Emotions Tied to Culling

[BrandonsBirbs]

I might ask them 'would you like them? or can you suggest anything else I can do with the males?'
I bet they wouldn't have an answer to that, and it might help

I'll confess I tried this and their answers made me pretty upset/angry. I had to first explain why no one really wants cockerels and that everywhere around us cockerels are banned. They told me I should "secretly" keep the males so no one can see them, they claim the crows are not that loud, amazing how they can claim that with zero experience huh. They then suggested I give them away as pets or give them to a nearby farm for them to do as they like. (How's that different to me doing it you ask? I've no idea). But they often refer to me as a murderer in recent times.

I'm not a people person, so I'd likely volunteer that "I cared more for my chicken's opinions than theirs", smile, and walk away. At some point, they'll figure it out.

One of them claims she had chickens growing up so I really don't know if she's just trying to fit in or what because she confuses me the most lol. Her family owns dog kennels for the "last days" of the dog's lives and often have to put them down themselves too.. completely bizarre.

I work with children because I mostly despise adults, it's unfortunate they have to talk to me lol.

 

[samanthaoverton]

I'd have told him, yes I did , you should try it some time..

First thing my line manager says to me this morning, "did you have a nice day off, killing chickens? How sad."

Ok

 

[samanthaoverton]

To me it's pretty far-fetched to call me a murderer or make out like I enjoy killing them. Yes, I do kill them but damn it's quite a leap.

Maybe you're right, maybe I shouldn't be sharing anymore information because clearly they can't or won't comprehend what I am getting at. I'm not sure anyone here would care about your gender nowadays but everyone does seem to have that disconnect around here. Men seem more understanding of it but even some of them are still quite judgemental about it.

I don't understand why they can't understand what I am saying, what else do I do with my cockerels??? I was raised the same way as them in fact my family were super against me and still are, 90% of food was frozen but no I woke myself up and said what are we doing? How are eating frozen nuggets made from interesting parts of a chicken who was bought up in a cage for 6 weeks better than raising my own with love? Bizarre.

I'd also ask them if they would like to purchase the food to feed these roosters..some roosters are food greedy..

 

[samanthaoverton]

I've been following this thread without commenting but decided to contribute. I think I put some of my thoughts into this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/slowpoke-a-reality-check-after-an-assisted-hatch.77702/ and this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/butchering-cull-cockerels-today.1548075/

For me it's not a routine chore that I can do without thought -- and I'd never want to get so used to it that I failed to properly respect the birds -- but I like eating, I like eating chicken, and I want to breed new hens so I need to cope with the existence of cockerels.

They get their chance on Craigslist for a few weeks toward the end of their grow out (and maybe longer once I'm producing nice birds to sell as breeding trios), and then they feed me instead of me feeding them.

I'm not naturally an emotional person or naturally a sentimental person. I'm not completely a "cold fish", but I was able to pick up the cockerel I called "Little Boy Blue", pet him, tell him that I was sorry he didn't find a flock of his own and that I was sure he'd have been a good rooster like his dad if he had, put his head under the broomstick, and do the job. He made really delicious soup and I was happy to eat it.

But I was also happy to be able to sell all my cull hens rather than harvest them. I can and have eaten retired layers, but I *prefer* to send them on to people who will appreciate them as layers -- with full disclosure of their age and likely impending molt and shutdown.



That's what I told my family after the first time.

Once I get them undressed they look about like any other chicken -- just a little skinnier in the breast.

I have no idea about my older leghorn hens. They will be 3 in April and are in molt now. But uhhh leghorns don't have much on them so I ponder whether I should fatten them up alone for a bit before the deed or if it's worth it to put in the effort.