Try to remember that roosters are protectors of your little flock of egg layers. They are doing their job and you want to kill them for that.
When I was a little kid, we had 3 eggs in our first incubator. Only one hatched. It was an araucana rooster. He was like our little puppy, very spoiled and loving.
When he grew up, we got him 6 hens. Never again did he follow us around. He declared himself 'protector of the realm of cute chicks'. We had to take a 6 foot stick out with us to collect eggs and he quickly learned to keep a 6 foot distance. But we had to never turn our back on him. His spurs would dig deep so we also learned to keep that 6 foot distance from him.
Turned out to be a very small price to pay.
Early one morning my mom yelled that something was getting the chickens and I ran out the back door. My rooster was fending off 3 large dogs from under a high chair. Successfully.
It was one of those amazing animal fights you never forget. The bloody noses of those dogs, the yiking and frenzy.
I whacked them off with my 6 foot stick till they ran off and under the hole they had dug under the fence, and picked up my rooster and cleaned him up. He was weak but recovered.
We could not find any hens until the next day when every single one came out of hiding. He protected them all and saved the whole flock.
That was his job and he did it well.
Please don't let culling be your first or only conclusion. We let our roosters guard the old free range hens that we have in retirement. We don't cull them either as they'll miraculously lay eggs even after 12 years.
The pleasure of being a back yard chicken farmer is that our flock are our pets. We don't kill our dogs or cats just because they slowed down. At my age, I can sympathize.
Roosters find their hens bugs and grass and seeds, call to them, stand guard over them while they eat the feast he found for them. He watches for flying predators and sounds the alarm, will battle a rogue dog or cat, stands between danger and his hens, he is truly the watchdog of the hen house.
Sometimes the most protective ones will even perceive you as a threat and come after you. You just entered a bulldog's palace. But you own the kingdom; just speak softly and carry a big stick.
You should reconsider how to keep such a fine protector so you don't loose your hens and your eggs. Especially since he thinks the same way about them as you do.
When I was a little kid, we had 3 eggs in our first incubator. Only one hatched. It was an araucana rooster. He was like our little puppy, very spoiled and loving.
When he grew up, we got him 6 hens. Never again did he follow us around. He declared himself 'protector of the realm of cute chicks'. We had to take a 6 foot stick out with us to collect eggs and he quickly learned to keep a 6 foot distance. But we had to never turn our back on him. His spurs would dig deep so we also learned to keep that 6 foot distance from him.
Turned out to be a very small price to pay.
Early one morning my mom yelled that something was getting the chickens and I ran out the back door. My rooster was fending off 3 large dogs from under a high chair. Successfully.
It was one of those amazing animal fights you never forget. The bloody noses of those dogs, the yiking and frenzy.
I whacked them off with my 6 foot stick till they ran off and under the hole they had dug under the fence, and picked up my rooster and cleaned him up. He was weak but recovered.
We could not find any hens until the next day when every single one came out of hiding. He protected them all and saved the whole flock.
That was his job and he did it well.
Please don't let culling be your first or only conclusion. We let our roosters guard the old free range hens that we have in retirement. We don't cull them either as they'll miraculously lay eggs even after 12 years.
The pleasure of being a back yard chicken farmer is that our flock are our pets. We don't kill our dogs or cats just because they slowed down. At my age, I can sympathize.
Roosters find their hens bugs and grass and seeds, call to them, stand guard over them while they eat the feast he found for them. He watches for flying predators and sounds the alarm, will battle a rogue dog or cat, stands between danger and his hens, he is truly the watchdog of the hen house.
Sometimes the most protective ones will even perceive you as a threat and come after you. You just entered a bulldog's palace. But you own the kingdom; just speak softly and carry a big stick.
You should reconsider how to keep such a fine protector so you don't loose your hens and your eggs. Especially since he thinks the same way about them as you do.
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