cheek with his beak... he is on very thin ice, and I’m beginning to think that he was just being kept in line by Mr Maran, rather than getting picked on. My Third tractor build is underway as of tomorrow noonish, I’ll get him some willing girls that will also hopefully show him his place in regards to them.

So I want to relocate my soon to be dinner 3 older and bigger cockerels in with my Sapphire boys without too much trouble, two barnvelder that are significantly larger and a hybrid that is middling size. That will leave Mr Marans and 1 Barnvelder in with 10 underage girls. I’m mostly worried about how to get the boy switching done, and I’m open to suggestions (I’m a little busy right now to undertake my first slaughter, even though the Barnvelder extra boys are big enough!) soon, very soon...

Suggestions, comments? How do you manage the cockerels when they are getting to be hormonal a**holes but are still quite small for eating?

 

[aart]

I rescued the 4 poor girls that were in with the 12 little jerks,

Poor girls indeed!!
..and really, what did you expect...how old are they?

 

[OhZark Biddies]

@Kris5902

I’m a bit confused... about what breed you’re referring to...

...when you say sapphires, are these “sapphire gems”? I ask because you mention blue eggs, and I thought sapphire gems were a blue Andalusian x barred rock sex linked cross...

Or is there another breed or cross called sapphires too?

 

[Kris5902]

@Kris5902

I’m a bit confused... about what breed you’re referring to...

...when you say sapphires, are these “sapphire gems”? I ask because you mention blue eggs, and I thought sapphire gems were a blue Andalusian x barred rock sex linked cross...

Or is there another breed or cross called sapphires too?

The “Sapphires” I got from A local breeder are a Crested Cream Legbar x Leghorn (that’s what they called them, so I just figured it was correct). They are light bodied with little fluffy crests on the females, and mostly bright white. The cockerels have a large single comb (except for one cute little wierdo) and they have more black/rust coloring on some of them.

Poor girls indeed!!
..and really, what did you expect...how old are they?

I think the Sapphires are now 16 weeks old and my other batch of mixed breeds from my hatch are 19 weeks.

What I “expected” was a little bit closer to 50/50 in straight run chicks just over a week old when I picked them up... Not 10 cockerels and just 4 pullets! 70% “Super Blue Egg Laying Boys”... But it is what it is, and now I’m in the “how to deal with all these extra cockerels” phase of new chicken ownership. I knew it was coming, don’t get me wrong!

Theoretically preparing for it is a little different from actually managing it for the first time. And the “Sapphires” are just so darn small! I’m guessing live weights of maybe 2-3lbs right now... granted those two Barnvelders are starting to look big and tasty, too bad they are still being fairly nice to everyone. (I think Mr Maran is keeping them in line mostly).

The girls integration seems to have gone fairly well, my smallest Isbar from my hatch (who was already in the flock) had a little bit of (maybe?) comb pecking from the looks of it, or she managed to scratch it up herself. The 2 older Marans and the Barnvelder pullets definitely have the pecking order worked out with the new girls. The only issue now seems to be the one middling sized hybrid cockerel in with them has a liking for the smaller pullets, all 7 of them. I’m tempted to toss him in with the other 10 boys but when I approached their tractor holding him they got all riled up.

So as it stands I have a pen of 10x 16 week old smallish cockerels. In the other I have 3x 19week larger breed pullets, 3x 19week smaller pullets (Isbars), 3x 16week Sapphire pullets, 1 16 week Barnvelder pullet, 5x 19 week old cockerels: Mr Marans, my dominant cockerel, 3 Barnvelder cockerels that are well behaved so far, and the one hybrid cockerel that is a bit bigger than my Sapphire boys, but not by much.

Suggestions? Yes, I do plan on Freezing most of them eventually... it’s getting them big enough to be worth it, as well as the “I Haven't processed a chicken before” hurdle. Thanks in advance!

 

[Kris5902]

To summarize my question a bit better... how should I proceed with the hybrid cockerel? Will the ‘catch him at dusk, wait til it’s darker and put him in the other pens roostbox overnight’ work for the boys? Should I also put the two Barnvelder boys im not keeping in there despite the size differences (that’ll be fun, because they all look pretty similar and Alarm call and panic like I’m murdering them if I can catch them)?

I’m looking to reduce the stress and confrontations in my keepers, but I don’t want my ‘going to be dinner if they ever get big enough’ guys to end up in a chaotic cage fight either.

 

[aart]

What I “expected” was a little bit closer to 50/50 in straight run chicks just over a week old when I picked them up

I get them at least out of the flock,
and usually into the freezer before 16 weeks,
so they don't terrorize the girls.

 

[123RedBeard]

Sounds like you need another pen, or three ...

Your other thread you wanted to fire up the incubator again soon ... I'd hold off until you get this "teenager" problem sorted out, and a concrete plan for the next go round of "teenagers"

As your finding out the hard way ... buying a few of this, and few more of that, then a just a few few more ... all different breeds, genders, and ages is a headache ... get, or hatch them all at once, then about 10-12 weeks seperate the pullets from the cockrells ...

 

[Kris5902]

Yes @123RedBeard , I know the Sapphires were an impulse addition, and I should also be living in a proper house by now . Layer/breeder tractors #3 and 4 are now 1/2 done (guess what I was up to today!) they should be completed in the next day or two depending on other chores. The roofing really isn’t a 1 person job... I will mount my cone tomorrow and can take care of the 2 Barnvelders that are decent sized soon as well.

I’m asking about putting the 2 ages of cockerels in Together? I don’t have any previous experience with cockerels and I’ve got 16 right now, but I tend to either jump into things or never start them at all. I’m learning their behaviors and tendencies first hand, because that’s all I can do. It worked with the cows, and if the big bulls didn’t bother me - then how much trouble can 1 or 2 (or 16) teenage chickens be? I’m finding out for sure!

I’m not planning on adding anymore lightweight breeds (except some Isbars to fill out that flock and maybe more Sapphires, but I’m sticking to the hatching eggs from now on). I need the cockerels to be worth slaughtering even for personal use... they are just so skinny!

Say two or more weeks til I get any eggs in the incubator, 21 days to hatch, two or three weeks on heat... puts me about two or three months from any hatching eggs moving onto grass, and I’ve got 5 meat tractors worth of lumber in the back of my truck (picked it up feb 28th) and three rolls of hardware cloth right beside it. I was planing on 70 meat birds for the interm, but won’t be ordering til the tractors are done. It will also coincide nicely with the movement of the sheep on our pastures and the good weather season (not too wet, not too hot). These boys will be very much taken care of by then because if they aren’t fat enough to eat by then, they never will be!

Next round of teenagers will be bigger, and in decent enough numbers to justify the ferry and provincial processing plant on the big island. There’s no interest or plans to invest in the infrastructure of our abattoir for chickens, sadly... and as we are an “A” class facility already, I can’t apply for an “E or D” license to sell them with a backyard type processing. I’m in my trial phase of two chicken business start ups I’m integrating into our farm. So I have sort of planned things out... it’s just this little hiccup in the implementation, and if the February snow hadn’t set me so far behind on things... but that’s life, I suppose

Have to admit the Sapphire girls are characters... one launches herself at me from the roosting box every chance she gets and flies onto my shoulder like a parrot.

 

[123RedBeard]

Once you get the next tractor done, then mix your cockrells into that new one ... with some places to get away, but also a distractions, a flake of hay, or a cabbage hung ... new territory "should" make the transition "better"

Once you get the first bird butchered ... the rest will be much easier! Even scrawny birds taste like chicken!