Said goodbye to my first cockerel - Found a great new home!

[ChestnutRidge]

I have been looking for homes for my 11-week old cockerels from my very first batch of chickens. I ordered hatching eggs, incubated them, and hand-raised the chickies. They even lived in my bathroom for their first five weeks!

Well, this morning, one of my Speckled Sussex boys found a home nearby. He'll be living with some Speckled Sussex and Buff Orpington ladies and one other cockerel, an Orpington. Here he was this morning eating some watermelon.

Once upon a time, he was one of these little things:

It was the first one to find a home, and it was very bittersweet. I already miss my handsome boy

, but I am so happy that he found the perfect place for him.

 

[Leia's Chickens]

Nice that you found a wonderful place for him..

quit a beautiful cockerel. lol

 

[Pokster]

ChestnutRidge

I'm sorry but at least he has a good home. I am still wondering how many of mine that i hatched are Roos?

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

for you and him!

 

[ChestnutRidge]

Thanks, everyone. I do feel a bit sad, and I am of course worried about the stress of the move on him and the stress of his absence on the flock, but I also know that this is a really good thing. I have a sense of satisfaction of being able to do right by him.

Pokster, I know what you mean! I hatched out 17 chicks this year, and of those, I had 7 girls and 10 boys. Sigh. But, I am taking this as a good sign! Perhaps more will find good homes as well.

 

[ChicksterJo]

It's not easy is it?
I have given away 2 roosters so far...my two favorites. I raised both from when they were babies (the latest one, a white Ameraucana, from when he was 3 days old) and I miss them both terribly!! I was able to find a home for the Ameraucana and gave him up today. It was a hard thing to do - he sounded like he was crying, "Take me with you!!" and I couldn't look back. I don't want to have to keep doing this...I need to save money, buy my own place that's chicken- and roo-friendly, and keep all the nice roos I get.

 

[theoldchick]

So hard to raise the little cuties like you did and give them away. Kinda like giving away one of your kids! I remember when I was hand-raising cockatiels and nearly cried when I sold them.

 

[ChestnutRidge]

Yesterday I was sitting here, almost tempted to email the buyers and say - "Is he eating? Is he drinking? Are the other birds being nice to him? How is he getting along with your BO cockerel? Is he sleeping up on the roost?..." But I didn't. He is not my bird anymore, and if I am going to hatch my own eggs, I really need to get used to this.

The success of finding him a good home lifted my spirits in other ways, though. I bought a travel cage at Goodwill for $12 and washed it out yesterday. I'm going to give it a good coat of Rustoleom today, and then (if I can actually get myself up early enough) take my other 3-month old cockerels to a local poultry sale this Saturday. It starts at 7:00 and is an hour away, so that is very early for me! I'd probably need to get up around 5:00. *gulp!* (I get up at 6:30 for work, but now it's summer vacation and I've been sleeping in!!!)

I want to set the price high enough that no one will buy them to eat. I am also curious how much I am "into" them for already. Just a sec - hmm... about $4.00 each in feed and $2.50 for each hatching egg, nevermind coop, incubator, treats, and all that infrastructural stuff.

So, I have about $6.50+ in each cockerel. What do you think of asking $8 at the poultry sale? I'll give a little bag of their current organic feed with each one to mix with their new home's feed for a day or so (I did that with the boy I just sold, too. Maybe a pound of feed.) Is that a fair price? Do you think it will discourage those with untoward intent?

 

[laseterlass]

My little Roo is leaving this weekend. I am happy about it. He leads the pullets all over the place and picks on the top hen when she gets the others to follow her. I cannot wait for it to settle down around here.

 

[ChestnutRidge]

Does he have a new home, or is he "moving on"? How long have you had him?