Too many cockerels.....

[Shamo Hybrid]

TBF..... I, myself, have never killed a chicken before or even think that I can. As a kid my mother made me hold the chicken down while she slit it's throat, I may have been traumatized.

 

[CPT]

True, I don't think I can do it either. If someone else can take them when they're a little older, I have to keep in mind that it's out of my hands from there. We had to re-home a guinea fowl a few months ago because she was the the only one left as the rest of her flock were killed off by predators. Some people came by to pick it up, so who knows what happened to it. I have learned over the past year as a farmer that I can't get attached to our livestock. I'm only attached to my horse and that's fine with me

 

[Mosey2003]

I was gonna say, if you can process it yourself, there's a market for people that feed their dogs raw. But if you don't want to, that's kind of out.

 

[CPT]

Well, I've posted on Craigslist and Next Door, but no luck. It's been 4 days so far. I may have to print out a flyer and take it down to the local farm/supply store and go from there.

 

[Bonniebooboo]

We butcher our extra roosters. I've thought, at times, about trying to give them away because I hate butchering day. But, the chances of a rooster going to a good home, where they get to lead a quality life, are pretty slim. I decided that I would hate to subject my rooster to all the trauma of leaving his home, going to a strange place, only to get killed and eaten there. Worse, he could go to someplace horrible, like someone using him to train cock fighters. Since we eat chicken, we'd rather kill them quickly and humanly here, where they only know a couple of bad minutes.

If I knew someone starting out, who was actively looking for a rooster for their flock, I would re-home a rooster in a heart-beat. But otherwise, I figure it's my hatch, so it's my responsibility to ensure extra roosters lead a high quality life, until the point where they meet a swift and humane end.

It's not easy to do, but it's helpful to change your mind-set from thinking of yourself as the "mean" person who's killing them, to the responsible and humane person who is actually doing the best they can by the rooster.

Agree!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Well, my husband won't participate either... but I dispatch and my daughter processes. We started out skinning. I did find someone who would process for me @ $5/ bird, but it isn't always convenient on their time frame for my attitudes inside my stag pen that. That may be another option for you. I also like my quality better. But it is nice to be able to present the bird with skin sometimes, and maybe not have it go to waste as much. So I spent $275 on a plucker. Even at 20-26 weeks or a 3 year old hen... they will be delicious IF prepared correctly!

A husband that doesn't eat chicken. We are all a little different. I was afraid I would become vegetarian at first, but I'm pretty well grounded in life.

Seriously though, they may not be fryers when they get older, but cooked slow and low go great in some enchiladas. Course every dogs gotta eat... and the chickens like meat too! And rest the carcass not less than 72 hours in the fridge before freezing or cooking for human consumption.

If I knew someone starting out, who was actively looking for a rooster for their flock, I would re-home a rooster in a heart-beat.

Not, me. I would try to talk them into waiting until they had some experience under their belts with just hens... UNLESS it was a PROVEN cock, but that's a whole other creature all together.

CL ads can take a little while to get good response. Sounds like you made it clear you are not opposed the them becoming dinner, and that helps a lot! If you were opposed that would be fairly irresponsible. But it isn't you issue... so you can see how this time goes and use it as your learning curve for your expectations.

Sometimes both of my LFS will take stags to sale and give store credit for the value. And I'm located midway between 3 CL regions, so I place ads in all 3.

I keep a stag pen where all boys grow out for eating or breeding, until they have matured a little and learned some manners. The crowing doesn't bother me! And you should hear my two year old HEN crow.

 

[Mosey2003]

Do you have FB? FB sale groups have basically replaced Craigslist for most folks. Search things like your county name plus farm or livestock and join some groups. You just have to be careful how you word posts because FB doesn't actually allow animal sales/trading, but people get around that all the time.

 

[Birds of a Feather]

I think it might be a good idea to at least try re-homing them first. Sometimes it just takes a little time (but sometimes no one wants them). It seems like there's almost always the problem of too many cockerels when hatching chicks.

 

[CPT]

Ok, I can try that. Here is my ad on CL, I am open to suggestions or edits:

https://boise.craigslist.org/grd/d/free-rooster-cockerel-chicks/6642795300.html

 

[Morrigan]

I hope you find a good solution. It's particularly hard finding home when they are mixed breed.

It's the downside of hatching chicks, that's for sure.