Rooster overload!

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klillie

klillie

Chirping
10 Years
Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
19
Reaction score
2
Points
82
Location
Vermont
Help! We purchased 24 hens and found out we had 18 hens and 6 roosters who 1) have been separated from the hens due to excessive mating, 2) excessive agressiveness within the roosters and 3) we did not pay for roosters and were expective hens. 4 months later we don't know what to do with them. Any humane ideas? The hens have become pets and egg producing mamas:rolleyes:.
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Wow, sorry about all those roos! You can also stop by your state thread and chat with your chicken neighbors and see if anyone will take them....https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/39326/vermont

You will need 20 posts before you can place an ad in our Buy Sell and Trade section, however this section is a good place to try and rehome them....https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/16182/animals-in-need-of-free-re-homing

Good luck and I hope you can find them good homes. :-)
 
We are all so new to chickens, roosters and this web page but appreciate your prompt reply. I was unaware of a Vermont link and may go that route. we have some folks interested but only for their meat and that would be a last resort.
 
Welcome to BYC! Glad you decided to join our flock. As you have indicated, you definitely need to get rid of all those extra roosters. The recommended ratio of roosters to hens is 1 rooster for every 10 hens. Any more roosters than that can quickly lead to aggression, fights, feather plucking, and over-bred and battered hens like you are experiencing. When you really get down to it, the only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching. I currently have 25 hens, no roosters, and I get loads of eggs without feeding any non-egg laying mouths, without the aggression, fights, crowing in the middle of the night, and over-bred and battered hens that frequently goes along with having roosters (especially too many of them). Hopefully you can find some way to trade those extra roosters in for some more hens. Good luck.
 
Thanks so much, I learn more from folks about the benefits of the various links than my own navigation here - it gets very confusing. We'll try to do a post on the Vermont link first.
 
Thanks, you posted previously on my introduction thread - I appreciate it. We have the less agressive ones in the permanent pen, 3 of them, and the other 3 in large dog kennels, the 18 girls are in the new large coop we built and let them out when we get home. They deserve access during the day but the boys are there. Living in rural northern VT you'd think folks would take them - it has been tough!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about all the roos, you've got some good suggestions above about trying to place them. You might also place ads in places like Craigslist and your local feed store screen homes and you might find somebody who is looking for a flock roo, try 4-H clubs if someone wants a project bird etc Unfortunately most excess roos do wind up going for meat since there are just so many more roosters than homes.
 
Thanks to all! We've decided to reach out to our local 4H club first. We will see what occurs and go from there.
 
What to do with surplus roosters is probably the most commonly asked question throughout the BYC website. When one rooster can handle 10 hens - that leaves a mighty number of roosters without a purpose. Hope you are able to rehome yours.
 

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