Is this immoral?

[mamabahre]

So I have stumbled across something that maybe others have figured out as well.
People are ALWAYS looking to get rid of roosters.
I posted an ad on CL because we want one for the ladies so we can hopefully have some little babies at some point and I got FLOODED with responses. At this point I have been offered about 30 roosters from different people.

I am wondering how awful a human being I would be if I took them to cull for the freezer. I am so not opposed to eating even older roosters, I have some excellent chicken crock pot recipes and frankly it would save us A LOT of money.

There are a couple of practical concerns I have, first being disease transmission, even if the roosters would only be alive for a day or 2 that I had them and kept them very very separate from my regular flock.
Also in my head I am trying to figure out if the costs would balance out with me driving all over the place to pick up roosters and the cost of gas these days.

Finally is it just wrong? I mean, I feel like it is wrong if I don't tell people what I am going to do with them. Then again if I DID tell people that I was just going to kill them, I feel like a lot of people would be horrified (but they don't mind buying their foul, horribly treated meat from the grocery store ((rolling eyes here)) and not give me the birds.

So what do you think, I think there are a few people who do this on BYC and I am wondering if I am a horrible person for considering it. These are FREE birds and meat is meat and my family likes it's meat.

 

[dadsdeercamp]

free meat sounds good to me

 

[mamabahre]

yeah!
but not necessarily telling people where their roosters are going to end up very quickly??

 

[celticbird]

Hmmmm I think as long as they didn't specify not to.....I don't think so in a way maybe doing a service lol. As for disease id look them over very well and once I got them home I would keep them for at least a week or so to watch for signs of a problem. As for overall cost with chicken in the stores now im sure it would be worth your wild. Just my opinion.

 

[mamabahre]

Well compared to us having to pay 4 bucks a pound at the local farm where we usually buy 3 roasters at a time, I think it will be cheaper.

I hadn't thought about keeping them for a week to make sure they don't fall ill suspiciously..That is a good idea.
I mean I really got swamped with offers here! It is crazy but not surprising because most of the towns around here don't allow roos at all.

I want to do it! I am just trying to get DH on board, it will also give me great practice for processing so when we eventually start doing our own meat birds I will be hopefully pretty good and efficient.

 

[cobrien]

If anyone cares what you do with the rooster, they would ask explicitly. So I don't think it is immoral to eat them if they don't ask. But imagine this scenario: you tell them you'll take the rooster and when you meet face to face THEN they say 'so you don't plan to eat him, right?', then it would be wrong not to tell them and you wasted some time. It's going the extra morality mile, but I'd tell them up front.

 

[mamabahre]

Quote:
Yeah I don't think I could lie straight faced to someone if they asked me if I was going to kill their buddy who they just have to give up..

I was thinking of posting another ad on CL specifically stating that I am willing to take roos that people can't keep and they would be humanely slaughtered to feed my family.
I am currently wading through emails of all the people who responded to my first ad though.

 

[oldchickenlady]

If they don't ask...dont tell. If they do ask...be honest!

 

[chickengrl]

I realize when I post a rooster on CL that the buyer will probably eat them. I would think that as long as someone didn't post that they were NOT for food, it would be ok to do with them what you want. I think it is very nice of you to even consider this issue. Most would not.

 

[GiddyMoon]

If your ad is leading people to believe you want a rooster to father chicks, then yes..that is wrong becuase people are going on what you say..they are happy to give you a rooster who will go to a farm and father babies...however if your ad just states...looking for free older roosters, etc..then no..