Let's get this part over with....

[DobieLover]

So how long does it typically take to raise a rooster until time to harvest?
and do I just keep all of my flock together?

You'd want to remove all the cockerels to a bachelor grow out pen. Usually, people process them around 5-6 months of age. If you kept all the boys in with the pullets, the pullets would be brutalized and the egg production would drop dramatically.
If you want to keep one good cockerel, once they all reach sexual maturity, you could put a different boy a week in with the ladies and see how he behaves with them and with you. It does take time for them to learn manners and how to win over the girls but some seem to be better coming out of the starting gate than others. And RIRs are notorious for having human aggressive roosters so you'd want to watch out for that. But each bird is an individual so you just never know.
There are benefits to having a rooster or two in your flock other than making more little chickens.

 

[DobieLover]

What a GREAT story and introduction! A belated welcome to the forum.

I have a lot of surplus roosters also, most of them little bantam crosses too small to eat and like you too soft hearted to butcher. I have a rooster pen they go into to live out their lives if they can't work out their pecking order or pester the hens too much. That doesn't mean I don't use extreme prejudice with the occasional troublemaker or misfit. It just doesn't happen often in my flock and where I live, you can't give roosters away as everyone has chickens.

Sure look forward to seeing you post about your flock and experiences.

Do you eat chicken?
I completely agree with the difficulty of doing your own butchering. I've never killed anything. BUT I do eat chicken and can't stand supporting the commercial meat chicken industry. So I really do want to raise my own meat birds.
I have a friend from Bosnia who used to help her grandmother process chickens on their farm. She is willing to help me process them but neither of us can do the actual killing.
I allowed my broody hen to hatch eggs. I gave her 4. Three hatched. I have two cockerels. I think these will be the first ones I will raise for meat. My friend will get one and my DH and I the other. My neighbor, who hunts and is very conscientious of animal welfare, will "do the deed" for us.

 

[Mybackyardpeepers]

Good morning Lee, what a nice intro and a official welcome to the BYC flock!!!

 

[fldiver97]

Good morning! Here’s another ‘official’ welcome!

 

[sourland]

Good morning, Lee, and a belated welcome to BYC.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

Hi! Welcome to our FUNomenal Flock! Best wishes and have lots of fun!

 

[townchicks]

Welcome. I like the name Jeremiah, good choice. I sure get that it's hard to butcher birds that you've raised and named. I don't have to make those decisions because I live in the burbs, and can't have roos. Since you do need to do something with those boys, if you think you can eat them, but not kill them yourself, you could look to see if there is anyone in your area that will process chickens. I have a friend that does that with her meat birds. She sends them to him and gets them back cleaned and ready for the freezer. For a fee, of course. If you think you can, there are some good threads on here about humanely harvesting birds.

 

[microchick]

Do you eat chicken?
I completely agree with the difficulty of doing your own butchering. I've never killed anything. BUT I do eat chicken and can't stand supporting the commercial meat chicken industry. So I really do want to raise my own meat birds.
I have a friend from Bosnia who used to help her grandmother process chickens on their farm. She is willing to help me process them but neither of us can do the actual killing.
I allowed my broody hen to hatch eggs. I gave her 4. Three hatched. I have two cockerels. I think these will be the first ones I will raise for meat. My friend will get one and my DH and I the other. My neighbor, who hunts and is very conscientious of animal welfare, will "do the deed" for us.

Yes, actually I do. I recently was diagnosed with a degenerative disease in my spine and joints that is only going to progress with time. As a result, I decided to downsize my flock of 80 birds by 50%. I rehomed 30 birds, mainly hens and a few cockerels to a next door neighbor in exchange of them butchering 20 birds for me, mainly 4+ year old BO's and Welsummers that were laying poorly due to age and not wanting to venture out to free range. Those hens along with a few cockerels went to 'freezer camp' and remain there.

So far I have processed three into stock that I freeze and get out to use for casseroles and soups and I'm hoping to use the breast and leg meat of the others to experiment with grinding my own chicken meat.

I have to admit that I had to overcome a HUGE mental block when it came to eating my birds. First cockerel that went into the crock pot was the hardest. I think I set with a fork full of thigh meat poised in front of my mouth for 5 minutes before I could take that first bite. I finally convinced myself that this meat was the same as I bought at the store only better! No hormones, no antibiotics, no worming medicine. Pure unadulterated chicken and it's life was not in vain because it was feeding me!

While he was still a bit tough, he was delicious and prompted me to press on with processing the butchered birds into a useable product.

Plus our farm is a hobby farm, which means what we have here we raise for our own consumption and the excess, be it meat, eggs, fruit, veggies or even hay, goes to our neighbors free of charge and in thanks for all the blessings we have known. We share the bounty of our farm with others.

 

[NHMountainMan]

Hello all and thank you for your support! I'm not Jeremiah Lee. He died over 100 years ago, I think. I liked his name so I chose that instead of my own, although I am Lee, lol. So I understand an introduction is in order? I've been writing for a bit in "BackYardChickens" for a bit but guess my manners failed me, so here goes the quick version.

I have around 30 quasi free range chickens that begin by default. My next door neighbor raised about six RIR hens. He had a rooster and dumb me did not put two and two together to realize what that rooster was being raised for. I now know and realize why that rooster left one night and never was returned in his cage. I cannot abide the thought of chicken fights. It sickens me.

Anyway, he quit feeding his hens. Everyday they would walk up to me and when I was sitting on my porch I would throw out some seeds for them. They got so friendly they actually would eat out of my hands, lol. I started feeding them every single day because he wouldn't. Well, that was well and good but even though he had abandoned them, they continued laying their eggs for HIM. I'm generous but not stupid. I told him I was going to keep them and when I say "keep" I meant keep. I put a large six or seen foot mesh fencing around a huge area in my side yard, "installed" two prebuilt chicken coops with nesting boxes, and have expanded it. I added six Leghorns, raised in my dadgum guest bathtub (I've done this one other time and I promise it won't happen again). The Leghorns are the funniest ones because they are so social with me. They "talk" to me when I go in the pen every morning. The RIR's are just nosy, and mean when they're broody.

I'm the guy that wrote about the vicious attack from the Red Tailed Hawk and my "fetching the Daisy BB gun" to ward off the massive raptor. I've written other post and all of you have been so helpful. I appreciate this place and the people and thank you whole-heartedly for your support. I use some of the nine eggs I get a day (or was getting) and give the rest to the homeless soup kitchen. I know I go in the hole money-wise with my buying the feed and all, but I've enjoyed this newfound hobby. I have MS and Crohn's disease and am disabled, but I love doing this. My neighbor helps so much and I'm grateful. He doesn't talk to them like I do, but that's OK. I don't think they have much to say to him either. I'm in South Carolina upstate and am 63 years old. My two grown children think I'm crazy for doing this, but that's their problem. lol. I won't allow my neighbor to just let the excess roosters out just because I know they'll get run over by a car or eaten by God knows what. At the same time, I'm not gonna pluck a chicken. He thinks he knows how and perhaps he can, but you cannot eat a chicken you've named! Actually, I can't imagine doing it, although I've had to "take care" of an aggressive rooster, if you know what I mean. I learned that you never assume your neighbor has sharpened an ax blade so that one whack will do what is necessary. He didn't, it didn't and I resorted to emergency measure with my own knife and medical school anatomy knowledge to quickly end the saga. I promised there would NOT be a next time. I do wonder, however, with so many new roosters that were hatched, what to do with them because everyone is giving them away, or "trying" to. The market is flooded with free roosters. These adolescents are about to challenge my Pete and that won't be a pretty sight.

Well that's who I am "chicken-wise." Now I can check that box and say "I've done that now." Take care, all.[/Q
Great introduction! Welcome and good luck. Hope your health stabilizes and your continue to enjoy your flock!

 

[DobieLover]

Yes, actually I do. I recently was diagnosed with a degenerative disease in my spine and joints that is only going to progress with time. As a result, I decided to downsize my flock of 80 birds by 50%. I rehomed 30 birds, mainly hens and a few cockerels to a next door neighbor in exchange of them butchering 20 birds for me, mainly 4+ year old BO's and Welsummers that were laying poorly due to age and not wanting to venture out to free range. Those hens along with a few cockerels went to 'freezer camp' and remain there.

So far I have processed three into stock that I freeze and get out to use for casseroles and soups and I'm hoping to use the breast and leg meat of the others to experiment with grinding my own chicken meat.

I have to admit that I had to overcome a HUGE mental block when it came to eating my birds. First cockerel that went into the crock pot was the hardest. I think I set with a fork full of thigh meat poised in front of my mouth for 5 minutes before I could take that first bite. I finally convinced myself that this meat was the same as I bought at the store only better! No hormones, no antibiotics, no worming medicine. Pure unadulterated chicken and it's life was not in vain because it was feeding me!

While he was still a bit tough, he was delicious and prompted me to press on with processing the butchered birds into a useable product.

Plus our farm is a hobby farm, which means what we have here we raise for our own consumption and the excess, be it meat, eggs, fruit, veggies or even hay, goes to our neighbors free of charge and in thanks for all the blessings we have known. We share the bounty of our farm with others.

That's awesome! I share as much excess produce from my hardens as I can as well.