He's going to have to go

[MontanaChickenLady]

I'm going to try and give my Silkie rooster away but if I'm not able to do that in a very short period of time.......how best do you cull a rooster? I'm going to have to do this myself and am not sure how to go about it so that I don't have nightmares at night. I've thought of all of my flock as pets and this is a very difficult decision for me. If you can help me with your experience, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

 

[eggsrcool]

Hi MontanaChickenLady,

As your cockerel is a pure breed, it is possible it would be easy to give away (but depends on demand).
Nevertheless, here are some threads I found on culling a cockerel:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3015

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14845&p=1

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=205647



It seems that the 'killing cone' is an easy way, as is cervical dislocation (breaking the next).
I hope you find the best way, and sorry to hear that you have to make this decision.

Iain.

 

[mstricer]

Put an ad on Craigslist, if it doesn't sell fast you can give him away free. You also can put an ad here on BYC auctions. It shouldn't take long to get rid of him since he's a Silkies. It would probably be easier to give him away then cull him I've never been able to cull my coop birds or meat birds for that mater. I would say free to good home, on BYC auctions. They should go fast, also but pickup only. Good luck.
Michele

 

[heatherscreations1969]

Its a shame that I am over the pond from you....I am after a silkie rooster......hope you manage to find him an home soon.
Have you tried putting FREE to a good home on Craig List or Freecycle?

 

[Godiva]

So sorry you have this hard thing to deal with... we have had to do this a few times for various reasons and it is good for you to have a plan to fall back on no matter whether you can find him a home or not. You never know when a bird is going to be injured in such a way that the kind thing to do is put them down etc. My DH has done this and tried a number of ways and what he prefers is the quick blow with an axe or some other sharp blade. The thing is to do it at night if possible (they are much calmer and easy to catch). DH has a chunk of wood that he lays them on and then one hard blow and it is all over, they will still thrash around, but at least you know they are not experiencing pain and fear as their head is off. Warning though, the axe needs to be sharp and you need to be sure to hit hard enough... we had a couple of incidents early on while we were learning all this stuff that was just awful because of not wanting to do it, we held back and injured the bird instead!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT nice and definitely traumatic... bless you as you walk through this. Hopefully you find a home for him, but remember to have a plan B for one of those horrid circumstances that will need you to take action for their good too.