sexing australorp chicks

[Bullitt]

I am sorry to hear you are planning on eating the extra roos. There are plenty of backyard flocks that need a rooster for protection and to keep order. I hope you give it a lot of thought when you find out the sex of your hens. So,enough,I'll get off my soapbox now! Welcome to the flock and the wonderful joy of chicken farming(the folks on here call it chicken math)!

The main reasons to raise chickens are for eggs and for meat. And most people are not vegetarians.

People have traditionally kept the pullets for eggs and butchered all but one rooster for meat.

You should not be sorry to learn that someone plans to butcher a rooster. It is discussed on this website every day.

 

[BlazeJester]

I was a vegetarian for 15 years and am looking forward to butchering and eating my roos this year. That is the only way I would have it - animals I have met or know the owners of. It is a wonderful use of resources that would otherwise go to waste (if I dumped them at a local farm and they were eaten by predators or just left to pick each other off, for instance). Nobody can sell a rooster in farm country.

 

[jwilson48]

the way i look at it to each their own. as long as nobody tries to get me to believe the way they do, i could care less. however, i think i am a carnivore. i love veggies, but i couldn't live without meat....and lots of it. might as well be the meat that i grow. i admit it will be hard. i already have become attached to my oldest little roo, but hey i also raise rabbits for meat, and i don't enjoy that either. it's part of life.

 

[AHDCST]

i wish it was that easy to get rid of roosters around here. everyone already has one, or more, except the ones who just don't want one. besides, chickens are tasty. i'd rather eat my own farm raised as i would something from the store.

My sister-in-law thought the same thing. She went with my brother to have the cockerels processed. As soon as she heard the frantic squawking as they were shoved in the killing cone followed by deathly silence, she broke down and cried. She continued to cry the whole 2 hour ride home with the meat. I eat chicken, don't get me wrong but I prefer to not know where it came from or what it looked like or what it's name was. I can't eat anything I have looked in the eye or named or played with!

 

[Bullitt]

My sister-in-law thought the same thing. She went with my brother to have the cockerels processed. As soon as she heard the frantic squawking as they were shoved in the killing cone followed by deathly silence, she broke down and cried. She continued to cry the whole 2 hour ride home with the meat. I eat chicken, don't get me wrong but I prefer to not know where it came from or what it looked like or what it's name was. I can't eat anything I have looked in the eye or named or played with!

Don't look them in the eye, don't name them, and don't play with them. Problem solved.

 

[Bullitt]

I was a vegetarian for 15 years and am looking forward to butchering and eating my roos this year. That is the only way I would have it - animals I have met or know the owners of. It is a wonderful use of resources that would otherwise go to waste (if I dumped them at a local farm and they were eaten by predators or just left to pick each other off, for instance). Nobody can sell a rooster in farm country.

Why did you become a vegetarian, and why did you decide to start eating meat again? That is a long time to be a vegetarian and then just stop, so I was just curious.

 

[Karen323]

We've just hatched our first clutch of Australorps. 100% so I have 11 little balls of fluff. I tried the feather thing and am none the wiser. lol.
Good luck with yours.

 

[hillnhollow]

the best way to sex chicks is when they are a day old. The female's wing feathers will be longer than the rooster's by quite a bit. It's easy actually once you see a comparison. Check youtube for a video and you will see how easy it is.

 

[rides2far]

I was raised on a cattle ranch. We raised cattle & pigs in FFA & 4-H. Along with our projects we also raised animals for meat. The previous poster was right: don't name them, don't interact with them, & don't even look at them! (It was still sad, but that's life).

 

[ChickCollector]

Funny how a topic can go a different direction. I recently got 21 australorp straight run chicks and I would like to know how to sex them. I won't eat the roosters or sell them until the right breeder or individual come along.