How do we get rid of Roosters?

[robhouse54]

Hi, We got an unsexed run of 12 chickens in April They are Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, beautiful birds. 6 of the 12 were Roosters, and they are now to the point where we have to get rid of them. My wife killed one of them, but was pretty upset about the whole business. We got the phone number of some guy who supposedly takes Roosters and doesn't kill them, but I am pretty sure he wants them for cockfighting. These are nice chickens, they all seem to get along well. They are not really meat birds.

Is there any realistic option for getting rid of Roosters, apart from killing them? Would anyone want these for breeding, or flock protection?

This is a relatively new breed that is

still not recognized in the American Poultry Association, but they are apparently becoming increasingly popular. They are very nice looking. They are free ranging in our yard.​

Thanks for any tips!​

Rob​

 

[123RedBeard]

Advertise on Craig's list ...

 

[donrae]

Your birds are unusual and beautiful, so you may be able to sell a few. Put ads on Craigslist, at your local feed store, etc. Maybe contact local 4-H clubs, wherever you can think to advertise.
Accept that some of them may likely wind up on someone's dinner table. The hard truth is there's not forever homes for all the male birds hatched. You can butcher them yourself or sell them as butcher birds after you exhaust any pet or breeder options.

Wyandottes are actually a very nice dual purpose meat bird, usually meatier than a lot of the other breeds in my experience.

 

[KYTinpusher]

You can list them in the Buy-Sell-Trade forum once you have at least 20 posts. new-member-introductions is a good forum to get to know other members and build your number of posts.

Try the chickens-8-weeks-older section if you want to try sell them, or try animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing if you just want to get rid of them.

Here in KY we have a local farm that will process other people's excess roosters for a few bucks a piece. You could also advertise on Craig's List for someone who will process them on shares.

Good luck!

 

[ladyearth]

yeah, CL ... I found a guy who had a hatchery and needed new blood in his breeding. he said so anyway. otherwis he sure was knowlegeable...Unfortunately I did not advertise On CL for the other two gorgeous healthy Barr Rockers I gave away...
I have seen one of them later and it makes me sad to see the conditions he was kept. No coop 3 crazy dogs to fend off, cats too. the lady even had a pile of bird poo on the edge of her door stoop.....cause later on I gave her two gals that were supp 2 yrs old.. I should have just said I wanted to visit.. I should not have left those tiny hens with her..... I doubt now about a year later if any of those 3 chickens are alive... I can still hear those gals whining...
My MEDIUM, roo I called him, supp runs on 40 acres with close to 100 other chickns. I was told recently from a relative of that guy.. They stopped feeding them and let them just live off the land...
Makes me sick...
so NOW if and when I give up my ones I raised from babies, I wanna check out the potential NEW owners...
just a saying
Oh I was scrolling you tube last nite and saw ome interesting videos.... came across several that should be banned sort of. One guy turned out to be a breeder.. I guss fighting type. what so sad is he is proud of it and prob from KY>
ts embarassing and very sad to think Men esp enjoy such junk... i wanted to reach thru the monitor scrren and trat him that way... embarrassing to cause he said he knows of prob 30, 00 other "cockers" I guess people have too much time on their hands, and evil is alive and well.... and I am not even an "animal Lover"

 

[Egghead_Jr]

This is posted in the meat bird forum...you must know what I do with all my spare cockerels each year. First year is a bit hard killing but once your in the mind frame of it things go easier. Self sustaining dual purpose flocks result in cockerels for meat.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

You can sell those easy on Craigslist....

I sell all my pretty birds and get real good money for them, what they do with them when they get them home is thier business. At 25 or 30 bucks a bird I doubt they are eating them.

 

[keesmom]

It depends on your location. Around here I can't even sell pullets let alone cockerels, so we've had to start butchering them as well. These aren't hatchery birds either.

 

[lotsalyons]

Where are you located?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Justso]

I have two listed on CL right now, NO takers.

There are a few live poultry stores in Chicago that I may end up taking them to. You might want to see if there are any located near you.