Too many boys

[Mrs. K]

The feed bill was a part of the original post. The best way to reduce the feed bill, is to reduce the number of birds. The best way to reduce the feed bill and increase the egg ratio per bird is to reduce the number of roosters.

32 roosters or even 24 roosters, is too many and costing the op a lot in feed bills.

Mrs K

 

[nuthatched]

For 2 dozen hens , you can keep maybe 3 roosters.

 

[Folly's place]

As @Mrs. K has said many times, best flock management means going for peace in the flock. And too many cock birds and cockerels will raise stress levels for everyone, and make the pullets and hens miserable. That's not good for any of the birds!
Mary

 

[Aunt Angus]

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.

Culling means "thinning the flock." Rehoming is culling. I didn't say culling, I said slaughter. Do I like the idea? No.

Did I really put a diaper on my "oops boy" and bring him inside the house in order to keep him? Yes, for 6 months, I had a house rooster because I didn't want to lose him.

Did I really move my entire family to a rural county where roosters are welcome just because I ended up with an "oops boy?" Yes. Yes, I did. (Well, I had wanted to move for a while, but he was a major deciding factor as to when and where we moved).

But before I did all of that, did I try everything to rehome the little darling? Of course. The reality is that there are too many boys. Period. I even tried paying someone to take him. If you rehome a rooster, he's probably going to end up being slaughtered.

Being a pretty good chicken mama, I won't be breeding nor will I be buying unsexed chicks anymore - and I won't buy them from a hatchery, either - unless I decide to keep a bachelor flock.

I'm seriously thinking about it because there are too many boys.

Here's the "oops boy" of whom I speak.

 

[ILoveBabySilkies]

Culling means "thinning the flock." Rehoming is culling. I didn't say culling, I said slaughter. Do I like the idea? No.

Did I really put a diaper on my "oops boy" and bring him inside the house in order to keep him? Yes, for 6 months, I had a house rooster because I didn't want to lose him.

Did I really move my entire family to a rural county where roosters are welcome just because I ended up with an "oops boy?" Yes. Yes, I did. (Well, I had wanted to move for a while, but he was a major deciding factor as to when and where we moved).

But before I did all of that, did I try everything to rehome the little darling? Of course. The reality is that there are too many boys. Period. I even tried paying someone to take him. If you rehome a rooster, he's probably going to end up being slaughtered.

Being a pretty good chicken mama, I won't be breeding nor will I be buying unsexed chicks anymore - and I won't buy them from a hatchery, either - unless I decide to keep a bachelor flock.

I'm seriously thinking about it because there are too many boys.

Here's the "oops boy" of whom I speak. View attachment 2407416

Agreed it is not as simple as just re homing, Roos are seen more like pests than pets/livestock to many people. You should at least cull them to eat so that they at least serve some sort of purpose. Some people take months to find their Roos new homes and some never even find them a new home.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Unfortunately if you have chickens, you'll get boys. Even sexed pullets can accidentally have a boy in the mix.

And you can't just rehome them all the time. I have tried since May this year to move some along. I think they're just too beautiful to be eaten (I raise phoenixes). I have tried giving them away, offering them in pairs with a pullet, sometimes 2 pullets just to make them worth something.

Nothing. Still have 5 that will unfortunately more than likely become food because I just can't find someone who wants them. Even for meat, I'd imagine someone wanting to eat would LEAP at the chance to get a female as well eitherfor eggs or another dinner

 

[SulkyBantam]

Culling means "thinning the flock." Rehoming is culling. I didn't say culling, I said slaughter. Do I like the idea? No.

Did I really put a diaper on my "oops boy" and bring him inside the house in order to keep him? Yes, for 6 months, I had a house rooster because I didn't want to lose him.

Did I really move my entire family to a rural county where roosters are welcome just because I ended up with an "oops boy?" Yes. Yes, I did. (Well, I had wanted to move for a while, but he was a major deciding factor as to when and where we moved).

But before I did all of that, did I try everything to rehome the little darling? Of course. The reality is that there are too many boys. Period. I even tried paying someone to take him. If you rehome a rooster, he's probably going to end up being slaughtered.

Being a pretty good chicken mama, I won't be breeding nor will I be buying unsexed chicks anymore - and I won't buy them from a hatchery, either - unless I decide to keep a bachelor flock.

I'm seriously thinking about it because there are too many boys.

Here's the "oops boy" of whom I speak. View attachment 2407416

I was not being rude, by the way, I'm sorry if you didn't understand that. I was giving my own 'humble opinion', not disagreeing with yours. Take that as you will .

Where I am, culling means killing. I have never done so and never plan to but that is not what everyone feels like.

On another note, well I love my chickens but have never moved house because of one!
He is seriously beautiful, by the way, and I am surprised you could not find any takers for a lovely Sebright like him.

We currently have two 'oops boys', but we kind of expected that and were lucky to get 50/50 in our last straight run!
They are called Hektor and Achilles and have never been aggressive, we've had them from 6 days old.

Hektor:

Achilles:

 

[Duckbreeder2020]

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.

Don’t butcher them. Try re homing!! With the other boys clip the wings 100% or put them in a place with a roof on top! If re homing doesn’t work you might have to butcher them

 

[21hens-incharge]

Eventually we all face having to remove a bird either for flock dynamics, making room for new layers or ending a suffering of an ill or injured bird.

These decisions are not easy but they are very necessary.

 

[ackie]

I have too many birds right now too. Not in terms of space, just past what I see as my ideal number of chickens. I have a family who buys my cockrells to eat (really cheap, I just wanted them gone), but I'm actually having a hard time selling hens. No one wants pullets that havent started laying of a non-layer specific breed.