It begins to get really rough on the hens when you have too many roos. Yours may not have reached that stage yet, but when they reach it, you'll know. Your hens will get nervous and raggedy, egg production will drop, you hens will have bare backs, and maybe bald heads, from roos tearing the feathers out while mating them. You'll see you hens get chased by pairs or groups of roos, squawking and trying to escape, to get knocked down and jumped on by all of them.
It's just not a happy or healthy situation. A quick, humane end to the extra roos is much better for the est of the flock.
Many people don't realize how many animals die when fields are cultivated for food crops. Fawns get run over and mangled by big machinery in the spring, the people on the machines can't see them, camouflaged by spots, lying still in the tall vegetation. Rabbits, ground-nesting birds such as quail, and others, too. That doesn't even include the ones that are trapped or shot to protect the crop.
Even gardening with hand tools doesn't prevent killing anything. Once, when I was digging up a patch for an early spring garden, my shovel sliced a small, hibernating tortoise in two. That just about made me ill. There are always bugs, reptiles, etc., that die for the sake of our vegetarian meals.
Another point is that most poultry and livestock breeds would become extinct, if they weren't raised for meat. There aren't enough people who can afford to keep them just as pets, (and want to keep them just as pets) to keep the breeds going. Don't feel guilty for having them, you're helping keep those breeds in existence. Extra roos have to go away, one way or another, to sustain a healthy flock. Very often, if they go to another home, they get eaten there.
It's just the way of the world, circle of life, all that. All life takes life, one way or another. Most species have a place in the circle as both predator and prey. Chickens are both. So are humans. We don't hear about humans getting eaten very often, but it happens. Most of us are no match for a grizzly, a shark, or a tiger, to name a few.
I've learned to be at peace with this, and accept my place in the circle. I slaughter my meat animals with gratitude for the sustenance they provide, and for the life being taken. I give them a good life, and as easy a death as I can manage.
If the rest of the family is eating meat, this offers a way to provide it while knowing that the chickens had good lives.
BTW, I don't pet mine, or carry them around, because 1) I don't have time to pet and pamper 50+ birds, in addition to 5 dogs, 8 cats, and a husband, 2) Poultry don't have a natural longing for our company and attention, like dogs, cats, horses, and some other animals, it something we pretty much condition them to accept. I know there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, unless we condition them otherwise, most chickens would just as soon see us keep our hands to ourselves. I have several who climb all over my feet, and follow me for treats, but don't want to be touched.
