How many roosters?

[wantbroodychix]

A rooster looks at his harem and all he thinks is "I have some fine looking women!" . He's not thinking "that striped girl doesn't look like something I want to get with, cause I'm a buff guy and that would just be wrong". To male animals, females are females, as long as they're (roughly) the same species. Breeds are a human artifice, not something animals even notice.

that said, I'd agree to keep a buff Orpington rooster, if you chose to keep one at all. You could get pure bred Orps, you could get pretty black sex links with the Rocks (they'll be gold on the front half, and black on the back basically, but prettier than that sounds), and a buff/red mix comes out an orange-ish shade and always seem to be popular birds if you're looking at selling chicks down the line.

I'd work on getting rid of the Rock and Red roosters now, and let the buff boys grow up and see how they are. Orps can be slow to mature, so you may have to give them a bit of time to be decent protectors (like over a year old).

So should I get rid of the barred rocks now even though they are only 9-10 weeks old? And how hard is it to home a rooster vs umm.....dinner?


ETA: Oh and how hard is it to rehome a rooster that is over a year old?

 

[chickmomma03]

if the barred rocks are roosters for sure, yea, I'd do it now before getting any more attached to them.

 

[donrae]

I'd get rid of them sooner rather than later. Waiting will just mean you've got more feed in them.

Selling roosters is hit or miss, seems like. Sometimes I literally can't give them away, sometimes folks want a specific breed and want an older bird, not a baby. Just advertise them and see how it goes, it may take a while to get rid of them.

 

[meandmissfame]

I have two extra Roos to rehome as well. Sweet and wonderful boys but too few hens to keep the peace. Called the local hatchery to see if they had any suggestions but they didn't. Anyone have suggestions on how or where to advertise?? My fiancé can't fathom the thought of them being dinner. This is our first flock. Both Roos are purebred, one 5 mos old and one 4 mos old, so I wouldn't think it would be too hard, or am I only dreaming???

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ll be repeating some but I’ll do it anyway.

Breeds are created by humans. Roosters don’t care, hens don’t care. Some humans care.

The only reason you need a rooster is if you want fertile eggs. Anything else is personal preference. Commercial operations keep thousands of hens in one hen house and no roosters anywhere around. Those hens lay really well. You don’t need a rooster for anything unless you want fertile eggs.

We all have our favorite breeds or combinations. We all have our own goals. If it were me I’d be looking at the individuals and see which better fitted my goals before I made the choice, but from here the Orp is as good as any. You will get some pretty colored chicks from him.

If you plan on eating the excess yourself, I’d suggest waiting a few weeks so they grow to a respectable size. They’ll probably hit puberty and disrupt the flock with fighting and forced mating the pullets before then but if you butcher them earlier there just isn’t much meat there. Still, you can butcher any chicken at any age and cook it. You just might not get a lot of meat.

If you are going to get rid of them, the sooner the better. You don’t have as much feed invested in them. You can try advertising on Craigslist and try to get a little money for them or just say free. The more restrictions you put on that the harder it will be. You may find someone looking for one of those cockerels for breeding purposes but most likely they will be eaten. You can talk to the people at the feed store. They might know someone that wants them or they might let you put a notice on a bulletin board. Some people get really emotionally attached to their cockerels too so the sooner you can cut that cord the better. It’s still hard foe some people.

Some people have their own preferences for pure breeds. If you plan on selling hatching eggs or chickens that can be helpful. But is all you want is eggs, that doesn’t matter. Mixed breeds usually lay a well as purebreds. It’s a function of how well their parents laid, it’s in the genetics.

Some people keep Silkies, Polish, and other funny looking partially blinded bantams in with a regular flock of chickens and have absolutely no problems, even with full sized roosters mating the bantam hens. The hen squats on the ground during the mating act. This gets the rooster’s weight into the ground through her body instead of through her legs, which greatly protects the hen. But the more difference in size and weight the greater the potential for damage. You can try it and see what happens. They are living animals, no one can give you guarantees one way or the other.

 

[keesmom]

I have two extra Roos to rehome as well. Sweet and wonderful boys but too few hens to keep the peace. Called the local hatchery to see if they had any suggestions but they didn't. Anyone have suggestions on how or where to advertise?? My fiancé can't fathom the thought of them being dinner. This is our first flock. Both Roos are purebred, one 5 mos old and one 4 mos old, so I wouldn't think it would be too hard, or am I only dreaming???

List them at your local feed store, craigslist or even here. How long it takes to rehome will depend on your local market, and if you state they go to a pet home only. This time of year there are tons of cockerels people are looking to place.

I even have a couple listed now in the free section, but I know they are likely destined for my freezer.

 

[meandmissfame]

What would be a fair price to ask for my cockerels, any suggestions?

 

[junebuggena]

If they are exceptional examples of their breeds or a rare breed, then you might get $15 to $20 for them. If they are hatchery quality, common breeds, then don't expect more than $5.

 

[Mrs. K]

I would agree with the above post. Another point that often gets overlooked. Even if you keep a rooster in a mixed batch of hens, you can still chose which EGGS you want to hatch. So if you want just pure BO, just hatch her eggs, of if you want sex link birds, pick the BR eggs.

Generally I just hatch what I have, but technically, you can run them all together, and hatch the eggs you want.

MRs K

 

[wantbroodychix]

Thank you everyone. I will put up a listing on Craigslist and see what happens. It is hard as even only a few months allowed my oldest son to bond with one of the BR cockerels. He will likely be sad but I don't need the disruption in the coop that could injure any of my laying hens.