never had a rooster before, so what to do with so many?

[Erinne]

I let my grandchildren choose chicks this year. We got all straight run based entirely on my 12 year old granddaughters impassioned plea of male chicks left to die in cold or being ground up solely because they are male . OH and THANK you to the person who identified our mystery chicks as silver laced Wyandotte ....spot on..........
well my juveniles have taken on several characteristics and I think I identified at least 9 as cockerals..and maybe a couple "wait and see".... They are 3 Rhode island Red, 3 barred rock, 2 Silver laced Wyandotte and one Buff Orpington.... Too many roos and not enough ladies hahahaha

I would at least ONE rooster because my ladies are totally free range. (we do lock up at night) we have 50 acres of mostly woods. The Ladies keep down the ticks here plus other things that go bump in the grass. this year my small flock was reduced from 22 to 7 for unknown causes, probably accident or predators.... (we had chickens now for 8 years and never had issue til this year).
Anyway..... What am I supposed to do with all the cockerals? I know they are will NOT get along with the others......... Do I wait to see what kind of characteristics they have before I rehome or rather attempt to rehome?

 

[bobbi-j]

That's a decision only you can make. I'm not sure how many hens/pullets you have, but once those boys reach breeding age, you need to have a plan in place to either separate them or remove them entirely. They will harass your girls to no end (ask me why I know this). Cockerels reach sexual maturity sooner than pullets, and can be rough on them.

Your granddaughter's heart is in the right place, but one should not buy straight run or hatch their own chicks without an exit plan in place for extra males. We eat ours.

 

[Erinne]

I am afraid that my grandkids would be distraught at the eating option hahahahaha
on the other hand when my grandson first learned about eggs, he stuck his hand under a hen and pulled one out and said "I want this one for breakfast its still warm" (he was 5)

 

[junebuggena]

You have a few options. You could simply slaughter them to feed the family. Or you could give them away, most likely to end up on someone else's dinner table. Or you could build them their own bachelor coop and pen, away from the ladies. Without hens to fight over, roosters can live together quite peacefully. However, there may be a few trouble makers that may have to be dealt with.

 

[redranger209]

You might have to post pics to confirm cockerels. It seems unbelievable that 9 out of 12 are male. I know we can confirm the barred rocks because of the coloring.

 

[Erinne]

I am about 90 percent sure about the gender at this point ( comb, wattle, tailfeathers etc) but second opinions never come amiss. will have to see about get a picture up for my mixture of juveniles hahah ( 4 grandkids each chose 4 )

 

[Erinne]

Additional
might have to wait til tomorrow whens its warmer and not as nasty out as it is this afternoon tho..... about 40 right now and raining. Granddaughter told me she put them all in the hutch and turned the heat on hahaha (one of those newer filled radiant space heaters)...... i went out and they were all huddled at the back near where it was......

 

[beth1004]

Good luck, my 4 out of 4 straight run of silkies were all cockerels. 3 need new homes, lol.

 

[keesmom]

I let my grandchildren choose chicks this year. We got all straight run based entirely on my 12 year old granddaughters impassioned plea of male chicks left to die in cold or being ground up solely because they are male . OH and THANK you to the person who identified our mystery chicks as silver laced Wyandotte ....spot on..........
well my juveniles have taken on several characteristics and I think I identified at least 9 as cockerals..and maybe a couple "wait and see".... They are 3 Rhode island Red, 3 barred rock, 2 Silver laced Wyandotte and one Buff Orpington.... Too many roos and not enough ladies hahahaha

I would at least ONE rooster because my ladies are totally free range. (we do lock up at night) we have 50 acres of mostly woods. The Ladies keep down the ticks here plus other things that go bump in the grass. this year my small flock was reduced from 22 to 7 for unknown causes, probably accident or predators.... (we had chickens now for 8 years and never had issue til this year).
Anyway..... What am I supposed to do with all the cockerals? I know they are will NOT get along with the others......... Do I wait to see what kind of characteristics they have before I rehome or rather attempt to rehome?

If you are having predator problems, you may want to pen your birds for a while. A rooster may be some help as a warning system or as a speed bump during an attack, but there is a lot they can't stand against.

What happens to the excess cockerels is up to you. You can keep them in a bachelor flock if you don't mind constant crowing, feeding unproductive birds, and additional work in keeping a second pen. You could process them for the freezer. That's what we do. My 12 year old daughter looks forward to eating the cranky ones. Or you can rehome/give them away though they will likely go to someone else's freezer.

You might have to post pics to confirm cockerels. It seems unbelievable that 9 out of 12 are male. I know we can confirm the barred rocks because of the coloring.

75% males in straight run isn't unusual. If you select a large enough sample of chicks then you'll have on average 50% male/50% female. With smaller numbers the gender ratio often is skewed one way or the other. Unfortunately I've never had a pullet heavy hatch...

 

[aart]

We got all straight run based entirely on my 12 year old granddaughters impassioned plea of male chicks left to die in cold or being ground up solely because they are male .

OhBoy...just like a cock/erel might only be a speed bump on the way to the buffet....you merely delayed the inevitable dilemma of too many male chickens and what happens to them.
I hope you, and she, are ready for the 'where does food come from' lesson and can enjoy some tasty rooster-n-noodles.

plus other things that go bump in the grass.

This cracked me up!!