Rogue rooster

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Well... I ended up killing him. The people I was fairly certain he belonged to had moved, and he attacked my roo again today. Mine is acting okay, but he was covered in blood. I tried to lure my birds into the coop with some food, and I'd get all but one in, so I couldn't shut the door. It was getting close to the time I needed to leave for work (in fact, I ended up having to come in late), so something had to be done. My birds had been penned up for several days in the hopes that the other rooster would lost interest, but that obviously wasn't the case. It wasn't really the way I had hoped to handle the situation, but the meat isn't going to go to waste...

 

[centrarchid]

Well... I ended up killing him. The people I was fairly certain he belonged to had moved, and he attacked my roo again today. Mine is acting okay, but he was covered in blood. I tried to lure my birds into the coop with some food, and I'd get all but one in, so I couldn't shut the door. It was getting close to the time I needed to leave for work (in fact, I ended up having to come in late), so something had to be done. My birds had been penned up for several days in the hopes that the other rooster would lost interest, but that obviously wasn't the case. It wasn't really the way I had hoped to handle the situation, but the meat isn't going to go to waste...

Chicken Thief, I am telling!

Hope he tastes good!

 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Eeek!!

 

[xC0000005]

Good work. A rooster at large can be a pest/predator every bit as much as a coon.

Well... I ended up killing him. The people I was fairly certain he belonged to had moved, and he attacked my roo again today. Mine is acting okay, but he was covered in blood. I tried to lure my birds into the coop with some food, and I'd get all but one in, so I couldn't shut the door. It was getting close to the time I needed to leave for work (in fact, I ended up having to come in late), so something had to be done. My birds had been penned up for several days in the hopes that the other rooster would lost interest, but that obviously wasn't the case. It wasn't really the way I had hoped to handle the situation, but the meat isn't going to go to waste...

 

[dragonmorgan]

I think you did the right thing. That rooster coulda really hurt (or killed) your roo so you had to do what was best for your flock. He obviously wasnt gettin the hint.

 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

No, I know I did the right thing. It was really, the only thing I could have done. I feel justified in defending my birds on my own property, and if I ever do find the owner, I will compensate them if they wish.

But I've never killed anything before, so this was a first. I don't know any other women who have killed anything or hunt, so it just seems like a very odd thing to have done. I feel kind of like a freak...

 

[bj taylor]

how did you kill it? did you shoot it or what? i haven't been in your shoes yet, but i figure the day will come in some fashion if i keep chickens for any length of time.

 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Yeah, I shot it with a .22. I had a good, clean shot, and there was surprisingly little blood. I had a friend who is experienced with hunting come over and show me how to gut it. I'd taken the breast meat off of hens last year after they'd been killed by a stray dog, but I wasn't sure how to deal with the innards without making a mess. I just took the skin off instead of plucking, and I'll put him in the crock pot for soup when I get home tonight.

We are going to raise meat birds this summer, so I'm glad I got a bit of early experience killing something before I have to do it production-line fashion. And it's not the killing itself that I'm bothered by at the moment; it's more of the realization of how far from a "normal" life I've come. DH and I are learning to homestead, but neither of us was raised to do things like this. While some of my friends and family are into gardening and canning, sewing, or other homemaking skills, I'm the only one (besides my friend who hunts) that is willing to kill my own food. I feel very apart from society in a way I haven't before, in spite of all our atypical life choices thus far.

 

[darin367]

in my opinion you're experiencing a more "normal life" than all the people that have no clue as to where they're food comes from, or how to process their own food!!!

 

[diana_of_the_dunes]

in my opinion you're experiencing a more "normal life" than all the people that have no clue as to where they're food comes from, or how to process their own food!!!

I totally agree. That's why we do it!