Flock of Roosters

[littlebigchicken]

I live in the northeast, and am dealing with major tick issues. All our friends have chickens so we have no need to have egg layers. A friend who shows chickens offered us free roosters (6). They are Cochens (sp?) which she says are docile. She says they wont fight if there are no females. The friend will get to pick one to take back and breed/show in the fall, and we get to eat the rest. First, does this sound like a good deal? (It does to us.) Second, everyone is telling us we are crazy. Are we crazy? Has anyone else done this? Last time we did chickens, our roosters were wicked nice. I figure that when they start getting mean, we will be eating them. And in the meantime, They'll be pretty and take care of our ticks.
Which leads me to my second question: How much do I feed my birds so they wont starve but will be hungry enough to forage for bugs?

 

[sourland]

Sounds as if it is worth a try as long as you and your neighbors do not mind the crowing. I would feed them very lightly in the morning and then offer full feed just before they go into the coop to roost in the evening. Go for it.

 

[donrae]

I think it sounds like a win all around!

Cochins are traditionally very docile, gentle birds. Roosters usually do quite well in a bachelor environment, as you said with no females there's a lot less to fight over. Plus, if they've already been raised together, they've sorted out all the squabbling so life should be pretty peaceful.

Crowing will be the only issue I can see, and that just depends on your tolerance and that of your neighbors

.

As you said, if any of them get a 'tude, simply butcher it. I don't know how old these roosters are, but Cochins are a lot of fluff and not much substance. Being large birds, they also take about a year to reach full weight, so butchering a 4-6 month cochin roo may get you a meal, if you have a lot of bread and butter

They'll definitely be pretty. cochins are my eye candy of choice!

I always free feed my birds, even when they're ranging. some days they eat more, some days less. Good rule of thumb is 1/4-1/2 cup of feed a day each, just to give you a rough guideline.