Cull him, or wait for protection?

[CoopsNPoops]

I bet if you culled him, you'd find someone with a grown rooster, ready to protect the flock, needing a home.

Yes. It's a shame he has to go because he is so good to his girls. He is constantly making sure they're good. He makes sure they're all at the feed before he eats himself. He won't let them out of his sight. He won't go in to roost until they're all in. He isn't aggressive with them in the slightest, he just doesn't do people. He isn't this way to the dogs or anything else. Just us. Idk if its just a dominance thing or if he is severely threatened by us. Im guessing maybe dominance because once he is in a confidened place, such as the coop or in the house, hes fine. When hes cornered, hes fine. When hes vulnerable is when hes fine. Either way, we can't tolerate it anymore. My kids want to put him on a leash and walk him like a dog because then they have the upper hand, lol.

 

[NatJ]

Well, to be honest, im not sure i have a pot big enough. Is it possible to pluck him without scalding?

Yes, dry plucking is possible.

Scalding makes the feathers come out more easily, but I have dry plucked chickens often enough because it was easier than heating up a pot of water to scald just one bird. I find that most of the feathers come out without too much trouble, but a pair of pliers helps with the big feathers in the wings and tail (pull one feather at a time in those areas). I usually discard the very end of the wing (lots of feathers, not enough meat to matter).

After the rooster is dead, I suggest you just start pulling feathers and see what you think. If the plucking does not work well, switch to skinning.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

Yes, dry plucking is possible.

Scalding makes the feathers come out more easily, but I have dry plucked chickens often enough because it was easier than heating up a pot of water to scald just one bird. I find that most of the feathers come out without too much trouble, but a pair of pliers helps with the big feathers in the wings and tail (pull one feather at a time in those areas). I usually discard the very end of the wing (lots of feathers, not enough meat to matter).

After the rooster is dead, I suggest you just start pulling feathers and see what you think. If the plucking does not work well, switch to skinning.

Sounds like a good plan. I'd much rather try to save the skin. Thanks!

 

[Kglassmo]

I just seen this comment when i came to update. First, you are absolutely right. Second, update: Rusty will be culled tonight. I won't put up with it any more. He had my 3 year old down on the ground, flogging away at his head as he was curled up into a fetal position screaming. My husband exhausted himself chasing him trying to catch him, or he would've done it before i could get to him tonight. May have been a good thing though, because if my husband would've caught him then, he would've killed him out of anger, in front of the kids. Although the kids hate him, it would've saddened them, if not traumatized them, to witness it. I will get him off the roost tonight, after the kids are asleep, and cull him. Im thinking the broomstick method will be easiest. Now, to the butchering and processing... How do i go about that? Bleed him out? I want the skin on (thats the best part, lol). How do i get the feathers off? Boil him? Pluck them? How do i gut him? I guess i need to head over to YouTube, lol.

The only time my family culled a young rooster for becoming too aggressive was many, many years ago- circa 1985, he was afraid of my younger sister (who was a screamer and she scared the crap out of our hens and rooster thought she was a threat). Roosters are terrified of screaming, erratic children and any sudden movements towards their hens. I’m really sorry you’ve had such a rough time. I’ve been raising chickens for over 30 years and rarely have had bad roos. So, anyway my dad axed this young rooster’s head off. He was a maybe 10 month old White leghorn id raised from a chick, he had no meat on him whatsoever and even our dogs wouldn’t eat him after my mom said no way to plucking his skinny useless carcass.
So my advice would be dig a grave and put a large boulder on top. No point in dragging out the process. No rooster is good eating unless it’s bred to be a meat chicken. Especially a youngster he’s not had time to develop. So just don’t give yourself that extra work and stress. If you want a good, peaceful rooster to watch your flock next time get a Cochin, Rhode Island Red or Brahma. They’re smart and kind and live children unlike many of these other hybrid breeds. Good luck. With sympathy.

 

[Kglassmo]

Yes. It's a shame he has to go because he is so good to his girls. He is constantly making sure they're good. He makes sure they're all at the feed before he eats himself. He won't let them out of his sight. He won't go in to roost until they're all in. He isn't aggressive with them in the slightest, he just doesn't do people. He isn't this way to the dogs or anything else. Just us. Idk if its just a dominance thing or if he is severely threatened by us. Im guessing maybe dominance because once he is in a confidened place, such as the coop or in the house, hes fine. When hes cornered, hes fine. When hes vulnerable is when hes fine. Either way, we can't tolerate it anymore. My kids want to put him on a leash and walk him like a dog because then they have the upper hand, lol.

We also own a ‘chicken leash’ and yes it’s possible with proper harness to walk chickies, but more like they’re waking you. Never place anything restrictive around the neck, though. It needs to a a chest harness.. We use walking harness with our domestic rabbits and it dies fit on several of our chickens. Not all will tolerate it, tho. If you separate the roo from his girls for a few days his testosterone level will drop way back down which will calm him. We do this with our 3 year old Polish. My kids call it the ‘rooster babification process’ in where the rooster remembers who raised him from a chick and he gets all pale and happy and even purrs them happy song, he then knows his humans will always be the ‘alphas’. Dried meal worms treats help a lot with this process. My kids or I hand him treats and let him show the hens and he knows we are all ‘partners’. Depends on if you’re raising chickens for pets, hobby, eggs or food. At our house they’re pets, hobby and very therapeutic for my children. When we lose one it’s very sad.

 

[Kglassmo]

We also own a ‘chicken leash’ and yes it’s possible with proper harness to walk chickies, but more like they’re waking you. Never place anything restrictive around the neck, though. It needs to a a chest harness.. We use walking harness with our domestic rabbits and it dies fit on several of our chickens. Not all will tolerate it, tho. If you separate the roo from his girls for a few days his testosterone level will drop way back down which will calm him. We do this with our 3 year old Polish. My kids call it the ‘rooster babification process’ in where the rooster remembers who raised him from a chick and he gets all pale and happy and even purrs them happy song, he then knows his humans will always be the ‘alphas’. Dried meal worms treats help a lot with this process. My kids or I hand him treats and let him show the hens and he knows we are all ‘partners’. Depends on if you’re raising chickens for pets, hobby, eggs or food. At our house they’re pets, hobby and very therapeutic for my children. When we lose one it’s very sad.

Sorry for typos!

 

[Kglassmo]

Sounds like a good plan. I'd much rather try to save the skin. Thanks!

It’s harder to pluck without scalding. If you do the scald properly you can have a better quality skin. But like mentioned in previous post- young roos have little to no meat, especially if they’re not bred for meat- so I don’t think any of this is worth your time or stress. But if you decide to cull, scald and attempt to eat- don’t do scald inside your house because it stinks to high heaven. Burnt feathers smell about as good as burnt skin. Hope you have a covered outdoor area.

 

[CoopsNPoops]

Yuck! I dont have a way to scald outdoors unfortunately. Our fish/turkey frier was borrowed. It seems like alot of work for potentially very little meat. I don't know what the heck to do. I guess i could cull him and dump him for wildlife. Perhaps i could try to advertise him or take him to the sell barn friday mornin. Don't know who the hell would want a mean rooster, but you never know. He's a great breeder EE. Maybe he would do someone better in a run where hes less assholeish. Maybe i can try isolating him for a few days? I tell ya, this is such a delima!

 

[Kglassmo]

Yuck! I dont have a way to scald outdoors unfortunately. Our fish/turkey frier was borrowed. It seems like alot of work for potentially very little meat. I don't know what the heck to do. I guess i could cull him and dump him for wildlife. Perhaps i could try to advertise him or take him to the sell barn friday mornin. Don't know who the hell would want a mean rooster, but you never know. He's a great breeder EE. Maybe he would do someone better in a run where hes less assholeish. Maybe i can try isolating him for a few days? I tell ya, this is such a delima!

Craigs list? My neighbor and myself always end up w/extra roos after any hatch. I also do chick life cycle hatch each year for our local elementary schools. Teachers adopt them. But, I recently had an extra Polish roo that needed to find a new home. He was gorgeous but a bit too aggressive with my Cochin hens (but loved people, go figure?!) Anyway, if your young roo is of good breeding quality try social network. Someone might use him as a sire. He’s prob just too hormonal and will grow out of it. I also give away extra roos to local farmers who are breeding. Ive been working on creating a local chicken network here in my area in NC, we help each other rehome extra chicks, roos, etc. and trouble shoot any illness, and we try to support each other as ‘chicken folk’.

 

[NatJ]

Yuck! I dont have a way to scald outdoors unfortunately. Our fish/turkey frier was borrowed. It seems like alot of work for potentially very little meat. I don't know what the heck to do. I guess i could cull him and dump him for wildlife.

Personally, I would kill him and make a pot of chicken soup.

Here's how I would do it:

--cut off the head to kill the bird

--after the body stops flapping, cut off the feet.

--for each wing, cut of the last two sections (lots of feathers, little meat)

--along the belly, where it meets the leg, pinch a fold of skin and stick a knife in to make a cut.

--start removing the skin: pull, rip, cut when it's stuck, keep at it until you've got the skin off.

--cut off the legs and the wings (they just need to be rinsed & aged, then cooked)

--carefully cut along each side of the bird, then pull the breast & back apart from each other. This opens up the inside so you can get all the guts out easily.

--remove the guts, trying not to cut any of it open. Make sure you cut around the vent to release it, remove the crop at the front, cut out the oil sack near the tail.

--optional, keep the heart/liver/gizzard. (Liver and gizzard require a bit of special cleaning/trimming.)

--if you do cut the guts by mistake, just rinse extra well after you are done. If it looks clean, and you cook it thoroughly, it should be fine.

--follow any instructions you like for resting the bird and cooking into chicken soup or a similar recipe.