Is it too early to cull roosters?

[judge]

We bought 12 chicks on April 1st and 6 of them ended up being roosters. I would like to keep one of them for our flock of 6 Red stars, 3 Plymouth Rocks and 2 White Chanticleers. They seem to be ganging up on the chickens and almost as a pack. Is it too early to cull them, or should I wait until they are a little older? Thanks!

 

[galanie]

Never too early to remove a problem. If you kill, you'll get a pretty small bird but you could separate them and finish growing them out or put them on Craigslist.

 

[donrae]

Ditto. You need to take care of your hens first, regardless of what you do with the roosters. Rehome them or seperate them to grow out for butcher or keep in a bachelor pad--just pull them off your hens now.

 

[1muttsfan]

If you intend to eat them, separate them into a boys-only pen and raise them for a while longer - 16 weeks at least. They should be separated from the hens regardless of your intentions.

 

[bobbi-j]

We just butchered one of our 15-week old Brahma X cockerels today. Not alot of meat on that little guy, yet. I also have too many cockerels and they're starting to give my pullets a hard time, so I'm thinking of locking them in a bachelor pen instead of letting them all free range. Then I can put them on finisher and maybe get some meat on their bones!

 

[judge]

ld love to remove them, but I don't have anywhere to put them. I won't be able to cull them until after the weekend. Is there a good way to mark the one that I want to keep? they are all starting to look alike and I'm afraid I will keep the wrong one. I am really new to chickens, so any info would really be appreciated. thanks!

 

[galanie]

Zip tie to the leg (loosely), or, since its a short amount of time, even a small spot of paint on his head.