if we end up with Roos

Hopefulloflove

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Ok, so we have 20 chicks..not sure which, if any are Roos....so if we do get roos, the question is to keep or not to keep...what would we expect with Roos.....how can we keep them, if we don't keep them, where can we sell them?I know, prob sounds likee a dumb question....just thinking ahead.
 
We called our local hatchery and asked if there were any places that would take them but not kill them. They gave us a few names so we took our roo out and now he's happily living with like 50 other Roos.
 
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Then your best not to hatch eggs or buy chicks that aren't sexed as pullets. 99% of the people who will buy a roo are going to eat it, not give it a "pet" home.
 
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Does he have any hens? I can't see a roo being happy living with a bunch of other roos...
 
You won't feel so bad about them being eaten once you see them gang raping your hens. Seriously, too many roosters to hens is nothing but problems! I just butchered 10 roosters from my flock and now the hens are so much happier with just ONE nice rooster.
 
Once you sell something or give it away, you lose control. That is a fact of life.

If you want to keep them, you can create a bachelor pad. That is a pen where only roosters live. No hens at all allowed. They will pretty much get along same as a flock of pure hens if there are no ladies around to get the hormones flowing. You'll still have the same pecking order issues that you would have with a flock of pure hens but you should not have the breeding rooster aggressions. I'm not going to tell you that this will work out perfectly for you. Sometimes flocks with only hens and no roosters still have chickens die because of pecking order issues. They are unique living animals with their own personalities. No one can tell you what will happen, just what our experiences have been and what you can expect to PROBABLY happen. Chickens and their behaviors are not consistent.

Not knowing how many roosters you have compared ot how many hens, I'm not going to tell you that you cannot keep several roosters with your hens. There is no magic ratio that eliminates all potential problems, nor is there a magic ratio that assures you will have problems. That 10 to 1 ratio you see a lot is the ratio commercial operations use to assure fertility using the pen breeding method. It has nothing to do with overmated hens or roosters fighting. But the more roosters you have, the more likely you are to have problems, so my normal advice is to keep as few roosters as you can and meet your goals. And even then, you might have to make some hard decisions.
 
Thank you everyone...I know I sounded lame, but I am going to have to really work on gearing my mind towards ever "eating" any of my chickens...lol, it's just the way I am ...I eat chicken, in fact just ate some for lunch, but not one of "my" chickens. As for selling them on Craigslist, I would be ok with that...I am fine as long as I don't know...kwim? I am really praying that I have mostly pullets as that is what we sure tried for. I am not going to sweat it and just make the decisions once we see what we have...Thanks for the input everyone..I will probably be back in a couple of months, once I know for sure! LOL

Thanks! I love this board!
 

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