Rooster Dilemma

[Brooks_]

hubby will be mad

He'll get over it, if he knows what's good for him.

 

[TJAnonymous]

He'll get over it, if he knows what's good for him.

Says every wife to her husband....ha ha. I really want to tear down all my animal pens and rebuild everything from scratch this spring, but the price of lumber is just killing me. 2x4s are nearly $10/each. 4x4 posts are $20/each. That's simply INSANE.... But if I could somehow manage to redo my main coop area, then I could repurpose the current Silkie pen/coop into a bachelor pad. That would be WONDERFUL....

 

[troyer]

Don't make your husband mad. Not a good idea any way you look at it, try to work with him not against him.
You could simply eat them, they would probably taste better than you imagine. It would also be an experiment in reality. If I have a bunch of chickens it is my responsibility to take care of them, even if that means eating some of them. I have a breed color that's fairly rare, I also think at times, why would I eat these, I mean they're pretty rare! It's all a part of proper animal husbandry. With the breed I raise we eat anywhere from 75-125 a year and they are on the threatened list on the Livestock Conservancy website. https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/cubalaya-chicken/

 

[TJAnonymous]

Don't make your husband mad. Not a good idea any way you look at it, try to work with him not against him.
You could simply eat them, they would probably taste better than you imagine. It would also be an experiment in reality. If I have a bunch of chickens it is my responsibility to take care of them, even if that means eating some of them. I have a breed color that's fairly rare, I also think at times, why would I eat these, I mean they're pretty rare! It's all a part of proper animal husbandry. With the breed I raise we eat anywhere from 75-125 a year and they are on the threatened list on the Livestock Conservancy website. https://livestockconservancy.org/heritage-breeds/heritage-breeds-list/cubalaya-chicken/

Luckily I was able to find homes for these two fellas but I agree. If I'm going to let my girls (or myself) hatch out eggs, I better be prepared to deal with the extra boys. That means being OK with culling a Silkie, if necessary.

Believe it or not, I am trying to be a responsible flock owner for them and for us.

 

[troyer]

Luckily I was able to find homes for these two fellas but I agree. If I'm going to let my girls (or myself) hatch out eggs, I better be prepared to deal with the extra boys. That means being OK with culling a Silkie, if necessary.

Believe it or not, I am trying to be a responsible flock owner for them and for us.

I totally believe you. Even after being in a farming family my whole life and being involved in butchering hundreds of chickens, it's still not easy for me to kill them. I'm okay with that.

 

[Ellasroo]

Last spring (March 2021), I hatched out a clutch of Silkies. Unlucky for me....I still have 4 roosters. I've tried giving away 2 of them with no luck so I still have all 4. I tried Facebook, BYC, and NextDoor....offering them up for free. One is a Splash. The other is pure white. Both are beautiful birds and docile as most Silkies are.... Anyway, my dominant roo, Bruiser, is pure black. I really wanted to keep him for his genetics. However, this morning I went out to feed to find the white roo covered in blood. Apparently he had quite a scrap with Bruiser and was pretty banged up. I brought him inside and cleaned him up. He is currently staying in a 2x4 brooder pen I have inside. The other 2 roosters are terrified of Bruiser and stay hidden inside the coop. If Bruiser comes in the coop, they run outside to get away from him. Obviously this is not a good life for anyone except Bruiser so I have to figure out what to do. I am still trying to give away at least 2 of the roosters. I could cull them but that just feels awful to cull a Silkie. It's almost like culling your family dog, ya know?

I'm looking for feedback. If you were in this situation, what would you do?

It always sucks to end up with a bird that's negatively impacting your flock when you want to keep it. At the end of the day, the aggressive one should go because he will continue to cause problems with current and future roosters.

I've had good luck giving up roosters on craigslist. Just make sure you know where your birds are going if you are looking for a pet home and not a breeder or culler.

Best of luck!

 

[adstowe]

I dont think that a rooster who's friendly to people and treats his girls well is a problem rooster just because he doesn't do well with other males.

 

[Folly's place]

As long as the flock doesn't need to contain other males, true. Here we have three breeding groups, and have up to five males, who have to get along. Maybe moving an otherwise nice rooster to a flock where he'd be the only one would be good.
Mary

 

[McChooky]

Craigslist is a good place to find or rehome roosters .I found a white Delaware rooster back in December after looking for 8 mo. Very few people raise chickens near me.

 

[Granitestater]

Have you tried craigslist, I found the most responses for free roosters through craigslist. If I couldnt find someone I personally would butcher them at some point instead of having to keep feeding them, and if you arent comfortable eating them pass them to a friend who is comfortable, thats what Id do

Have heard that cockfighters troll Craigslist for victims. Beware.