Do any egg companies sell their cockerel chicks? I need cockerels to make Capons.

[Jacques Bonhomme]

I do plan on purchasing some eggs of a broody meat breed (thinking Malines) so that my chicken operation can eventually be self-sustaining, but when it comes to raising chickens for meat my main interest is in Capons, as you can grow them out huge without their meat getting tough. Although meat breeds are better, I've found that Capons can be of any variety aside from perhaps the tiny ornamental/game bird breeds, because even Capons from egg-laying breeds will grow to be larger than your average broiler will.


People and companies that are mainly into egg production obviously have no use for cockerels, so I was wondering if any of these companies are known to sell their cockerels instead of macerating them right after they're sexed. As I said, I'm making Capons, so I need as many cockerels as possible, since I'll only need a few breeding birds, I prefer to use quail, duck or goose eggs for eating and cooking, and it's a lot more difficult and in my opinion more unpleasant for the bird to turn a hen into a Poularde than it is to turn a cockerel into a Capon. The reason that it's important for me to get chicks instead of free Craigslist roosters is because the procedure is safest, easiest and most effective to do as soon as the cockerel has all of his feathers, any later and the testosterone has already begun to change his body and behavior, it's harder to keep him still during the surgery and things don't come out as cleanly.


So, do some egg producing people or companies sell their cockerel chicks? Which ones? How much do they cost?

 

[Mosey2003]

I don't think any of the companies sell them, they all macerate and sell as byproduct I believe. What you'd want to find is someone breeding sexlinks locally, especially black ones using good NH Red roosters as they'll give a decent meat frame (for a layer type). Otherwise, people won't know which ones are males in time for you to caponize, I would bet.

 

[BantyChooks]

I do plan on purchasing some eggs of a broody meat breed (thinking Malines) so that my chicken operation can eventually be self-sustaining, but when it comes to raising chickens for meat my main interest is in Capons, as you can grow them out huge without their meat getting tough. Although meat breeds are better, I've found that Capons can be of any variety aside from perhaps the tiny ornamental/game bird breeds, because even Capons from egg-laying breeds will grow to be larger than your average broiler will.


People and companies that are mainly into egg production obviously have no use for cockerels, so I was wondering if any of these companies are known to sell their cockerels instead of macerating them right after they're sexed. As I said, I'm making Capons, so I need as many cockerels as possible, since I'll only need a few breeding birds, I prefer to use quail, duck or goose eggs for eating and cooking, and it's a lot more difficult and in my opinion more unpleasant for the bird to turn a hen into a Poularde than it is to turn a cockerel into a Capon. The reason that it's important for me to get chicks instead of free Craigslist roosters is because the procedure is safest, easiest and most effective to do as soon as the cockerel has all of his feathers, any later and the testosterone has already begun to change his body and behavior, it's harder to keep him still during the surgery and things don't come out as cleanly.


So, do some egg producing people or companies sell their cockerel chicks? Which ones? How much do they cost?

At a day old, you mean? I was under the impression that most hatcheries had an option of buying cockerels only, but there simply isn't enough demand to keep them all out of the grinders.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Hatcheries sell male chicks. But they aren't super cheap

 

[BantyChooks]

https://www.meyerhatchery.com/productinfo.a5w?prodID=WTLS
Meyer is just one example that looks like it sells males in quantity.

 

[Mosey2003]

I think he's moreso wanting to pick up unwanted males for cheap, ordering from the hatcheries isn't really cheap if you're wanting to get a quantity simply to butcher.

 

[Crazy for Chickens!]

Here are some cockerel assortments:
www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/cockerel_assortments.html

 

[BantyChooks]

I think he's moreso wanting to pick up unwanted males for cheap, ordering from the hatcheries isn't really cheap if you're wanting to get a quantity simply to butcher.

Thanks.

 

[Jacques Bonhomme]

I don't think any of the companies sell them, they all macerate and sell as byproduct I believe. What you'd want to find is someone breeding sexlinks locally, especially black ones using good NH Red roosters as they'll give a decent meat frame (for a layer type). Otherwise, people won't know which ones are males in time for you to caponize, I would bet.

I mean, I know how to vent-sex chicks so I don't need sex links, but thank you for the advice. I've never worked with NH Reds, but when I was in college (in a city where hens were allowed to be had but no roosters) I used to purchase day old male Leghorns 2 for $2.50 from one of my neighbors, and although they're pretty awful broilers that were absolutely puny at 12 weeks old, by the time that were 6-9 months old, their carcasses resembled small turkeys.

I think he's moreso wanting to pick up unwanted males for cheap, ordering from the hatcheries isn't really cheap if you're wanting to get a quantity simply to butcher.

Yes, I'm looking to get unwanted male chicks that would otherwise just be waste, turn them into Capons, and grow them out to 9 months old before eating or selling them.

At a day old, you mean? I was under the impression that most hatcheries had an option of buying cockerels only, but there simply isn't enough demand to keep them all out of the grinders.

Well I don't want to keep them all out of the grinders, this isn't a quest to save all of the baby cockerels from an early grave, I just want to make Capons for which I need young male chicks, and I figured that they would be cheap since aside from the few roosters kept for breeding purposes, males from egg laying breeds are considered useless waste and literally thrown out.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

Well I don't want to keep them all out of the grinders, this isn't a quest to save all of the baby cockerels from an early grave, I just want to make Capons for which I need young male chicks, and I figured that they would be cheap since aside from the few roosters kept for breeding purposes, males from egg laying breeds are considered useless waste and literally thrown out.

Contact an egg company (call the number on an egg carton from a supermarket) and find out where they source their battery hens from. Once you know the hatchery that supplies the battery hens to the egg companies call them up and tell them you’ll buy say 100 day old cockerel chicks the next time they hatch them for $0.25 cents each. Just a suggestion.