How do I get rid of roosters?

[ViolentInsides]

Hello!
I am new here and this is my first question.

I purchased 13 chicks and I have 3 roosters among them. One has crowed at 6 weeks, which is very early I might say, and the others have bright red combs . I have been convinced to keep one rooster. What do you recommend I do to remove the other 2? I am going to wait until the other 2 crow so I don't mistakenly lose a hen.

 

[aart]

I always used to put the extra males in the freezer at about 12-14 weeks old.

 

[Alexandra Runner]

Or you can try to sell them. That's usually what I do with mine, as I have young neighbors who adore all animals and wouldn't take too kindly to making them for dinner.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

, glad you joined. I make sure to get breeds where in the event I get a rooster, I can consider breeding. If that's a no go, because they are purebred, I try to make a trade via local craigslist. Many local breeders will trade. If that's a no go, there are 2 Rooster rescues and a drive through processing.... drop off, pick up dinner. Check websites of local poultry farms, they often offer that. Good Luck!!

 

[ViolentInsides]

, glad you joined. I make sure to get breeds where in the event I get a rooster, I can consider breeding. If that's a no go, because they are purebred, I try to make a trade via local craigslist. Many local breeders will trade. If that's a no go, there are 2 Rooster rescues and a drive through processing.... drop off, pick up dinner. Check websites of local poultry farms, they often offer that. Good Luck!!

At what age do you suggest I do something about them? Now at 6-7 weeks or wait till they are older?

 

[Farmgirl283420]

Hello!
I am new here and this is my first question.

I purchased 13 chicks and I have 3 roosters among them. One has crowed at 6 weeks, which is very early I might say, and the others have bright red combs . I have been convinced to keep one rooster. What do you recommend I do to remove the other 2? I am going to wait until the other 2 crow so I don't mistakenly lose a hen.

I was able to rehome mine maybe you could too?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

I usually wait if I need to determine which of the 3 is going to be nice. I should have mentioned that as my criteria. If not nice, off you go no matter what you are..... I guess it depends on what you're doing with them? If freezer, you can look up best time... Earlier the better if looking to make a trade....

 

[aart]

a drive through processing.... drop off, pick up dinner.

Seriously?!?!
Drop off live birds and leave with a fried chicken dinner?

 

[BDutch]

Maybe you can keep two with 10 hens. If they have a gentle character it’s possible.

I gave all the cockerels I had away. To an acquaintance and advertising on a kind of Craigs list in my country. Sometimes I succeeded quick sometimes it took up to 2 months to rehome them to a place where they could stay.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum. Glad you joined.

How convinced are you that they are boys? At that age you should be able to tell but you might post some photos to get confirmation. I suggest two photos of each chick, one showing the head so we can see the comb and wattles, if they have wattles that young. Depending on the comb type boys often have larger combs. Pullets usually don't show wattles that young. A big determining factor is color, bright red means boy, pale pink or yellow generally means a girl.

A second photo showing the legs and body can be helpful. Long thick legs often means a boy. An upright posture instead of sort of bent over is generally a boy. And sometimes body shape is pretty clear. If you are going to get rid of them then you want to be sure.

Where are you located? Mainly what country? That might help with detailed suggestions. It sounds like they are not meant to be meat chickens but instead are a laying breed.

If you are going to eat them you might wait a while. Some people like to eat them at 12 weeks. They are not going to have much meat on them then but they can become a problem after that, trying to mate with the girls and fighting the other boys. Others like to wait until they are older so they have more meat. 16 weeks is a popular choice. While some can become a behavioral problem before that many don't. I personally like to butcher at 23 weeks. They have finished their fast growth phase by then but sometimes I butcher some younger as they become behavioral problems. Most people do not want to wait that late.

Keeping one creates some problems with decision making. You cannot tell how they will behave as mature adults until they mature. If you have more than one then one becomes dominant and suppresses the behaviors of the other boys. You can't tell how they will act if they become the dominant one. I understand why you would want to wait to decide which one to keep but the choice is not always easy or sure. I generally start eating them at 16 weeks when I can identify something about one I don't want and make that final decision between the last ones at 23 weeks. I don't always get the behaviors right but it's the best I can do with my set-up and goals.

If you don't eat them my general thought is to get rid of them as soon as you know which ones you don't want. Why pay to feed them when you aren't benefiting from it? Many people become attached the longer they keep them and have trouble getting rid of them.

Once you've decided to get rid of one how do you go about it. This is where location would make a difference. In the US, I'd suggest listing them on Craigslist. If you are in another country you probably have something similar. Craigslist is an internet site where you can buy, sell, or trade.

Chat with people at your feed store. They might know someone that will take cockerels but many feed stores have bulletin boards where you can list cockerels for sale or to give away.

List them in the "Buy, Sell, Trade" section of this forum. Include your general location in the title of your thread so it will attract the attention of people you want to see it.

If you can find your state or country thread in the "Where am I? Where are you!" section of this forum, chat with your neighbors. Somebody there may take them of know something local.