Did I get swindled?

[Notgoodatchickens]

That makes sense; I have to admit I understand where you're coming from. I am curious, though . . . you say that you culled three other cockerels. Did you get any pullets from the same brood? I suppose not, since you are saying that now you have only cockerels.

Not one. Don’t let me pick your lottery numbers hahaha

 

[NatJ]

I’m actually allergic to eggs but got chickens to teach my daughter about taking care of animals and where food comes from. The boys love her and associate her with treats and follow her like baby ducks but she’s not even two so I don’t really want to kill the roosters to teach her about where food comes from so now we basically have a bunch of loud useless pets lol

Even at 4, the idea of eating animals for food can be a hard one

If you want to teach a child about eating animals for food, starting young is sometimes better than starting when they are older. A child who is very young is more likely to accept that this is just the way things are. The older the child, the more expectations they have, and the more likely that they will get upset if you do something unexpected (like killing the "pet" chickens.)

Of course it can work well if you tell them first, then get meat chicks with the explanation that "when they get big we will eat them," then follow through with eating the chickens.

But if you have oops males, you can explain "we expected hens that will lay eggs for us to eat. But someone made a mistake and sent us roosters, who will never lay eggs. So we are going to eat the roosters, and then we will get some new chicks who will be grow up to be hens and lay eggs."

Or you can skip the reasons, and just start with, "You know how we buy chicken meat at the store to eat? Maybe we should eat some of our chickens" (then watch whether the child is interested, or upset, or doesn't care.)

Sometimes it is surprising how much a small child (yes, even age 1 or 2) can understand.

Not all children are the same-- some will not care, some will be very interested in the project and excited to eat the chicken they raised, and some will be upset. Sometimes the child's reaction will match how the parent feels (upset vs. matter-of-fact), but sometimes it will not.

If any parent wants to butcher some chickens, but is worried about how the child will react, I would strongly suggest talking about the matter with that specific child to see, rather than trying to guess based on the experience of other people's children. If the parent does not want to butcher the chickens, of course it would be better to find some other solution (bachelor flock, rehoming, give them to someone else to butcher, etc.)

 

[FunClucks]

Every last one of those is a roo. I'm sorry!!! There's no doubt.

Look at those gorgeous saddle feathers. Roo only trait on all of them.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I was suspicious of this!
Are the black and white ones black sex link cockerels?
And do you have an idea of what the red/brown ones are?

The black and white ones could be male black sex links. But honestly they may also be what Hoover's is selling as barred Rocks. A year or two ago they were definitely selling birds as BRs that had really weird patterns.
Hoover's is such trash when it comes to everything. Correct for the breed, the correct breed or correct sex. I wish farm stores would get the picture and quit using them.
As for the red ones it's been a long day and ATM a breed isn't coming to mind but with that type of comb someone will come along that knows.

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

The red ones are some kind of game breed, like Malay. Definitely not partridge rocks, and not hens of any kind.

 

[Notgoodatchickens]

If you truly want to teach your daughter about having to take care of chickens, then you need to understand that culling is a big and important part of chicken-keeping that you cannot leave out of your teaching. The chicken world is cruel and that's just how it is. However, you don't have to cull your cockerels unless you don't want to take care of them or they turn aggressive.

I completely agree, but she’s 1 lol Let’s save that lesson when she can comprehend a little better.
We have had to cull 3 over the last 8 months. I have no problem with it, but she’s just starting to sleep through the night. I don’t need to teach her what killing is/introduce nightmares hahaha

 

[FunClucks]

Um, if your daughter is one or two years old, be very, very cautious on her interactions with the chickens. Cockerels (which is what you have until they are over 1 year old) can change personalities on the drop of a hat due to hormones. The nice rooster today can be the nightmare attack rooster tomorrow. There are warning signs, but you have to educate yourself in order to recognize them. I'd look at threads and Articles by @Shadrach and @RoostersAreAwesome on rooster behavior and warning signs of aggression. Since you don't have hens, that may help some, but roosters/cockerels can take out eyes, attack faces, and other body parts, especially on small children. I have a 4 year old, and she's still not old enough to be around roosters. Of course, we also have hens, which changes the dynamic somewhat.

I really like the previous poster's suggestion of obtaining some bantam hens. An all hen flock is safer IMO for young children and new keepers, with less likelihood of the drastic life lessons that I don't want to teach my 1 year old yet. Even at 4, the idea of eating animals for food can be a hard one, and my older child is still upset about the rooster that attacked him once (kid is fine, rooster was processed the same day - we miss him being nice, but don't miss his aggression).

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

I’m actually allergic to eggs but got chickens to teach my daughter about taking care of animals and where food comes from. The boys love her and associate her with treats and follow her like baby ducks but she’s not even two so I don’t really want to kill the roosters to teach her about where food comes from so now we basically have a bunch of loud useless pets lol

Hens are also loud useless pets if you don’t eat their eggs. Mine sure are.

Honestly I’d rather have loud useless roosters over loud useless dogs.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Those red ones are partridge chanteclers. The barred ones could be black sex links or maybe some type of barred ranger. You could probably just call them barred rock mixes.

 

[Notgoodatchickens]

I agree, that is the good side to this. I am unsure if @Notgoodatchickens wanted hens for eggs, though.

I’m actually allergic to eggs but got chickens to teach my daughter about taking care of animals and where food comes from. The boys love her and associate her with treats and follow her like baby ducks but she’s not even two so I don’t really want to kill the roosters to teach her about where food comes from so now we basically have a bunch of loud useless pets lol