Considering killing evil chicken

[HereForTheChicks]

I've never killed a chicken before and never wanted to. Up until this summer I had one rooster + 12 hens. They're all small/average, mostly 4 pounds, and all get along. They free range on one acre all day long.

This summer my favorite hen (tiny 2 pounds and broody) hatched two new chicks, one rooster and one hen, both giant, probably 7 pounds each and are now 4 months old.

The giant hen is a bully and mounts the chickens. Yesterday I started keeping her in a 300 sq ft secluded fenced area with her rooster brother, and saw the most BIZARRE thing. Toward the end of the day when it was time to go to to the coop, she escaped and was hanging out in the yard for a bit, she found a single random feather on the ground and ATTACKED the feather: grabbed it with her beak and mounted it for 5 seconds, driving it into the ground with her feet like it was another hen that she was on top of.

Then when she went to the coop at dark, she attacked the other chickens inside the coop.

The giant rooster is well-tempered but also mounts the other chickens. I don't fault him for it, but he's so much bigger than them that it's dangerous. He doesn't try to fight with my 4-pound rooster. But I think he'll be lonely if the giant hen is gone since they hang out together all day.

So I'm thinking of killing them both, sadly.

 

[Yardmom]

Many people raise chickens for meat. I eat roosters that hatched under our hens. It is a natural part of chicken raising. On the other hand, although these birds are not a good fit for your flock, they might be a good fit for someone else. Being you have a pair you could have luck selling them.

 

[nuthatched]

Rehome the good boy and dispatch the boss heifer

 

[wrathsfarm]

Pics of both birds?

 

[K0k0shka]

At 4 months old they are still too young for you to know if the cockerel is really a "good boy". He hasn't fully gone through puberty yet. So he may stay good, or he may not. If you rehome him, and the recipient isn't very experienced with chickens, you should make this very clear, so they aren't thinking they're getting a good boy and then end up with a total jerk in a couple of months. Anybody who wants a "good" rooster should get one that's at least a year old, past the worst of hormonal changes and settled into his grown boy personality. So, I wouldn't bank on his "goodness" as a bargaining chip if I were to rehome/sell him. If the two of them are so much bigger than the others, then they'd make great candidates for dinner - more meat on those bones!

 

[WingItRanch]

I'd also like to see a pic of both of these chickens. I'm wondering if you actually have 2 cockerels and one is just more developed than the other.

 

[HereForTheChicks]

Pics of both birds?

Oh no I'm gonna feel dumb if they're both roosters. She's never made a sound. The other one started crowing over a month ago. They're both 4 months old

 

[K0k0shka]

You got me wondering if this one is also a rooster. She's never made a sound. The other one started crowing over a month ago. Theyre both 4 months oldView attachment 4008619View attachment 4008623View attachment 4008618

Which one is this? Definitely a cockerel. Don't go by crowing if you're trying to sex a chicken - they can start crowing at any time during their first year. If there's a more dominant peer present who starts crowing first, the other may delay crowing if he's more submissive, because crowing is a challenge to the other roosters. The pictures of the legs are also irrelevant - spurs can take a long time to grow in as well. What you should be looking at first is comb and wattles - development and color - and this guy's are huge and flaming red, a dead giveaway. He's also old enough to have all the proper saddle and hackle feathers, too, and a rooster tail. His looks are advertising his manhood quite loudly.

 

[HereForTheChicks]

Which one is this? Definitely a cockerel. Don't go by crowing if you're trying to sex a chicken - they can start crowing at any time during their first year. If there's a more dominant peer present who starts crowing first, the other may delay crowing if he's more submissive, because crowing is a challenge to the other roosters. The pictures of the legs are also irrelevant - spurs can take a long time to grow in as well. What you should be looking at first is comb and wattles - development and color - and this guy's are huge and flaming red, a dead giveaway. He's also old enough to have all the proper saddle and hackle feathers, too, and a rooster tail. His looks are advertising his manhood quite loudly.

OK thank you for the education!

 

[WingItRanch]

Oh no I'm gonna feel dumb if they're both roosters. She's never made a sound. The other one started crowing over a month ago. They're both 4 months oldView attachment 4008619View attachment 4008623View attachment 4008618

Yes if this is a pic of your "evil hen" then it's definitely a cockerel.