Roosters with egg laying hens?

[silkiechicken]

Best age is relative, most people do it at about 4 months old. Do have to age for about 1-2 days, and meat will be tougher, and more flavorful, that store bought chicken. Not as much meat either but that's normal.

It takes a few hours of incubation before an embryo starts to grow, and about 40 hours of incubation before you can crack open and egg and see it with the naked eye. Most can't see the embryo that is cracked open till about 60 hours of incubation, as that's when the blood starts to become apparent. The embryo will start looking like a visable embryo to the naked eye at about 3-4 days.

 

[dbjay417]

I've no experience slaughtering yet, but i believe for standard non meat breeds the best time to slaughter is about 16-18 weeks. Don't quote me though.


Hey i guess i am learning after all!!

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Miss Prissy culled her red star (red sex-link) roosters at 19 weeks:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=18818

 

[mc2rwe]

You can cull a rooster at anytime. The older the bird the tougher the meat however. If you are getting a bigger breed of bird then you can cull them earlier. One suggestion though is that if you have a pressure canner you can process your meat and can it. This makes excellant meat for tacos or chicken salad. If you choose to make chicken and dumplings then I would just freeze the meat.

Kat in Arkansas

 

[achip]

If you put all of your roosters, or just your extra roosters in their own pen, like a bachelor pad, will they have the tendency to fight at all? And should you keep their pen farther away from the hens' pen, or does it even matter?

 

[countrysoul4]

Are three hens (well pullets now) okay to have with only one cockeral? They are all the same age

 

[Dawnclucks22]

We will be getting our first chickens this spring and have a question that has been bugging me. We are getting chickens for the eggs they produce.

We will be getting day olds from the local co-op and I do not believe them to be sexed so we will more than likely end up with roosters.

What do I do with the roosters? We would like to keep one but we're only getting 15 chickens, too many roosters is a problem, no?

Will I need to separate them from the hens? Wouldn't they fertilize the eggs which would negate my purpose of having chickens? I've been through the past 35 pages of topics with no luck.

Thanks!

Yep! Not only are fertilized eggs edible, but there is zero danger of chicks (unless, of course, you want them) if you don't have broody hens and/or you collect every day. Happy chickening

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Are three hens (well pullets now) okay to have with only one cockeral? They are all the same age

I've heard that as a rule of thumb it's best to have 10 hens per roo, but I think if your roo is docile you should be fine. Hens don't require a rooster to lay, either. I have five girls and no roo and they are laying machines!

 

[countrysoul4]

I've heard that as a rule of thumb it's best to have 10 hens per roo, but I think if your roo is docile you should be fine. Hens don't require a rooster to lay, either. I have five girls and no roo and they are laying machines!

ok, good. we were striving for all girls but we got a surprise boy