We are fingers crossed all of ours are girls, but if any turn out to be boys they will not get to stay.. My question is what have you all done in the past when you realize your chicks a roo?? Did you get rid of him immediatly or raise him till full grown and get rid of him? Did you rehome him or cull him?? Thanks
I re-homed three roos once, as soon as I was certain that they were indeed male (about 7 weeks old). Not that I can't have roos, I have several at this point, but to me there's no sense in "wasting" resources - space and feed - on an animal you can't keep.
I raised mine up, tryed to rehome...however nobody wants roos. With little to no choice, i took them to a butcher ( i couldnt do it as i raised them from day olds). It's a shame too because my boys never tried to challenge me; very mellow and sweet boys...even at 8 months!
...what the hardest part was, was picking one roo to keep out of the 3 roos that i had. My favorite (henry- the sweetheart/lap chicken)was not the choice bc he was a coward...he'd run when he saw a hawk w/o warning the ladys. The middle guy was too rough and ate weather or not the ladys got any. The oldest one (gilda) was the most mellow yet protective and has overall impressed me (great roo).
I just had a lady bring back 2 chickens that I gave her that turned out to be Roosters. They were 3 months old and I put them on my local craigslist and I got 6 emails from people who wanted them. Its worth a shot. These Roosters were super friendly too, so I say make them lovable, then rehome them. I guess it probably depends on where you live too.
This is a VERY good question to be asking now. I think that everyone who hatches chicks, even those who order sexed chicks from hatcheries, should have their Plan In Place for any unwanted roosters they might get. Even the hatcheries cannot guarantee 100% accuracy with their sexing. Here is the reality of life for roosters -- there are far more, about 90% more, roosters hatched than there are positions available for them as breeders, flock husbands, yard ornaments, or pets. The vast majority of roosters have their purpose on a plate somewhere. And there are far worse things that could happen to a chicken than to live a pleasant but short life and then provide nourishment for a grateful human family. Once I learned how to process my extra cockerels for our table I no longer had to worry when I would see my home-hatched chicks' combs growing larger & redder. I am also the happy recipient of extra cockerels from other nearby hatchers. Processing wasn't too difficult for me to learn & to continue doing. Now my kids know that some of the chicks we hatch will give us breakfast, others will be lunch & dinners. If you aren't going to grow out your roo-boys for your table then it would be best to find someone who will take them as soon as you have a positive identification of their sex. Which could be as early as 4-6 weeks. Maybe there are some BYC members in your area who would like them. Otherwise, ask around at your local feed store. If you keep them longer you'll just get more attatched to them, and spend more $$$ feeding them. It will be difficult, but make sure your kids also don't start getting overly attatched to them when they hatch, start giving them names and stitching little Christmas stockings for them. Get familiar with the phrase "IF we keep this one we'll name it..."
