Too many roosters, what to do?

[rosemarythyme]

If you can't bear to rehome/cull them, then you'll likely need a separate "bachelor's pen" to house the boys. Do you realistically have the budget and space for that?

I have thus far had no interest in keeping a cockerel/roo so my plan from the start was always to cull them myself, because even when you buy sexed birds there's always a chance of an oops slipping through. Though I've since found a place that will accept donated cockerels as dinner guests, so in the future that will be where any accidental boys end up.

 

[Mrs. K]

You can begin to distance yourself from them. You feed and water them, but you don't watch them, don't interact with them. It will really help.

 

[aart]

You can begin to distance yourself from them. You feed and water them, but you don't watch them, don't interact with them. It will really help.

I sing to them....
All the young dudes,
Soon to be stew!
(Mott the Hoople)chorus

 

[bobbi-j]

As soon as I recognize a cockerel, I quit interacting with it and remind myself that it’s going in the freezer.

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

Is this your first batch of chicks? Chicks are so adorable, they just hop their way into my heart. Though I haven't had any surprise roosters yet, I found that as chicks grow into "teens" and adults, a lot of that "it's a baby! I'm going to love it forever and ever!" feeling faded away.

So along with the great advice in this thread, maybe once any roosters are old enough to be identified/cause trouble, it will not be quite so emotionally hard to remove them from your flock.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

I recently bought 4 chicks from TSC. Then 2 weeks later I bought 4 more. I am suspicious that 3 of the 8 are Roos. I am so attached to them, I don't Know what I am going to do if they 3 turn out to be Roos.
Can someone advise me?

Hi, I am like you I love roosters. For the longest time I was without any and now I have a surplus. My solution to a large rooster population is a bachelor pen. I ended up with 7 roosters after I picked my spring chicks. I placed all 7 roosters in a bachelor pen. They are doing fine and have a large place to run and look for bugs. I plan to keep all my boys and will actually build another bachelor pen for all my bantam boys that will surely end up with.

here is a pic of my bachelor pen with all my standard size spring roosters living peacefully.

 

[ScottE]

Either don't name them or intentionally name them things like drumstick or roast. Proper mind set makes freezer camp something to look forward to rather than dread. My 6 year old loves the snot out of our goats and ducks and also is eagerly awaiting fall when she can eat the ones she knows are meant for the dinner table.