culling roosters

[chickenphile]

We can not have any more roosters. I am planning on hatching out some eggs very soon and was wondering what is the easiest way to weed out the roosters. I plan on giving them away first of course if I can but what is the easiest most humane and cleaniest way to do it. I hope I don't have to but want to be prepared for it if it happens. Some of the eggs will be sex link (favorelles) so I should know early on.

thanks
Chris

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not pleasant, but a sharp pair of shears or a knife at the neck or an axe and a chopping block. Do it quickly and cleanly. It is the most humane way I know.

 

[QuailHollow]

I have a woman at work that loves our fresh chicken. I usually take my 'cull' roosters and finish them out on corn for a week or two in a chicken tractor. Then we skin them out for her, sell her the meat, and put the money back into the feed for everyone else. Not pleasant, but I know she enjoys the meat, and I just can't always bring myself to eat some of my 'pets'.

 

[Hens_And_Chicks]

A chicken person I talked to said if she knows when they hatch, she wraps them snugly in a paper towel and places them in a cup of water. Sounds quite inhumane but I have to agree that more roosters than what you plan on or want is so annoying - I have four barred rock cockerels from my November hatches - they are all headed for someone else's coop of the chopping block. It isn't that I don't want a roo but I want a quality standard and the eggs came from a backyard breeder and the chicks show varying degrees of crooked toes which is not show quality and also my understanding that it's possibly genetic although it could be nutrional related as well.

 

[Southernbelle]

Kitchen shears - very quick and humane

 

[Appytaz]

Craigslist! I have had great luck getting rid of them there. I gave 4 away over the weekend. Also, you may ask around at feed stores, ect. Someone may know of someone who will take them. The younger they are - the easier to get rid of.

 

[cimarron]

yep I agree, Craigslist. We considered the options for our 12 week old rooster, including eating him. Posted him on CraigsList and someone from a no-kill farm adopted him in no time.

 

[scooter147]

The kitchen shears is my method of choice if I know the sex at hatching. If I have to wait until I can tell visually at a few weeks of age I generally go with the hatchet and block.

Several years ago I posted on Craigslist when I wanted to get rid of my rooster chicks. I had a taker within 2 hours of posting. This young man came over and took all six I had (I gave them to him free of charge). He then gave me his phone number and told me to call him any time and he would take all my unwanted chicks.
Well, after about the third or fourth time I asked him what he was doing with them. I wanted to make sure he wasn't torturing them or using them in some satanic ritual (not that he would have told me anyway). He said I have two snakes and mice and rats are expensive.......

 

[first time farmer]

When my friends need a few of there roosters culled they called me because they don't like to that sort of stuff. Two of them I just used an ax and a chopping log. The last one wouldn't let me get close to it so i got my shot gun and got as close as he would let me and i shot it. It did the same thing as an ax just a little more nasty. It was not a plesent thing to do but the roo needed to be culled. Thats just how i did it I would not do it this way if you faint of heart.

 

[Tishwa]

Today is the worst day of my life! We have 7 roosters and 12 hens. The roosters are tearing up the hens so much that one poor hen has no feathers on her back or sides and her wings are torn up. The roosters have to go. We tried the broomstick method of one rooster and it just didn't work so my husband ended up using a huge knife and cut it's head off. It was so awful that I don't think we will be able to do it to the others. Any suggestions?