They're here.........BUT!

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Yep, if you look around on Ideals website (I believe on the page where they have the shipping info) they do state that they'll send extra males for warmth. We eat our extra cockerel, so I've never minded them, but I normally order at least 25 chicks, so I don't get them very often. Reaching out to reptile owners is a fantastic idea though!

Good luck finding a use for them!

 

[keesmom]

It's too cold to ship small numbers of chicks this time of year. Meyer won'the ship less than 15 until April. Next time consider ordering 25 pellets and selling the extras locally.

Another possibility for the cockerels is raptor rehab, if there is one near you. They are not fed live so don't worry about that.

 

[Wxguru]

Part of reason I didn't order from Ideal. I ordered 6 from Meyer in Ohio...they shipped to Arkansas...took 2 days. They have a little brown bag in there that is filled with activated charcoal like the little hand warmers. They stayed nice and toasty. It was under some straw so heat radiated up and in the box....it was nice.

 

[kmartinez]

you could give them away on craigslist..thats another option....When i ordered i had to do 15 min because of the cold temps

 

[HumphreyEggs]

That's a good idea. We are getting ready to build our coop and get some chicks, and we also have a pet snake At least that's a last resort if we were to order them through Ideal.

 

[3riverschick]

That's a good idea. We are getting ready to build our coop and get some chicks, and we also have a pet snake

At least that's a last resort if we were to order them through Ideal.

Hi and welcome to BYC!

Don't worry about rehoming extra birds. You can sell them real easy on craigslist!

Maybe even make enough to pay for part of your order! Couple of bucks a chick.
You can easily give cockerels away for free.

Best,
Karen

 

[microchick]

I agree with the idea of raising them to 12 weeks and then sending them off to freezer camp if you cannot find a new home for them.

Are you planning to brood? If you do you will need a roo or two around to keep the girls producing fertile eggs. And unless you live in a city where roosters are prohibited as back yard chickens, a good rooster will guard your girls for you/.

You don't list where your are but If you decide to keep and butcher and don't want the hassle, you can usually find a local Amish business who will do it for you. I know a lady who pays 3 dollars per bird to have her excess hens and roosters butchered for the freezer. She says she can't bear to kill her birds but has no problem cooking them up for Sunday dinner.

If you stop to think about it, throwing in rooster chicks to insure the hens survive is pretty clever in a weird sort of way. They get rid of their abundant roosters, you get extra birds free and the hen chicks arrive toasty warm.

 

[HappyChickadee]

I am not a fan of considering having to raise to eat, only because I am too kind hearted and can't even kill a spider, but in this case - I thought you would have some good eating for a little while. I can't believe that. That is so scary because I live in the city limits and can't even own a rooster and have a limit on the number of hens I can have anyways. 15 is ridiculous!

 

[jhoffLVT]

I can't have Roo's where I live or else I would keep them all and feed them out for the freezer.. I also don't need any fertile eggs, only eggs for my personal consumption! Turns out I ended up with 17 Roo's in the shipment and I have two left...