Prepping for the inevitable, culling excess cockerels

[redinator]

I did cry the first time. I have field dressed a deer (2 decades ago) but not something I have raised. I "had" to do it to prove to myself that I could. Since then, I have culled/butchered 5 cockerels. Not easy to re-home a BYM cockerel to someone that will keep it alive.

I have traded 2 cockerels for 1 hen, which was wonderful. I can't see giving them to someone who will cull in a month, so I do it. We and our dog and cat eat chicken, though the animals eat it raw.

I did manage to rehome a few with people who live near me. They send occasional updates so I've made a few local connections with others that raise chickens. I ended up keeping one of the RIR cockerels because he was too sweet to be culled. He was supposed to go with the last batch of 5, which I'm sure were destined for the freezer, but I couldn't do it.

 

[C Siena]

I did manage to rehome a few with people who live near me. They send occasional updates so I've made a few local connections with others that raise chickens. I ended up keeping one of the RIR cockerels because he was too sweet to be culled. He was supposed to go with the last batch of 5, which I'm sure were destined for the freezer, but I couldn't do it.

Our #2 roo RIR (just turned 1 yr) is on the docile side, probably due to senior roo is 2 yr, kept him in line as a teenager and is king of both/all females. The RIR gets to mount but only when George, Buckeye #1, isn't looking.

 

[redinator]

Our #2 roo RIR (just turned 1 yr) is on the docile side, probably due to senior roo is 2 yr, kept him in line as a teenager and is king of both/all females. The RIR gets to mount but only when George, Buckeye #1, isn't looking.

My two older cockerels seem to co-court . . . one dances as the other mounts. I expected the one that mounted to get throttled, but I watched them do this a few times with different pullets and taking turns. I'm a little baffled but as long as they aren't trying to kill each other or overbred the pullets I let them be.

I have a side yard setup with food and water where I can put a few pullets if any seem to be getting chased around too much and need a break. I tried putting the boys over there but they were banging themselves against the fences and making such a scene I was worried they'd hurt themselves. The girls seem grateful, lol