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

[CityFarmerRob]

Speak for yourself, when I was born they thought I was a Tribble.

All joking aside, I couldn't agree more. When I first started this everything said even experienced handlers only get it right so many times. So I'm not surprised if you think it's one thing and it turns out to be another. But yeah I'd really be helpful if it was a way to determine for sure what's what. And I'm still learning so most of this is still new to me and a whole lot of fun!

 

[DuckLady]

Bigger heart than brain

I totally get it! It was impossible for me to say no when someone wanted a home for ducks, geese and chickens. I was definitely thinking with my heart and not my brain!

 

[Goldenwahintofboss]

I've been able to sell one, gave a couple to folks who needed or wanted them.
But there are way more people who are also trying to get rid of them,
it's not worth the trouble(IMO) to post an ad then deal with all that.

I keep chickens for food and hatch yearly for replacement layers and don't have the resources to house and feed a nonproductive bird.
So.....
View attachment 1386181
I slaughter cockerels at 13-16 weeks, before they start causing chaos and while still tender enough to grill for that crispy skinned deliciousness. Not much meat but the grilled bones make for some excellent stock. Anything older than that I pressure cook until meat is done and is saved aside then a couple more hours to get that bone broth.

Resting the cleaned carcass in fridge for 48-72 hours for rigor to pass is essential for chewable meat from any bird(except maybe CX?). Tho no homegrown bird I've eaten, layer or meat breed, is as soft as a grocery bird, they are more 'toothsome'.

We did the same. The great escape gang and their roo leader became dinner. Now I have 3 silkie x roos. And I am trying to remove 2 of em. They are funny when they try and fight. They look like cockatoos.

 

[CityFarmerRob]

I totally get it! It was impossible for me to say no when someone wanted a home for ducks, geese and chickens. I was definitely thinking with my heart and not my brain!

Glad I'm not alone! Everybody's talking about we need a place to put these chickens that nobody wants, okay what about a place for us crazy people that keep them?

 

[CityFarmerRob]

I totally get it! It was impossible for me to say no when someone wanted a home for ducks, geese and chickens. I was definitely thinking with my heart and not my brain!

I just wanted to say thanks to everybody who has participated in this. This started as a simple inquiry and has turned into a very interesting discussion. We started off with most people believing it wasn't possible or was a prank, well we don't know if it was a prank but I think we all now can see that it is actually possible. So I really hope what I think is going on with Vic is what it looks like, but even if it turns out that it's not or we'll still unsure all of this discussion was still very much worth it! I said earlier that most of my friends and all of my family kind of think I'm crazy for doing this so suffice it to say they're not really into chickens or any of that. Since finding this community I have been inspired and motivated to learn and expand my knowledge of keeping these birds. I first got into this because I wanted eggs and here we are! Isn't life Grand, thank you all again for All your comments, information and stories, can't wait for what comes ahead!

 

[everyday_farmlife]

All joking aside, I couldn't agree more. When I first started this everything said even experienced handlers only get it right so many times. So I'm not surprised if you think it's one thing and it turns out to be another. But yeah I'd really be helpful if it was a way to determine for sure what's what. And I'm still learning so most of this is still new to me and a whole lot of fun!

You can determine gender at hatch by their down colour if you breed cross-bred sex linked chicks but that's a whole other subject

 

[BDutch]

I always gave the cockerels away for free.

This year I bought 11 hatching eggs for 2 broodies. I knew I had only room for 2-3 hens. And if I had a good outcome I had to sell the surplus and needed to find someone who takes over the cockerels.
I can only keep hens because I have neighbours nearby.

I had a great outcome 9 chicks, 4 (2/2) Dutch, 3 (2/1) Vorwerk and 2 (1/1) Sussex
I managed to find a buyer through marktplaats (Dutch Craigslist). The person was interested to buy the trio Vorwerk and the Sussex pair for breeding purposes. I told him I also needed to find someone for the 2 male Dutch, and he could take them too for company in his bantam Auracana flock with only hens.

I don’t like to bring new older chicks or pullets into my flock because of the risk they bring in diseases or parasites into my existing flock. And I have hens who love to sit and raise chicks.

Initially to expand and later for maintenance:, I buy hatching eggs or keep one rooster until the next spring when his crow gets too annoying early in the morning. I had my own hatching eggs this way twice.

The 2 pullets I kept this year.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Speak for yourself, when I was born they thought I was a Tribble.

But there were no questions about you being a hen or a rooster

 

[BDutch]

I was born they thought I was a Tribble

Spock : [of the tribbles] They remind me of the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they spin. But they seem to eat a great deal. I see no practical use for them.

Google didn’t give a proper answer. Wondering, WTF are Tribbles? Not everyone is a huge Star Trek fan.

More google:

Tribbles are a species of small alien lifeforms which do little more than eating and reproducing constantly. These furry, rounded herbivorous creatures with no visible features come in several shades of brown, grey, cream, white or pink.

Now Im getting the picture.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Spock : [of the tribbles] They remind me of the lilies of the field. They toil not, neither do they spin. But they seem to eat a great deal. I see no practical use for them.

Google didn’t give a proper answer. Wondering, WTF are Tribbles? Not everyone is a huge Star Trek fan.

More google:

Tribbles are a species of small alien lifeforms which do little more than eating and reproducing constantly. These furry, rounded herbivorous creatures with no visible features come in several shades of brown, grey, cream, white or pink.

Now Im getting the picture.

The star trek play I saw in school like 10+ years ago used natural colored (so like grey and brown and white) giant (fist sized) pom poms for the Tribbles