Too many boys

[Livingthehenlife]

Hi Chicken lovers,
I hatched several batches of heritage breed birds throughout the year in hopes of starting a few breeding lines. I also bought a large order from GFF of unsexed chicks. They are about 6 months old now and are mostly roosters. I have 80 some birds total and of that number, 20 some are chicks, 32 are 6 month old roosters and the rest are hens. I didn’t separate the roosters and now I’m paying for it. We will be processing several of our boys but not more than 8 of them. I have plenty of room on my property but the feed costs are killing us. We are getting about 7 eggs a day with 80 birds . I’ve tried separating the roosters but they just jump the fences (7’ fence) I definitely want to keep some, but I’m worried the girls are stressed and not laying well. Anyone else do this to themselves? How’d you get out of it? Should we clip their wings and segregate them?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Definitely clip wings, segregate, butcher the mean ones and then see where you're at.

A flock of 10 chickens doesn't really need more than 1 rooster, but they hatch out 50/50. Coming to terms with where the other 9 male babies go is part of chicken keeping.

 

[Acre4Me]

You have approx 30 hens. Do you have them penned for breeding purposes?
You have too many boys unless you make a bachelor pad for them ... out of sight of the other hens.

 

[Folly's place]

This is where fantasy meets reality! Extra cockerels are making your pullet's lives a misery, and except for a very few of the best boys, all the extras need to be gone.
Your freezer, craigs list, signs at feed stores, however, but it needs to happen.
Chicks come at least half male, and there needs to be a plan for them, or definitely don't hatch again!
Are you interested in one breed, or more than one? Two males per breeding group is plenty!!!
Mary

 

[Aunt Angus]

My sister had a hen disappear. She assumed a hawk got her. Nope. She was sitting on a secret stash of eggs. She showed up in the coop one day with her brood. 14 eggs hatched, and all of them were boys. Her flock consisted of 21 hens and 16 males. Not good.

She did as Mary suggested: butchered some, gave some away, kept some and got more pullets.

 

[nuthatched]

Ditto Folly's place.

Accept that they'll be processed, either by you or someone else.

 

[aart]

I hatched several batches of heritage breed birds throughout the year in hopes of starting a few breeding lines.

If you're going to breed, you're going to have to cull.

I have plenty of room on my property but the feed costs are killing us.

Feed them or let them feed you.

 

[Mrs. K]

You have 32 roosters and only plan on culling 8? So that you would still have 24 roosters for 30 some hens? Not going to help your problem at all. The best thing to help a feed bill is to reduce the number of birds that you have, and roosters need to be reduced first.

30 hens, this time of year - you should be getting about 15 eggs a day, unless you only have pullets - then even with the shortening daylight, you should be getting 20-25 eggs per day. Or if you add light... that will help increase the egg production.

For 30 hens, I would want a max of 3 roosters. If this is your first year, I would cull all of the roosters, and wait till next year. Culling 32 roosters will cut your feed bill nearly in half. Give the birds that you keep a much better life, with more space, and probably more feed.

You really cannot keep all the roosters. It is a tough part of keeping chickens.

Mrs K

 

[SulkyBantam]

If this was my post I would not like where it was going!

EVERY single person here says cull them.
The tough part of keeping chickens should never, I think, be approached unless utterly necessary.

Cull the mean ones if you must, but please think of rehoming or pacifying them first! Thatis my humble opinion.

 

[Folly's place]

Several of us did mention rehoming these cockerels, or setting up a separate coop for them. Maybe in Ireland you can find loving individual homes for every cockerel, but that's actually really hard.
And most/ many of us do eat chicken! Home raised birds have generally had very nice lives, especially compared to those commercially raised Cornishx birds sold here at markets.
Mary