How do you deal with the emotional aspect of culling a rooster you're attached to?

[Sussex19]

We got some fertilised eggs from a neighbour to set under our eternally broody Light Sussex, and got 5 chicks. The hubs said from the start "we cull any roosters, right?" and I agreed, having suffered childhood trauma from them in childhood. He identified 2 as roosters early on, bt I made him wait a bit, to make certain, and turns out one of them was a she, so there Mr Know It All. But the other was definitely a he, and a beautiful he, he was. The hubs decided that, having fed him thus far, he might as well biggen him up a bit more, and get a meal off him.
He just got prettier and prettier. And a more gentlemanly rooster you couldn't find. Calls the girls over to any tidbits he finds, keeps a wary eye on the sky while they eat, he will eat scratch out of our hands, but the minute one of his ladies approaches, he backs off and leaves them to it. He's never even looked a threat at us. The hubs is no softy, farm animals are food, and he can raise, slaughter and butcher any farm animal right up to a bullock. But Russ (Russell Crow) is fully grown now, and there's been no mention of chicken fricasee for several months. I think he's won a hardened old farmer's heart.

Some times there's one cockerel that one just has to keep, isn't there?
That has happened to me before, and I have no regrets keeping him.

 

[SueT]

We got some fertilised eggs from a neighbour to set under our eternally broody Light Sussex, and got 5 chicks. The hubs said from the start "we cull any roosters, right?" and I agreed, having suffered childhood trauma from them in childhood. He identified 2 as roosters early on, bt I made him wait a bit, to make certain, and turns out one of them was a she, so there Mr Know It All. But the other was definitely a he, and a beautiful he, he was. The hubs decided that, having fed him thus far, he might as well biggen him up a bit more, and get a meal off him.
He just got prettier and prettier. And a more gentlemanly rooster you couldn't find. Calls the girls over to any tidbits he finds, keeps a wary eye on the sky while they eat, he will eat scratch out of our hands, but the minute one of his ladies approaches, he backs off and leaves them to it. He's never even looked a threat at us. The hubs is no softy, farm animals are food, and he can raise, slaughter and butcher any farm animal right up to a bullock. But Russ (Russell Crow) is fully grown now, and there's been no mention of chicken fricasee for several months. I think he's won a hardened old farmer's heart.

Hatched by a broody—and thus imprinted on her, seems to make a good rooster. My broody raised boys have all been gentlemen. Keep him!
The aggressive ones I had to cull were not broody raised, they imprinted on humans.
~~~~~~~~~~~
When I have to kill a rooster, my heart pounds. If I sell him at a swap, I still think about him w regret. But there is great relief not having them anymore, and there is peace in the flock. This alone makes it worth it.

 

[Granny23]

We got some fertilised eggs from a neighbour to set under our eternally broody Light Sussex, and got 5 chicks. The hubs said from the start "we cull any roosters, right?" and I agreed, having suffered childhood trauma from them in childhood. He identified 2 as roosters early on, bt I made him wait a bit, to make certain, and turns out one of them was a she, so there Mr Know It All. But the other was definitely a he, and a beautiful he, he was. The hubs decided that, having fed him thus far, he might as well biggen him up a bit more, and get a meal off him.
He just got prettier and prettier. And a more gentlemanly rooster you couldn't find. Calls the girls over to any tidbits he finds, keeps a wary eye on the sky while they eat, he will eat scratch out of our hands, but the minute one of his ladies approaches, he backs off and leaves them to it. He's never even looked a threat at us. The hubs is no softy, farm animals are food, and he can raise, slaughter and butcher any farm animal right up to a bullock. But Russ (Russell Crow) is fully grown now, and there's been no mention of chicken fricasee for several months. I think he's won a hardened old farmer's heart.

I love that. My chicken collection started with this homely baby chick I found in my front yard 2+ yrs ago the 5th of July. No one knew what kind or whether it was male or female.
I got Pepper a friend, Rosie. Then we found out he was a rooster as at about 10 weeks he started crowing. I posted here about it. Roosters aren't allowed where we live!!!. Then someone turned me in to animal control and I had 30 days to rehome him.
I found a rooster sanctuary down by Palm Springs and sent Pepper and Rosie to it. I bawled when they came to get them. He turned into this beautiful rooster and was awesome but he crowed. I even had his face tattooed on my arm. Now I have just 6 hens and as long as no one complains Im good.

 

[down2earth]

Culling does not necessarily mean killing although many people use "cull" that way. If you select a rooster and give him away or sell him you have culled him.

Once you no longer own a bird you are no longer in control. The new owners can do what they want with him. Some people are able to find a forever home for a cockerel or rooster but most are going to be eaten.


There is no good answer for this. For some of us it is traumatic, for some it's not a problem. Intellectually you know it is the right thing to do but you will suffer some unpleasant emotions. You are already attached so it does no good to say to not get attached.

Some of us don't have individual chickens, we have a flock and the individual parts can change. I try to solve for the peace of the flock. That means at times I have removed girls, not just boys. You probably can't look at it that way, but you know the flock will be better off without either the cockerel or the old rooster so you need to choose between them.

Through the years I've found that if I have an unpleasant task to do it is best to get it over with. Often it is not as hard as you thought. Sometimes the relief that it is over just makes you feel better. At the least you can start the healing process. It is just going to eat at you until you get it done. Don't make your life miserable any longer than you have to.

I had to say that last paragraph is a great bit of advice. Thanks.

 

[TenTimes]

You shoot him and you cry. You bury him and you cry more. The next day you try to stand tall and be strong but you cry more and hug your mom. After that you look at your flock and see that it's better. Then you grow and it's you that starts to crow.

 

[Birdsonghill]

I have been faced with culling a lot of roosters and some hens over the last 50 plus years of my hobby farming. It is never an easy task for me. I tend to agree with getting the job done quick as the best for me and the flock. It can be difficult with birds that for whatever reason you get attached to. I am a softy at heart, I guess. I try and let as many live as I can handle without problems, but culling must be done and I get hungry for fresh chicken myself. I also agree if you sale them you do not know if that will cause them more suffering than if you do the deed yourself. Still I must sale birds as well. It is an unpleasant part of the reality of raising livestock. If it is a special bird to me I take care to keep it or find a home I trust to take good care of them. I also try and cull them young, as difficult as that may be. They are better eating then and sale easy. The girls commonly are kept for laying but the boys fate is usually to die young or become a problem later. Not everyone should breed chickens, some of us likely should just have one sex of birds as pets or never let them together, so they are not faced with culling.

 

[Folly's place]

I just killed a very nice rooster, who was injured last winter, and recently lost first place to a younger, smaller rooster. He was being chased and last night, injured by the former second place guy, and it was really sad. Isolating him wasn't fair either, and he's now gone. This is the really difficult part of having critters, when it's time to make this decision and say goodby.
Mary