How big should my flock be?

[rebrascora]

I agree with aart. Handling roosters is not the best idea and the problem is that the day they turn you risk a serious injury if you are petting them at the time. Personally I think the best way to go with roosters is to get a 2 or even 3yr old, good natured one from an established flock where they are renewing their blood line. Once you have a rooster in your flock, cockerels that you breed within that flock learn from him and inherit his temperament. I've not had a problem with human aggression since I started raising young cockerels within the flock like this.

I have a flock of about 40 hens and pullets at the moment and probably another 25-30 male birds most of which are to process. I have just made a start and my crock pot and stock pot are both in action as I type. (I broody hatched 56 chicks this summer and more that 65 % were males, so I will have plenty of meat from them to last me until the summer. I just started 3 years ago and I'm still figuring things out. I acquired a light sussex hen and set quite a few of her eggs this summer and I was pleased with how quickly they filled out but I am still processing at about 6 months. Then again, these boys free range with my main laying flock until butchering time and I'm sure if I penned them separately and fed them up, I could get them up to weight more quickly. It's just not what I am interested in. I've set myself a target of processing two a week which is manageable and I can pick the two largest each time, giving the smaller ones time to beef up. I think this is probably the best way with broody reared birds as you end up with 3 or 4 males from each hatch and obviously they are hatching throughout the summer and autumn, so it makes sense to harvest them in small batches as they mature.

Of course at this time of year egg production dips right down, so I kind of see this as a time to eat mostly meat from my poultry and the summer when there is a glut, the time to eat mostly eggs and other meats that I trade for eggs and honey with other local small holders and farmers.

I have a very mixed flock as well as small breeding pens with bantams. The meat mostly comes from the main flock though and if I feel I want slightly more meaty cockerels then I throw in a larger hen or two like this year with the light sussex. I also like multi-coloured eggs, so I used to have a cream legbar rooster which also produced some bulk in the males and lots of mostly green but still some blue egg layers as well as white from my leghorns and various shades of brown from my welsummers, marans and subsequent crosses of them.

I'm not a planner like you, but more of a figure it out as I go along type person, so I'm sure you will manage much better than me. I do think it's a good idea to start small and let chicken maths do the rest.

As regards disease, I'm with aart. I care for my birds if they are sick but I draw the line at veterinary treatment and since antibiotics are not available here without prescription, they get the chance to fight illness and disease with whatever tlc and good nutrition I can give them and I despatch them once they give up trying. I have Marek's in my flock and a chronic respiratory disease. Both crop up from time to time and I lose the odd two or three to Marek's each year. The respiratory infection goes the rounds and then settles down and I haven't lost a bird to it in the past 2 years I've had it. I know they say chickens don't get colds, but a human cold is caused by a virus and I'm pretty sure what my chickens get is too. Sneezing and wheezing occasionally and looking a bit miserable, but so do I when I get cold. They get over it without pumping chemicals into them.

Anyway, I just thought I would add my experience of eggs and meat production to the thread as it seems like we might be in a similar situation.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Mrs. K]

Quote: Excellent advice, a rooster is not worth much in flock control or danger assessment and warning until he is about a year old. Go to the local poultry clubs, or ask at the feed store, who else has chickens. Often times they have an extra rooster that is so nice, that is why he is has not been culled. Older roosters generally are set in their temperament, mostly. Cockerels just coming into sexual maturity are a crapshoot. One that has no fear of you can be dangerous.

As for the part of handling your birds. Chickens are a flock society, and equate niceness with submissive behavior. People tend to treat puppies and kittens nicely, and are rewarded with companionship for life. The problem with roosters are they see niceness as submissive, and often times will become aggressive to 'teach you your place.'

Just beware. A rooster should keep space between you, he should not give the stink eye, he should not crow excessively around you, should not puff up. He should move out of your way. Many people have made a pet out of a rooster to regret it bitterly. When they are the pet, they are not scared of you, and really have no respect for you.

It is not a forever, never have roosters, but if your kids are under 6 years, I would wait until you all have a bit more experience.

Mrs K

 

[lazy gardener]

I actually think the opposite is more true...familiarity (can) breeds contempt.
Could depend on the bird and the people handling it.

Agreed. Never make a pet out of a roo.

 

[mirandalola]

Wow, thanks for the advice yall! I have two chicks that I strongly suspect to be roos. They are significantly bigger than their siblings and have red combs and wattles (teeny little wattles!) while their siblings still have pink or gray combs and no wattles. Those two also are much more standoffish than the others, and begin their mornings with a chest-bump squabble before they go about their peck-and-scratch business. (All these chickies are about 5 weeks old, so I know it's too early to tell but it is so much fun to speculate! We also speculate which of the two will end up being king of the flock and which will end up being enchiladas!)

I will now stop trying to make pets of them and instruct my kiddos to do the same!

I got my first experience this weekend what it will be like to dispatch the extra chickens. I separated out the sick chicks from the well ones, and then was able to see just how sick they were. They hid it (or I just couldn't see it) when the healthy chicks were around, but when they were by themselves they seemed much sicker. My husband and I used the gas-chamber method to euthanize them as humanely as possible, and it was hard to do. I have no regrets except that I waited so many days to do it, they were sick for over a week and now another one of my chicks is sick, and this chick was one of my favorites So we are now down to just 4 healthy chicks, and 2 of them I suspect to be roosters! I'm getting some from some local people within the next week, but for future reference, what is your favorite source for getting new chickens and/or hatching eggs?

 

[aart]

Redder combs and wattles at 5-6 weeks is my go to for IDing cockerels....I've found it to be pretty darn accurate.

Sorry you had to euthanize, but good on you for going thru and taking are of it. Most unfun part of chickeneering, but it must be done.
Cervical Dislocation is this quickest, and thus most humane, death, IMO. Tricky tho, until you know how.

Hatch most my own chicks, but get a few from local grain mill(hatchery chicks) each spring....timed to arrive when mine hatch.
Do have a set up to integrate these new chicks you are going to get?
High risk of transmission of disease, both ways.

 

[rebrascora]

If you are going to be processing chickens for food then you need to learn to despatch them more appropriately. Gassing them is contentious at best and as far as I am concerned, it is done because it is easier on the chicken owner than the chicken. People like to convince themselves that it is humane, when that is not necessarily the case.
As aart says, cervical dislocation or decapitation is the quickest way to kill them. I use the broom shank method. Hold their feet, lay them on the ground, on their chest.... they will normally spread their wings to keep upright, place a broom shank over their neck, quickly place feet on the shank either side of the head and pull sharply upwards and forwards with the legs snapping and stretching the neck. I like to sooth the bird as it is lying on the ground to relax it before I lay the broom over it's neck. The broom head keeps the shank from putting any pressure on the windpipe until you step and pull. I find this method fool proof as long as you give a good hard tug. Better to pull too hard and the head come off than not hard enough. Or of course there is also the axe and the tree stump. For young chicks you can use scissors or for older chicks, pruners/loppers. It is no good being squeamish about such things if you intend to raise birds for meat. I know it is hard and I cried the first few times and still do, if it is a sick chick that I have been caring for for weeks. It's hard not to get attached to them but you owe them a quick death even if it means getting a bit of blood on your hands. You also need to be prepared for the nervous spasms that occur after death and it is not uncommon for headless chickens to jump up and run off, so best to keep them contained. I have a cone made of carpet off cut that I place them in after necking them to contain the thrashing to prevent bruising.

I mostly hatch within the flock but I have also sourced birds from friends, neighbours and auction. Aart is right that you need to quarantine....I made the mistake of not doing so when I got started and that is how I got Marek's disease in my flock.

Good luck with your 4 remaining chicks. I hope they stay healthy and thrive.

Best wishes

Barbara

 

[aart]

At one minute into this video shows the best way I have seen a how cervical dislocation(with a broomstick) is done.
It's the only one I've seen that doesn't also remove the head.

Note the bird is slowly and fully stretched out (legs and neck) before the motion that breaks the neck is applied.
Also note the small divot on the ground that prevents the bird from being choked when the stick is put in place.

I used this on a sick bird I had to euthanize...I have slaughtered before but didn't want to use the jugular slit.
It was very effective and instantaneous.

 

[rebrascora]

I use a broom with an angled wooden head, so that keeps the broom shank off the ground at one end to stop asphyxiation rather than a divot in the ground. I have to say though, I thought the woman in the video was rather slow and I felt the chicken was stressed, so I personally didn't feel it was a very good example of how to do it, but you get the gist of what's required.

 

[aart]

I use a broom with an angled wooden head, so that keeps the broom shank off the ground at one end to stop asphyxiation rather than a divot in the ground. I have to say though, I thought the woman in the video was rather slow and I felt the chicken was stressed, so I personally didn't feel it was a very good example of how to do it, but you get the gist of what's required.

Can you find another video where they don't rip the head off?
At least it was clear.
When I employed the technique there wasn't much distress.

 

[lazy gardener]

I also use the broomstick. I would seriously injure myself if I tried to use a hatchet. Not to mention some seriously disfigured chickens running around. It does take a bit of practice to apply the right amount of pressure to do the job without removing the head, but, even if you do pull too hard, that's the next step anyways. I find this method to be so much less stressful for me and for the bird.