I just killed a rooster and feel horrible

[marvun22]

I had this one rooster. A Delaware. He was ripping up my flock, and he was mean to my 2nd and 3rd roosters. He died naturally, and I was mostly glad. But my 2nd rooster took command. He was ripping up my hens so badly I just had to get rid of him. I ended up shooting him. But right now I just feel so guilty about it. It is the 1st chicken I've ever killed. I just hope the guilt will eventually go away.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The guilt will go away when you experience the calmness that ensues with the lack of excess roosters.

It would feel even better if you didn't waste the meat and ate the delicious bird you had fed all this time.

Shooting seems a bit drastic, to me anyway. Ring the neck or slit the throat, pluck, eviscerate, let rest in the fridge for about 3 days and set the oven on 220 and bake breast down in broth with some rosemary and sea salt for about 5 hours or till the leg meat separates from the bone.

 

[Mister B]

If you can't bring yourself to eat it, find a family that will take it and eat it. In the future, if you can't eat them, sell them. I know around here, you can quickly sell chickens for $8-$10 each.

 

[keesmom]

Don't feel guilty. You did what you had to do.

 

[Stereodesigner]

That is unfortunate you had to do that, but its all for the better.


Now don't let the meat go to waste!

 

[winteree]

don't feel bad the guild will go away if the rooster was hurting the other birds it had to go if those genes got pasted on you would have been stuck with a mess of aggersive chickens and no one wants that. besides shooting the bird is the best (is my opinion) it's fast and if it's a head shot nearly painless for the chicken. We had to cull some Cornish crosses a few years back and i was devastated but keeping lame birds would have been cruel to them