Topic of the Week - What do/can you do with unwanted roosters?

[CityFarmerRob]

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On average 50% of all eggs hatched produce male chicks and many of us either cannot or prefer not to keep cockerels in our flocks. Which brings us to the question of this thread's topic: what can/do you do with those unwanted roosters?

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This is a question I've struggled with since I started keeping birds just a couple years ago. Well most of them for sale are only female I actually caught myself a rooster that was running around the neighborhood. And about half of them were boys, that's a mess of the eggs that I incubated. And I'm kind of a soft-hearted person and wasn't a fan of the idea of killing something just because it was a boy. I don't eat the chickens I keep I just got them for eggs but the roosters have raised an issue. What to do with them, when nobody wants them. And I guess it's just like stray dogs and cats no easy answer. I even try to find a vet that would Cabon the birds, but nobody around here does that. So until the world falls in love with pet roosters I guess this is something we'll be struggling with as long as we keep them. Probably why so many people go to the alternative. And I understand most people that put the roosters down don't really want to, but it's just not feasible to keep birds properly with no return. So yeah I have 20 of them, so if anybody wants a pet rooster I guess this is the site to come to right.

 

[Sandy-Acton]

First and foremost, if you don't have a plan for the cockerels don't hatch any eggs. They are your responsibility, act responsibly.

While you can eat any chicken of any age and sex, some breeds and crosses are going to give you some pretty small chickens. Still, people eat quail and they are pretty small. One option with unwanted males is to eat them at some point.

Another option is to kill unwanted males and dispose of the body. A lot of breeders and hatcheries do that with males and also unwanted females.

Depending on your set-up and how many you have you may be able to keep a few with your flock. This is more of an option for rural areas where space is plentiful, it will not work nearly as well in suburbia for several reasons.

You can create a bachelor pad, keep the males in their own flock. With no females to fight over they are generally peaceful. You have to build the extra facilities and feed non-productive chickens but you have that option.

You can try to sell or give them away. Realize when you do that you have lost control of their future. They are likely to be eaten.

I sell my roo's. Last year, I sold my roo's for $10. Hoping if someone paid that money for 4 month old roo's, that they would not be food. This year, I sold a one year old and 3 four month olds.
One lady took 3 birds, I am hoping that $10 was enough, to not be culled. She was the only person I felt like the birds were not for small flock purpose. I pray they have a good life, they were all great roo's. I just had too many.

 

[UncleChuck]

I know this is an old thread, I'm new, and I didn't go thru all 18 pages of replies, but...
Roosters are specifically raised by some people for the fly tying industry. The neck feathers can be desirable for fly tying. The most desirable are the long neck feathers with uniform width from top to bottom. Colors can vary, as may colors are desirable.
I'm just throwing that out to the cullers. If you cull roosters, you might consider learning to skin, salt, preserve the necks & saddles for a few more shekels added to the feed money jar.

https://growlermag.com/raising-hackles-the-prized-chickens-at-the-center-of-fly-fishing/

I'm new, too. Hi!
This is something that absolutely fascinates me. I've never been fly fishing and nobody close to me does it. But the craft and art of fly tying is just so neat and interesting. I'm very interested in anything anybody has to say about this.

 

[everyday_farmlife]

We sell our sussex roosters, (yes specifically for the pot, I'm told by repeat customers 18weeks old is very tender and flavoursome), fortunately for us demand is very high and I rather get the $25/bird and only put 2-3 in our own freezer
A friend of mine who breeds australorps donates her excess males to the local zoo for the cheetahs.

 

[Iluveggers]

We have an Amish processor about 15 minutes away. Makes it easier when you get attached to a guy. My hen recently hatched 4 eggs, we gave 1 to a friend and kept 3, figuring we would raise them up and send any boys for processing if need be. They are 10 weeks old now, and it looks like they might be all pullets. I’ve had bad luck with hatches, so 4 out of 4 pullets seems unheard of. I got nervous when my son named them (Marigold, Ruby, & Nutmeg), but I think they can stay. I would personally love a rooster (or two), but my town says otherwise and I love my flock too much to risk going against rules. Husband and I drove around a few times this summer, and when kids are out of school we may buy land in a rooster (and duck, and cow, and horse) friendly town.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

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In these comments, I feel like a little bit of a black sheep because I have never hatched my own chicks all of mine are ordered online or bought from my local farm store. And I try REALLY hard to find all the roosters I end up with homes even if it means they get eaten but that's not my business. I have a soft heart and I hold my chickens close to me like my own children so be it by disease one dies or by a predator I always weep my eyes out. so for me killing a rooster with my own hands would make me feel like the worst chicken owner ever. At times I envy those who don't see chickens so closely it they can eat a rooster and feel consent or like my boss just chops the head off and throws it in a pit with the rest of her dead chickens and roos. I'm not vegan and eat chicken on the regular but it's not personal with the chicken you get from the store that's why I prefer to give away the ones I have handraised if at all possible. I hope someone can relate and I'm not alone in my softness for these creatures.

(No offense intended, please use a kind tone when reading)

I understand that, and I certainly don't encourage you to change without coming to terms with it... But

If you know the chickens you buy at the store had a bad life, and by buying them you are encouraging an industry that focuses on cheap to continue.

The bird you raised had a lovely life, and can have a painless demise if you take the time to learn how.

I was fully vegetarian for 2 decades (prior to meeting my spouse) I eat little and no chicken. BUT. We had to kill a female turkey because she was killing the hens (it was impossible to contain her in a different space). I loved her (she grew up in my sweater because it was a cool May when she hatched, so I kept her in my cleavage snuggled in for warmth. We could not have been closer as a turkey and human.) When she was dead, her meat was healthy so my spouse prepared it, and I ate it (for a long time because we are just the two of us and she was big). I made it into a ritual of thanking her for living her life in my garden and giving her body to nourish mine. Her body literally becomes a part of me when I eat her. She lives in me, with me.

I keep my hens as pets, but I don't eat chickens that lived in pain. I can respect others who raise their hens and consume them. I think it is a responsible way to consume.

 

[Farmgirl283420]

This is a question I've struggled with since I started keeping birds just a couple years ago. Well most of them for sale are only female I actually caught myself a rooster that was running around the neighborhood. And about half of them were boys, that's a mess of the eggs that I incubated. And I'm kind of a soft-hearted person and wasn't a fan of the idea of killing something just because it was a boy. I don't eat the chickens I keep I just got them for eggs but the roosters have raised an issue. What to do with them, when nobody wants them. And I guess it's just like stray dogs and cats no easy answer. I even try to find a vet that would Cabon the birds, but nobody around here does that. So until the world falls in love with pet roosters I guess this is something we'll be struggling with as long as we keep them. Probably why so many people go to the alternative. And I understand most people that put the roosters down don't really want to, but it's just not feasible to keep birds properly with no return. So yeah I have 20 of them, so if anybody wants a pet rooster I guess this is the site to come to right.

Wow! 20 is a lot! It’s so sweet you keep them! I’ve only had 5 cockerels three of them I gave away with many tears the other two I still have

 

[CityFarmerRob]

Wow! 20 is a lot! It’s so sweet you keep them! I’ve only had 5 cockerels three of them I gave away with many tears the other two I still have

Bigger heart than brain

 

[Electric Chickens]

Is anyone aware of attempts to selectively breed chickens that will produce a higher percentage of females?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Is anyone aware of attempts to selectively breed chickens that will produce a higher percentage of females?

Not sure that's something that can be bred for. Used to have a phoenix hen that hatched out almost exclusively females. Her daughters either were more 50-50 or leaned towards male heavy clutches