Maine

[Cknldy]

Raise the extra roos for the meat! Don't coddle them like the ones you plan to keep so it will be easier to butcher them when the time comes. I thought it was going to be hard on my kids when we had some roos that were ready for the freezer but it is the opposite. The kids have been begging to butcher my big BO boy! He is almost a rooster now and huge. I keep telling the kids that he isn't for butchering because he is my "Big Pappa" for chicks;-) They are now eyeballing the males in the grow out coop. I find it hard to be like a hatchery and kill male chicks. (reminds me of China's child laws and the devastion to babies that results from it)

 

[lazy gardener]

I've wondered if putting the rooster in a dark container would work, the down side being lack of ventilation, even if it were all cloth. But your milk crate idea bears consideration. It would be interesting to try. I'm guessing that if he can't extend his neck, he would not be able to crow, or get the satisfaction of crowing. thinking that perhaps kept in the milk crate, he'd be held in a "submissive" position, which should inhibit crowing. My roo starts at 5:30 AM, and continues ALL day long. In June, he started at 4:30. The only down side to the milk crate that I can see is that he might injure his comb on it.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I don't eat meat I haven't raised myself so for me, culling roosters at birth doesn't work on this farm.

I'd rather spend the money on feed and have a decent and treated well carcass at the end of it than nothing at all. I've even processed banties which make a nice single size meal for me.

 

[ashandvine]

If anyone has any brilliant ways of separating multiple cockerels, I'd love to see your ideas. My bachelor pen is dissolving into a bloody battleground. I hope to build something with multiple separate compartments, although I can't see coming up with a great plan before the October 4 butcher date. But maybe I can start on something for next year....., The season always seems to end in a scramble for individual cages.

Bucka, if you don't have easy rabbit or dog crates then try separating with tar paper stapled up.

 

[buckabucka]

Despite my complaining yesterday, I actually like raising the cockerels. The main thing is to be prepared with lots of space and/or cages. Normally, I use my carport as that extra space, but because of recent construction, DH has filled my entire carport with boards and other stuff, which led to my recent problems.

I think roosters are beautiful and I like watching them grow. I love the fact that each one has a different crow, and also get a good laugh out of those early crowing attempts. The fact that they turn into jerks makes it easier for me to send them to the freezer, and the meat is delicious.

Today I bought a couple of dishes at TSC. I think they were called goat mineral feeders. Anyway, they are sturdy and have two compartments. I bent some wire and hung them from the fence and cage partitions, putting water in one half and food in the other. That allowed me to eliminate 4 bowls that the cockerels were constantly walking through and soiling.

I set up a bigger, taller cage for the cockerel that I had crammed into a tiny cage in my haste last night, so now I have the small cage free for the next offender.

A long time ago we bought a couple long rows of cages that had housed battery hens. They are tiny and all connected, but DH had cut out some of the divisions and made 2 different cages with hinged lids. Our intention was to transport roosters in them, and we did, but two got away in Gardiner.

Now we have a more proper transport cage, but. I can use the old ones for solo housing. We have lots of battery hen cage left, so I hope to build more this weekend, either for the next jerk this month, or to prepare for next year's hatch.

 

[dowgirl71]

A girl I got my SS from posted something on FB about a special "no crow" harness that she plans to try. I'll get the details and let you guys know. This harness doesn't allow them to extend enough to crow but is supposed to be comfortable enough for them to get used to wearing. We'll see...

 

[dowgirl71]

A girl I got my SS from posted something on FB about a special "no crow" harness that she plans to try. I'll get the details and let you guys know. This harness doesn't allow them to extend enough to crow but is supposed to be comfortable enough for them to get used to wearing. We'll see...

She just sent me the link to it but I'm not very computer "savy." So, it's called No Crow Rooster Collar and it can be found on My Pet Chicken. She's having good luck with the ones she has, now. I hope this helps with the crowing problems, anyway!:/

 

[lazy gardener]

Beware. I've been following the threads on those. They work by restricting the airway a bit. A lot of people have put them on their roosters, and they've worked for a while, until they find the rooster dead. Sounds like they've choked b/c they can't get food down past the collar, or possibly have a build up of secretions that block the airway.

 

[islandgirl82]

A girl I got my SS from posted something on FB about a special "no crow" harness that she plans to try. I'll get the details and let you guys know. This harness doesn't allow them to extend enough to crow but is supposed to be comfortable enough for them to get used to wearing. We'll see...

Beware. I've been following the threads on those. They work by restricting the airway a bit. A lot of people have put them on their roosters, and they've worked for a while, until they find the rooster dead. Sounds like they've choked b/c they can't get food down past the collar, or possibly have a build up of secretions that block the airway.

I've also been following threads on these collars and it seems that the majority of people who are having real success (instead of no change at best or fatality at worst) are those using them as training tools instead of just leaving them on. They're putting it on the roo when he's crowing but when he's been quiet for a while, removing it and only putting it back on if he starts up again. That means devoting A LOT of time to watching your roo to catch him in the act in order to "correct" his behavior.

 

[Tnic]

Rooster drama has got to be the single biggest down side to raising chickens. I'm starting to think that the way to go might be to just breed sex-links and auto-sexing birds, and euthanize the roosters at hatch. It's a tough call to make. The other option would be to raise them out to 12 weeks, and then cull, ending up with tiny little single serving sized birds. I doubt that the feed expenditure, and time spent in processing would make that option worth while. Opinions????

Caponizing?

Nice docile, big, plump n juicy, tender birds ready to head to the table when you're to pluck one.