hatching eggs and rehoming roosters?

[truebluehikaru]

i want hatching eggs and i have the incubator already, but i'm afraid of having to rehome roosters. there's a few animal sanctuaries near me, but it depends on their capacity whether or not they can take them.

but there's also just no sexed chicks near me at this time.

i also don't want to support large hatcheries like meyers. i think sandhill preservation is SR. greenfire farms also doesn't have the breeds i want sexed, idk if they do SR or only sex the autosexing ones.

do i just wait until spring or hatch and hope for the best?? call animal sanctuaries, hold the roosters until they can take them? i don't want the roosters to become food

 

[DemeterAD9]

For anyone who wants to hatch eggs but only keep the females I think it is best to come to terms with having to cull the males somewhere along the way. You can try rehoming the males but very few people want them and even fewer who want them intend to keep them for pets and/or breeding. Besides, if these possible males you hatch end up being aggressive to people or other chickens no one will take them anyways. Let’s face it, the vast majority of any male livestock is going to become food for people and/or other animals, beef being a prime example of this. That is just the way things are and if you cannot accept that then only buy sexed pullets.

As a side note, I too was iffy on butchering my own birds I raised from eggs. That was until the 5 cockerels I got out of 7 chicks became sex crazed heathens chasing after the girls, attacking each other and a couple even tried attacking me. I was not the least bit sorry to see them go in the freezer. There is something much more special about raising and processing your own meat too, but that is coming from a hunter who is used to killing what I plan to eat.

 

[truebluehikaru]

As a side note, I too was iffy on butchering my own birds I raised from eggs. That was until the 5 cockerels I got out of 7 chicks became sex crazed heathens chasing after the girls, attacking each other and a couple even tried attacking me. I was not the least bit sorry to see them go in the freezer. There is something much more special about raising and processing your own meat too, but that is coming from a hunter who is used to killing what I plan to eat.

i thought i'd feel the same, but is it their fault they become like that, if in the wild, they're not surrounded by other roosters?

 

[MysteryChicken]

i thought i'd feel the same, but is it their fault they become like that, if in the wild, they're not surrounded by other roosters?

Every Cockerel/rooster is an individual, so not one will be exactly the same in behavior. Human aggression is usually a genetic trait that's undesirable, so not good to breed him forward, or even keep them around because they pose a danger.
Cockerels often go through a phase where they want to breed, & fight for a higher spot in the pecking order, & claiming the ladies. Some take it to the extreme, some would be a bit wild, others may not cause any trouble, & be absolute gentleman. I've had rowdy Cockerels turn into gentleman as well.

 

[Pigeony]

If you hatch eggs, you have to be prepared to either deal with the roosters personally or be willing to give them away to people without caring too deeply about the rooster's fate. You won't be able to find every hatched rooster a carefully vetted home, and you have to accept that the person you give them away to may eat them.

If you want to get rid of roosters fast, post them for very cheap or free (sometimes I find I get more bites if I ask for 5 dollars than if I ask for nothing) and someone will solve your problem for you.

It's also possible your local feed stores take roosters, call around to ask. They'll set them up in a cage and sell them for 10-15 dollars, typically. I have 3 around me that are willing to take roosters when they have space, but lots of people use them to get rid of roosters, so you may have to check back multiple times. They usually only want near-adults, not chicks, so you have to raise them some.

Human aggressive roosters should not be rehomed without you making that very clear to whoever is taking them because it would not be cool if they get seriously injured because they didn't know the personality of the bird.