OK chicken-experts-with-way-more-experience-than-me:
We have 25 5 day old babies, and I only want to keep like 7 of them. They are all bantams, so I HAD
to order them Straight Run. Of course at this point, I could have 20 girls and 5 boys, or 5 girls and 20 boys, but I am thinking I will probably end up with a 15/10 mix either way based on odds.
The question is what the heck do I do with all the cockerels? They are useless for eating, as they are cochin bantams, and who the heck wants to go through all those feathers for 2 bites of meat! I can probably give a couple away as part of a trio with some extra females (assuming I have some). Last year when My Pet Chicken carried Cochins (they don't this year) I ordered sexed bantams and 1 of the 6 was a cockerel. I had a heck of a time finding him a home. Weeks of advertising at the feed stores, on craigslist, and everywhere else. I finally offered him up as part of a trio to save his life and was able to find him a home. So my options are SERIOUSLY limited in finding any extra boys homes. It took me weeks and weeks, and I had to give up 2 of my other 5 girls!
We decided (with the help of my close friend who is a vet) that we would just have to humanely cull some of them (she is going to gas them to sleep and then euthanize them- the most humane cull we could do). I am not really OK with that, but don't know what else to do.
My mom's friend lives on 10 acres and she said she would be happy to take some of the extra boys. She has an old coop there that would need major reinforcement, and they would probably get picked off by predators over the next few years, but they would be able to live happy chicken lives and be doted on by her, and she's OK with (obviously) having no eggs!
Is this even possible? If there were no hens to compete for mating privileges, could a flock of roosters peacefully coexist? They would have plenty of space, and be free ranging all day long-- but would that work?
That would make all of us happy, but I just don't know if it is possible. Input please!
We have 25 5 day old babies, and I only want to keep like 7 of them. They are all bantams, so I HAD
to order them Straight Run. Of course at this point, I could have 20 girls and 5 boys, or 5 girls and 20 boys, but I am thinking I will probably end up with a 15/10 mix either way based on odds.The question is what the heck do I do with all the cockerels? They are useless for eating, as they are cochin bantams, and who the heck wants to go through all those feathers for 2 bites of meat! I can probably give a couple away as part of a trio with some extra females (assuming I have some). Last year when My Pet Chicken carried Cochins (they don't this year) I ordered sexed bantams and 1 of the 6 was a cockerel. I had a heck of a time finding him a home. Weeks of advertising at the feed stores, on craigslist, and everywhere else. I finally offered him up as part of a trio to save his life and was able to find him a home. So my options are SERIOUSLY limited in finding any extra boys homes. It took me weeks and weeks, and I had to give up 2 of my other 5 girls!
We decided (with the help of my close friend who is a vet) that we would just have to humanely cull some of them (she is going to gas them to sleep and then euthanize them- the most humane cull we could do). I am not really OK with that, but don't know what else to do.
My mom's friend lives on 10 acres and she said she would be happy to take some of the extra boys. She has an old coop there that would need major reinforcement, and they would probably get picked off by predators over the next few years, but they would be able to live happy chicken lives and be doted on by her, and she's OK with (obviously) having no eggs!
Is this even possible? If there were no hens to compete for mating privileges, could a flock of roosters peacefully coexist? They would have plenty of space, and be free ranging all day long-- but would that work?
That would make all of us happy, but I just don't know if it is possible. Input please!
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