She's a He...now what???

[Heavy D]

As I posted in the Breed/Gender section, I let my Aracauna out in the Am and she/he started crowing!!

The guy my wife purchased the hens from said he would gladly take him back but all he had to exchange him for will be a RIR at 12 weeks of age. My girls (RIR,Barred Rock) are now 27 weeks old and have just started to lay.

What do I do now?????

 

[Burbs]

If he isn't aggressive I don't see any reason why you couldn't keep him. Otherwise chicken dinner is a very good option.

 

[Heavy D]

I guess I forget to mention, I live in the city limits and no roos allowed. We only have the three "hens" and they are pets for eggs...no way could we eat him...

My kids are going to be so upset having to give up their "Snowy" as it is.

 

[mikescanlon]

swap snowie out for the RIR, the law is what it is, and well, if you have an understanding chicken breeder/seller, sounds like a perfect option.

see if he has another 12 week old that you could buy too, so your new family member doesn't get too beat by your old girls.YourLinkGoesHere YourLinkGoesHere

 

[Burbs]

You would be surprised how many "pets" I not knowingly ate as a kid. When the pet disappeared we always got the same story. Off to live on a farm somewhere. Never did figure out where that farm was. It wasn't till I was an adult did I realize what had happened. I am alot more frank with my kids and even let them chose the ones to be culled. It is going to be harder in your situation though. Mine were prepared up front. That makes a huge difference.
More than likely no matter what you do with him his ultimate fate will be the same, either by your hands or the guy that sold him to you.

 

[Heavy D]

yeah...sigh.... I figure the guy is just going to eat him....my kids realize where food comes from...but we're sure not gonna cook up our Black Lab cause we like Vietnamise food either.

The seller is a good guy and he only has the one RIR that was not sold yet to swap me.....how tough would it be to add this poor girl to my little flock of two?

 

[Burbs]

Point well taken.

 

[augustmomx2]

We had the same problem, a she turned out to be a he. The kicker was, out of the 6 different breeds we received, this one breed is the one my 6yo ds picked out! We kept him up until about a week ago when decided to get rid of him. We are allowed to have roos, but his crow was irritating everyone, at about 3.5mos we posted him on Craigslist and he was gone within one day.

My ds was actually wanting to get rid of him cuz the crowing irritated him as well

Once we figured out he was a roo, I began to pre-empt (sp?) my son that we may have to get rid of him. So, when the time came, it wasn't a surprise...Good luck

 

[Judy]

The 12 week old might integrate just fine. There will be some pecking but if you don't see blood, let them work it out.

Since she will be smaller at 12 weeks, it might be best to house them together but with wire in between for a while. Or, just turn them out together and distract them with treats and see what happens. Or, set her on the roost after dark and hope they don't realize there is a newcomer in the morning.

You never know til you try what will happen.

 

[cmom]

I had a she that turned out to be a he. I gave him away to a family that wanted a Roo.