Official BYC Poll: What do you do with your roosters?

[RoseHawke]

Theoretically speaking the 50/50 rule should hold true. However, in chicken terms it’s more like 60/40, or even 70/30, males/females!

Just sharing my experience!

It depends on the numbers. It's like if you get 24 chicks and 18 are males with 6 females, the next batch of 24 might be the other way around which would make it 50/50 overall. The fellow who picked up my extra roos this morning related how someone he knew had picked up a supposed 10 Barred Rock females from Tractor Supply which ended up being 9 males and 1 female of White Leghorns. So someone screwed up all the way around.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Who dispatches as chicks? I would find that very hard to do. Especially since you are not getting anything out of them in terms of meat!

While I want to breed sex-links, I know that the roosters will either get raised up for meat or given away/sold (if possible, I am not sure yet). Keeping a bachelor pad is money and time going into birds that are not giving much in return (i.e. meat and eggs). While I understand that some people raise roosters for the fun of it, I only keep a few for chicks. Otherwise, they are just more effort for little return.

Personally, I like eating meat that I've raised. I don't like the actual slaughter, especially killing the bird (my father does this, I can't bring myself to). But after that, I heartily look forward to the meat. I no longer feel guilt for taking a life, but pride in raising up dinner for my family.

The above is not to say I don't care about my chickens. I'll cry if one of my hens die, and even roosters (as happened last year, I lost two cockerels at 7.5 weeks to a coyote). But that is because it was out of my control, and I didn't get any benefit from it. It was not something that was intended to happen (those little cockerels were supposed to be dinner in 8 weeks!)

I offered to take a cockerel from a friend yesterday, which I probably wouldn't do if I didn't have a backdoor. My plan was to use him for breeding, and if he was aggressive or otherwise not needed anymore, then for stew. In the meantime, I would give him the best life possible as I do with my other birds. But in the end, for me, the chickens are livestock not pets.

 

[Mimi13]

It depends on the numbers. It's like if you get 24 chicks and 18 are males with 6 females, the next batch of 24 might be the other way around which would make it 50/50 overall. The fellow who picked up my extra roos this morning related how someone he knew had picked up a supposed 10 Barred Rock females from Tractor Supply which ended up being 9 males and 1 female of White Leghorns. So someone screwed up all the way around.

So far, my last year’s hatch and this year’s hatch’s numbers are sad, very sad. Spring of 2019, my total number of chicks was 11 and only 4 of them were pullets. This year I also had 11 hatch with only 3 being pullets. That equates to 15 cockerels and 7 pullets. Not a good ratio. I have 10 eggs under a broody right now. I so hope I’ll have several pullets in this hatch. If not, I think I’ll hang up my “hatching hat.”

 

[RoseHawke]

So far, my last year’s hatch and this year’s hatch’s numbers are sad, very sad. Spring of 2019, my total number of chicks was 11 and only 4 of them were pullets. This year I also had 11 hatch with only 3 being pullets. That equates to 15 cockerels and 7 pullets. Not a good ratio. I have 10 eggs under a broody right now. I so hope I’ll have several pullets in this hatch. If not, I think I’ll hang up my “hatching hat.”

Oh, dear, sorry to hear that. I was lucky, very lucky. I was originally only going to try setting 6 eggs but then figured that I'd have a better chance of getting the 5-6 pullets I wanted if I set at least a dozen. I ended up with 7 pullets and 4 cockerels. There's no help for it. You'll have to set at Least a hundred .

 

[RaZ]

I checked the "other" box. This is why.

I picked up a 2yo Chantie roo to watch over my mature hens. Also got a 14wo cockerel and some pullets. My flock has split into 2 distinct groups with each one have a watchful male. For example, yesterday an eagle was making the rounds. Both males had the girls tucked away in hidey-holes and kept them there until the eagle flew off.

So a roo or 2 to keep the hens safe(r). Besides I love to hear them crow.

 

[Studabird]

Do I understand you plan to eat these culled birds? I know nothing about your proposed method. Is it safe to eat after such exposure? I'd like to know more, and some safey info.

It is my understanding that inert has had no effect on meat or any harmful side effects. The theory is that the gas used is not poisonous it just has no oxygen in it so the animal passes out and then passes away.

 

[Chickenhappy8708]

We have had to "pullets" so far this year. I loved them both, but when, a 7 weeks old the GJ started to be a jerk to me and the other chickens, it was apparent he was unhappy, always outcasted, so we rehome him, as I could never eat a bird raised as a pet. My White Leghorn went through a "mean streak" a week ago, always pecking me, so I blocked my leg with a stick, he pecked that, not what he was expecting, he has been a sweetheart ever since, I love my rooster, he is Deffidently a character. I will post pics later.

 

[idahoroots]

Just this month though, we had a raccoon get one of the 2 roosters I have. It was horrific to come home to such a scene. I had been trying to give him away, he was so unique (backyard bred, some kind of Frizzle Banty), gorgeous hackles and he had one black eye and one yellow eye. But he was super mean. He would rush the fence at anyone/anything that walked by, and even though my 6 year old daughter raised him from chickhood, he was seriously out for her blood! God took care of the whole situation for me, as odd as that sounds. I have never butchered, I just can't do it.
RIP Rooster Dude. You looked super cool, but you should have known better than to challenge a raccoon...

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

As a rule, I generally try to sell surplus roosters (I keep a few for my flocks, but I hatch a lot, so end up with more than I can keep) unless they have attitude problems, but I also have no qualms about processing my own non-GMO fed, pastured birds if they don't sell before I need the space they occupy. These boys have good lives on my farm until their few "bad" (and quick) minutes, so I can enjoy the food they provide with the knowledge that they didn't suffer in a factory farm environment. I also only raise dual-purpose birds, so they're smaller and slower-growing than Cornish X, and that's fine by me.

 

[TLCMidMichigan]

This year I ended up with 17 roosters out of 33 chicks. I lost one today who got beat up real bad by a critter. So I'm down to 16 roosters. 14 will go to the butchering process. Via: the Amish. I 'll keep 2 for my 14 hens and hopes to hatch some next year. Their getting big and its 3 weeks to processing time. They will be a heavier bird, maybe 7-8 pounds then. They will be 16 weeks old then.
These are the Bielefelder birds.