I'm sure this has come up before, but I couldn't find it on forum. In August I purchased 2 pullets--one a giant cochin and the other a black australorp. Now they're fully grown, or very close to it and it's clear that neither chicken was what I paid for. The giant cochin is a very pretty bantam cochin. The Australorp is an enormous, gorgeous rooster. The rooster is the real problem, since I live in an urban area. The neighbors don't mind hens, but I wouldn't really want to push the envelope with a rooster. (Our city has an anti-chicken ordinance, but turns a blind eye until someone complains). The rooster has to go. The kids won't eat him. My chicken-owning friends either can't have a rooster either, or already have what they need. We are surrounded by a vast recreational green space. Would it be totally out of line to release him to the wild as coyote food? I know I sound callous, but my chickens are a charming egg-laying yard decoration. Not pets. I have a dog and cat for that. What do I do?
Do not release that bird into the wild, that is cruel. As jqs birds suggested, put an ad on Craigslist, someone will take him.
petfinder.com has fowl craigslist.com rocks byc has a page for this see if your local co-op gets farm fresh eggs and if they might need another rooster good luck
This may sound like a stupid question but are you sure its a rooster? Has it started crowing yet? The reason I ask is because my Australorp has a larger comb and some mistake her for a rooster at first. This is her a few months ago(5 months). She is now 8 months old and her comb is twice the size.
Whatever you do, don't release him! That's just incredibly irresponsible and foisting your problems onto other people. I second putting an ad up on the internet, or sending your kids away for the day and butchering him.
Craigslist, or you could list him on here! Please don't let him go... many of us are very attached to our roos, and thinking of what could happen to yours if he was released to fend for himself would break our hearts.
I know! I know! I can't and won't release him into the wild. I'll post him here and on Craigslist. Yes, he is crowing. I've been putting him into a small animal pen in our shed at night and letting him out later in the morning, but this won't work as a permanent solution. It just muffles the crowing a little.
If you're considering releasing him into the wild, why not eat him yourself?? It would be much more humane. You don't have to tell your kids and DH where the meat came from. It would be much better than turning him loose. Shelly