Rooster chicks - what to do with them

[Ren2014]

I took my extra chicks to the local feed store, they were about to gladly take them from me and sell them but a lady in the store took them off my hands. As long as they are healthy I would think a local small feed store that sells chicks would take them, its all profit for them.

Great idea! Didn't think of this. Thank you.

 

[Nonnie195]

I noticed that you have 5 roos. My first set of chicks consisted of 4 barred rock and 4 buff orpingtons. I was told by an "old timer" that they were all female. I guess he went home laughing because I ended up with 8 roos. Of course, I did not know until they started crowing. It took me forever to give them away. I know some of them ended up being part of the "chain of life" for some other animals, and some of them ended up being someones dinner. I don't really like to think about it.

 

[realsis]

Sometimes you can give the roosters to a 4 H club and they give them to children to raise as pets and sometimes show.i had donated my roosters and they get good homes with the children. Just a thought..it saves their lives. Contact your local 4H Club and see if they are accepting donations.

 

[AmericanMom]

I would probably start eating them at 3 months and the last one I would eat before a year, maybe as late as 10 months. But I like butchering one at a time, aging it in the fridge for two days and then cooking. I like to skip the freezing the meat part.

The first one that I ate would be the one that started to be a bother first.

Truly though, that is how I do it.

Some roosters start to be all full of themselves sooner than others. I would hate to guess an exact age though.

But eating whoever is being a pain makes the butchering more fun. I still remember one rooster we ate when the kids were still little. The rooster had started puffin up and trying to attack the kids, which was why we ate him. He was a little old, so we made him into an enchilada casserole. The kids would take their forks and stab it into the casserole and say things like "That is what happens when you give me owies! Hahahaha!" and "nasty rooster tastes GOOD!" It was great fun!

Totally agree! We waited til they were four months, at that point they were all crowing and although they didn't harass the pullets they were constantly after my older hens and getting ran off by the older roosters... Next time we will take care of them sooner...besides, lol, our neighbors will probably like that too... at one point we had 10 roosters crowing

 

[Ren2014]

I noticed that you have 5 roos. My first set of chicks consisted of 4 barred rock and 4 buff orpingtons. I was told by an "old timer" that they were all female. I guess he went home laughing because I ended up with 8 roos. Of course, I did not know until they started crowing. It took me forever to give them away. I know some of them ended up being part of the "chain of life" for some other animals, and some of them ended up being someones dinner. I don't really like to think about it.

O no, that's terrible! I would just die if all of mine turn out to be roos. I'm hoping Ideal sexed the warmer chicks wrong and that they all turn out to be girls

what a wonderful surprise that would be

 

[Ren2014]

Sometimes you can give the roosters to a 4 H club and they give them to children to raise as pets and sometimes show.i had donated my roosters and they get good homes with the children. Just a thought..it saves their lives. Contact your local 4H Club and see if they are accepting donations.

Another great idea! Thank you.

 

[Ren2014]

Totally agree! We waited til they were four months, at that point they were all crowing and although they didn't harass the pullets they were constantly after my older hens and getting ran off by the older roosters... Next time we will take care of them sooner...besides, lol, our neighbors will probably like that too... at one point we had 10 roosters crowing

Luckily our neighbors are all family. They put up with our Pyrenees barking all night because they keep the coyotes away but 5 roosters crowing at the crack of dawn may strain the relationship a bit,

 

[Nonnie195]

Ren2014, Love your pic. Chickies are so cute and they do the funniest things.

 

[Ren2014]

Ren2014, Love your pic. Chickies are so cute and they do the funniest things.

Thank you. OMG yes, they are hilarious! These are our first chicks and this guy cracked me up. Now they have me laughing because I put a bowl full of diced tomatoes in for them and they grab one like they won the lottery running around announcing it to everyone buth then try to hide and eat it

 

[Laci7210]

I was given 3 extra roosters that I couldn't keep because I already had a one with my hens, I advertised them on craigslist and got $4 a piece for them. I sold them when they were a few months old. I decided to keep one tho cause i divided my hens into 2 flocks. I personally would never kill them or give them to somebody who would.. I understand that there are too many roos for the amount of hens, but I cant stand killing animals! I love them too much