Oh oh! (Warning: very sad...)

[Pickled Egg]

That must have been tough. My husband and I were almost in the same situation - more young roosters than we had expected. After raising them all from day old chicks, and naming some, noticing amazing quirky personalities coming out etc... I was dreading the day when we would have to do the deed. Having chickens for meat and eggs is part of a new life-style we are embracing: raising and growing our own food.

In the end, it was our dog that culled our flock (I stupidly let her loose while the chickens were free roaming). She killed 18 of our 22 chickens. We have 1 rooster and 3 pullets left, who will not end up being dinner.

Perhaps a morbid question, but as someone who will have to do the deed in the future when our new chicks grow up, was it hard to eat the roosters after you became attached to them?

 

[vnploveschickens]

Thanks for for BYC page and sharing your beautiful flock

and your storeis with all of us.

At this point, my DH & I keep saying that we won't be able to cull/eat any of ours but you never know what the future will bring. Thanks for sharing your feelings about what you had to do.

 

[Dixiedoodle]

This is the very reason I purchased point of lay hens and ONE and only one roo. I did not want to end up with a large number of roos that might need to be culled. I am sorry that this has been very sad for you.. We understand how hard it is..

 

[The Wolf Queen]

I REALLY sorry. Thankfully I havent had to do that yet and I figure this wont help much but I have a rule that I got from a friend.
If you name it you cant eat it.
For some reason I guess its easier if you didnt feel as familiar with birds. just think of that noise as a typical chicken noise.

 

[TheChickenShrink]

My wife and I wish to thank you all very much for your kind words and your support, it REALLY helps not to feel alone with our grief. We hope that these sad experiences will eventually help us comfort fellow backyard chicken farmers going through similar situations.

We obviously prefer to share the cute, fun and happy stuff, but I have learned with the years that it is important to share the sad bits too because, like the chinese proverb I once got in a fortune cookie said, "a shared joy is twice the joy, a shared sadness is only half the sadness."

But I have to say that today again was a sad day for us. This afternoon, I found our sweet Pamela dead in her nesting box (natural causes). You can find her picture and a little description on our BYC page. Let me just add that she was a caring and noble leader until the end. Every evening, she would first go to the young chicken's coop and wait until they were all inside, then go the adult hens' coop and stand on top of the nesting boxes until all her fellow ladies were in, and only then would she go perch on her roost.

Now, to answer a few questions in some replies to our post:

Yes, we will eat the meat of our beloved roosters, because we actually see it as a way to pay an ultimate homage to them. (Although someone could point out that we would never eat any of our dead relatives

, so I guess that it's an irrational argument.)

We have decided to raise some chicken for meat, but we will avoid to give them names and get too attached to them. We intend to treat them well though, as they will also enjoy a free range existence.

Despite that it most probably implies having again to cull roosters, we will get some twenty chicks next spring, as we hope to add a few more breeds to our flock. If it was possible to identify their sex as soon as they are hatched, we would obviously only choose pullets. (On the other hand, the excess cockerels of the breeder would still end up culled by someone else... Should we stop raising breeds that are not sexable as hatchlings?) And yes, we too suffer from chronic GGMC syndrome (Got-to-Get-More-Chicks). As I understand, it is a highly contagious condition and there is no known cure.

Finally, we are happy that you appreciate our BYC page. We also love to see the pictures and read the stories of fellow backyard chicken farmers, which is why we are so totally addicted to BYC!

Thanks again to all of you!!!

Pierre

 

[cw]

good luck with the raising meat chickens,
and absolutly
just cause you raise something fo meat dont mean you have to raise it cruely, or heartless
my meat birds are treated a whole lot better then our neighbors layers

 

[Judy]

In nature, chickens solve this problem by roos fighting to death. Simple fact is, chickens need a bunch more hens in the flock than roos. Hatcheries freeze some roo chicks to sell to snake owners, as one example of how they deal with this situation. Certainly, many end up as dog or cat food.

I figure if I can give them 3 to 4 months as real chickens, at which point they would ordinarily have to fight to the death to be the dominant roo in the flock, I am OK.

Saddest of all to me is people who get some chickens without having thought through the realities of the roo situation. There are just too many people out there who are trying to rehome a pet roo to a life of bliss in someone else's flock.

Circle of life. All living creatures survive by eating something that was once alive, or could have been.

 

[Mrs. Barn Builder (MBB)]

Hi Pierre,

You have my deepest sympathies.

We have an escape route - a monthly auction. We've tried the 'other way' several times. Even though my husband is a hunter, it is difficult to 'do' the chickens. Maybe this is part of being over 60, I don't know.

Take care.

Danielle

 

[ChicknJ]

I would like to thank you for your post. I have 5 EE cockerals too many and DH and I had the discussion this afternoon. Do I rehome these guys or do I eat them myself. Well, We have raised them (I incubated these ) I know what they have eaten, they have been hand raised, nice coop large free range area. Just does not make sense to let someone else have them and not know their ultimate outcome.
Ok, that being said, these guys are my babies, they will run to me.... then, I have to choose, which five? How am I going to do this?

I was strengthened by your words, the fact you struggled with the reality of having to process your Roos makes you a wonderful, responsible, caring compassionate animal owner.


NOw

and your avatar is

 

[quiltnchik]

Quote:
Wow! What a powerful and moving statement!