Cockerel saga, continued

[AutumnThyme]

Hi there, everyone,
I really appreciated the advice on my last post about choosing which cockerel to keep. Mine are now almost 11 weeks (give or take- being feed store chicks, we don't know exact hatch dates ) and I can feel butcher time sneaking up on me. All the advice I've seen about assessing butcher readiness has said "about the time they start crowing," AND "16-20 weeks." Weeelll... we have two "early bloomers" who are crowing their hearts out every morning, and have been for about a week. The rest of the guys look envious, like it's something they'd like to try, but haven't quite figured out. The only other suggestion I've heard is to wait until their body fills out and looks more like a rectangle than a triangle. They aren't quite there yet, especially my noisiest crower (nicknamed "Stew" for obvious reasons) who is among the scrawniest.
Anyone else have experience butchering early crowing roosters? What age did you butcher? How did they taste?
Also, while I'm here, did you separate your roos from the hens? Mine are hassling the hens, but not treading yet, and I don't see any scabs or bare spots. What constitutes too much harassment? Funds are limited for us right now, so I don't want to build new housing unless it's necessary.
Thanks for all your help! Love this community!
-AutumnThyme

 

[pound4pound]

early crowers are still in the growing process. it just shows that these birds are potentials for breeders but watch out for body conformation first.


those males who attempt to mount is a good thing their hormones will boost their growth once they successfully mounted hens it will boost their confidence as well. late maturing ones are actual good candidates for the pot.



for me, separation begins if there is a bully in the group regardless of gender. let them grow out together until someone attempts to be the boss and no one objects.

 

[AutumnThyme]

Thank you for the good advice. I still haven't picked a "winner" yet, but today I had a couple roos bite at my hand when I approached them or handled nearby hens. The bites weren't particularly vicious, but I swatted in their general directions each time it happened. Is this the beginning of Mean Rooster Syndrome, or within the bounds of normal behavior? My hens peck at me too sometimes, when they don't want to be handled (they're not pets, they're livestock).
Maybe I should get zipties and band the biters???

 

[pound4pound]

sometimes it is just random and if they're hungry they can as well but i would recommend to observe behavior first. give them time if they're around 8-9 mos and still peckin at you its time to think a very best recipe. lol

 

[AutumnThyme]

Thanks. I think it was right before I fed them! Makes sense now.
I'm starting to "see" which ones I'll need to cull, too. I've decided that even if I don't know which is the keeper, it's not too early to start noting which ones are definitely NOT keepers, so that narrows it down! Thanks for your help!