So basically I now have 4 roosters after hatching 5 eggs and getting 3 roosters and 2 hens... Now 2 roosters are causing mayhem and my original rooster is not happy... I have tried selling them but had no calls... I am looking to kill the 2 roosters and have read up on the broomstick method and watched a video on youtube... To say I'm anxious is an understatement... Anybody got any advice?
Don't let yourself hesitate, and wear old clothes, especially old shoes. It helps if the roo has just attacked you . If you do it right, it's quick and painless for both you and the roo. You could also dress them out and have something for the stewpot .
Well I'm beginning to think egg production has stopped because of stress... 3 roosters in one house cannot be easy... and they really get on my nerves everytime they chase chickens to rape them when they are clearly alfonzos ladies... they even try incest with their mother... It's the thought that if I do it wrong that scares me... and also the squirming after they die...
Tie their feet together ( Less Kicking) stretch the neck out with rope or twine Use a sharp axe or meat clever and chop their heads off! Take them by the feet and insert body into a five gallon bucket they thrash around only for a minute then it stops! Have water boiling hot and swish them around in it then into the cold water and pluck over the burn barrel! Thats how my husband does it!
You'll be just fine. Egg production probably has stopped because of stress, too many boys will drive any hen insane. Young roos are very rough, and no roo is particular about which hen he is breeding. The broomstick method is very hard to get wrong, unlike the traditional hatchet method, where you could miss. If you really don't feel like going through with it, you could build another coop, or a separate area in the coop, just for the four young roos. Boys without ladies do not fight amongst each other beyond the normal pecking order, and your hens will not become overbred. But this is much more costly than just sending them to freezer camp.
... my advice for dying animals to anyone... NEVER look at the face! I was poised to tug but I couldn't... they were just sat there still as mice... My sisters went ballistic when they came home... so now they are trying to arrange new homes for them, not that I suspect anyone would paid for a rooster with a messed up face from fighting so much... A guy has chickens down the road from me also so I may ask him to do it...
I sooooooooooooooooo feel your pain - Had three beautiful rooosters. Big Red Lovely Red Speckled Sussex , A Cuckoo Maran and a Cream Legbar. Well had a terrible time as we breed these guys so I got to feed them and pet on them and name them. I told myself Again and Again, These are NOT pets and once they crow they will go to the Freezer. The time came and went and we still had three Rooosters. After an incredibly noisy night DH and I decided they had to be Culled. Anyhow DH went missing and came back 30 mins later having found homes for two of them!!!! We gave away the Red and the Maran. Now I have Blue the Legbar and a HE/SHE we are undecided on. NO crow NO eggs as yet. DH chased Blue round the yard the other day and broke a feather - I was sooooooooo upset and distressed I went after him crying don;t hurt my baby!!! - OK I am a wussssssss!!!!!! So that was the end of the great MEAT enterprise! Now I have to find a home for Blue!! Oesdog - I am not a killer!
Quote:Many, many of us have been through this. And many threads start with, it wasn't so bad after all. VERY graphic, but excellent, thread on how to kill and dress: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109583 Just remember, it's NORMAL not to want to kill something. I really think long handled pruning shears or throat slitting are probably the surest ways to go. A mistake in killing is NO FUN. Read some of those "it wasn't so bad" or "I did it!" threads, then screw your courage up, remembering to tell yourself (again) that it's all part of responsible chicken keeping.
I recently killed my first chickens. remove either the chickens you are going to kill or the food the night before so their crops can empty. we tied their feet together and then rung their necks.(tying their feet helped them from scratching you). then we chopped off their head and hung them up to drain. we were cutting them up so we didn't need to pluck. then split the skin from the neck up and then over and around the legs, cut around the vent very carefully. then you just peel off like a jacket. cut off the windpipe above the crop to remove.*make sure you don't cut into the crop or vent*. then bend the joints of the legs and wings and then cut thru the joint. chill the birds for 20 min in ice before cutting off the meat so it has a chance to firm up. then fillet off the breast, following the fat line on the back, remove the wings at the joint, pull the legs down to pop the joint and cut of legs and seperate thigh from leg if you want to. then throw away the rest! no plucking or gut removing. * altough i did pluck a few feathers where i was cutting to make it easier. if i think about it, i'll take pics next time, but it might be a week or to