Free cockerel chicks?

[SandraMort]

I've read that the big chicken companies dispose of their male chicks in fairly inhumane ways. If one was to contact them, would they give you the roo chicks for free instead of killing them?

 

[mlheran]

You MIGHT be able to get a deal if you live near a hatchery, but no way will they ship you any -it's too much hassle for them.

Very unlikely that they'd be true meat breeds, as well.

That practice is one of the reasons I decided to raise my own chickens for eggs and meat.

 

[Omniskies]

It'd be extremely nice if they did, but so far I haven't had any luck - especially since there are a -lot- of chicks disposed of and I'd be selling them. What you're essentially asking the company to do is to give you their leftover product so you can take a cut of their profits from their potential customers.

I have plenty of room to take in a hundred chicks a week for a month or two, but I won't eat 100 chickens a week and if I sell or give those away to other people then the hatchery has lost business.

I'd still like to find a way. Even paying pennies per extra chick would be nice. But killing the leftovers instead of putting them to use means that the hatchery still saves money.

Good luck. If you do manage to get a hatchery to agree (and you should definitely try) let me know.