My heart is too big!

[Katie386]

I might have too many roosters but im I’m attached to them. I know you need 10 hens for every rooster, I have 9 hens, 7 pullets , 1 rooster , 1 cockerel, and 9 chicks. I think four of the chicks are male though that would be 6 roosters. My question really is : if I give away some roosters What are the chances someone will kill and eat them. My birds are pets and will be buried when they die like a loved pet should be. But I don’t want unhappy birds. the roosters will be Cochins and one bantam Cochin and I think a Rhode Island Red so he’s big. I’m not sure if Cochins fight though they’re so fat and fluffy unlike the RIR.

 

[birdlover2]

I might have too many roosters but im I’m attached to them. I know you need 10 hens for every rooster, I have 9 hens, 7 pullets , 1 rooster , 1 cockerel, and 9 chicks. I think four of the chicks are male though that would be 6 roosters. My question really is : if I give away some roosters What are the chances someone will kill and eat them. My birds are pets and will be buried when they die like a loved pet should be. But I don’t want unhappy birds. the roosters will be Cochins and one bantam Cochin and I think a Rhode Island Red so he’s big. I’m not sure if Cochins fight though they’re so fat and fluffy unlike the RIR.

Well, if the roos get along now and have grown up together or are properly integrated, they may not fight. And actually, my mother currently has 9 adult (or close to adult) bantams, 3 of which are roosters. They get along fine and have not over-mated any hens so far. (They can barely seem to mate with the hens, they chase them and try to mate but the hens are so fast and they can never catch them XD they haven't yet figured out how to romance the hens to get them to lie down so they can mate, and the hens don't have much interest as of yet), but anyways, I've seen the 10 hens per rooster guideline, but I've also seen the 3 hens per roo guideline. My mother got a batch of three grow-out chicks that are still peeping less than a week ago, and it's one roo and two hens in that batch, I've heard of people keeping a single hen and rooster pair. It's all about temperment and enviroment, and whether the roos get along. If they don't end up getting along u can give them away to those you've checked out, or sell them for more money so that it wouldn't be profitable for someone to kill them and sell their meat. U can also find someone who wants a pet chicken that lives with them and all by themself as their pet so they don't want to kill them. Also, if over-mating is the problem u can always get more hens to solve that problem.

 

[Tamdog]

I am afraid of roosters. As a rule, some chickens are pets, some are on the menu at a restaurant in your town. Perhaps you can find a home that is loving and someone will take your roosters as a pet. But, probably would be hard because Roosters do not lay eggs and some have a bad temperament. As a female human, it breaks my heart to see those mean ole roosters constantly mating the little hens.

 

[Homesteadermomma6382]

I have this same problem. My heart is too big. All 43 of my babies have names and are as dear to me as all my other animals. I have had 3 roosters at one time (down to 2 no thanks to a fox). If you have the space to give each roo and few girls 3 or 4) ive found it works well. Right now I only have 9 layers with the 2 rir roos. And they are ok. I have a few girls that were getting ever bred when I had the 3 so I made them aprons and they are healing up nicely. The 3rd roo had his own 3 "followers" that jumped the fence with him every morning. Hence the fox. He got all 4 of them.plus 3 of my teen girls that had wandered. It was a devestating day.

 

[Crestcrazy]

I have the same problem but i hope I can keep mine . I've got four roosters and my mom wants to eat the extras and it brakes my heart , their like pets to me I'm gonna try and convince her to let keep or re-home them .

 

[calichooks]

you have to find the right people! my barnevelder and speckled sussex boys were the sweetest things, but even at 6-7 weeks the barnevelder was making a bully out of himself. i posted them separately online and a man from hours away came to get both of them with his wife + one of our pullets. they now live on many acres and i’ve been sent pictures of them from him, which is nice. it’s hard to sell cockerels in my area since the surrounding places ban roosters but they came from the east and had lots of land. it’s sad but i can hope the two won’t be eaten, the speckled sussex is a sweetie and barnevelders can be a little hard to come by.