Venting about Roosters

[Grllcluck]

Someone told me the other day that they would never be able to kill a chicken... But they buy chicken at the grocery store

They were trying to shame us for raising our own meat chickens!

A lot of male chicks are killed and ground up daily at a lot of hatcheries and chicken farms.

Thank you for posting all those numbers, it really puts things in perspective.

I'm plant based so I don't eat meat at all, but I raise it for my family. Raising our own meat is better than what we find at the grocery store plus I know what they're eating. I know how they were processed and butchered, I don't have to question if I'm supporting inhumane farming.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

Neutering a rooster/cockerel or trying to make a rooster not a rooster (using collars or other means) will never work and can injure them!

Crow collars are sick and I've seen roosters doing backflips and falling all over the place trying to get them off and have heard stories of roosters dying from them also

I haven't read through the whole thread, but I thought I'd mention something. I have a collar on my rooster. This does not hurt him, it simply makes him crow quieter. Now, before you say "That's so inhumane, you shouldn't have gotten a rooster in the first place", he was supposed to be a sexed female chick (so it really isn't my fault). Once I had a rooster I decided that there were a lot of benefits to keeping him, such as having a protector of the flock, the potential for chicks, not to mention just how pretty he is .

But, we didn't want to hear him crow in the morning, so instead of giving up all of these great benefits, we used a collar. It's working great for us, and while he did go backwards initially (maybe 2 - 3 days?), he quickly got used to it. His hens don't mind and he doesn't either, especially since the alternative would have been soup. One other thing, I am NOT afraid of butchering and eating roosters, otherwise we wouldn't be hatching out chicks. I do like to keep him around though, for the benefits stated above.

Roosters are allowed in my area, but if they are not in yours, then I wouldn't bother trying to keep them.

 

[Grllcluck]

This. Our grandkids and their parents live on the property. We talked about the "Plan": hens for eggs the first year, then a rooster and any chicks would be meat. If we (ex-city-suburb dwellers) succeeded in harvesting chickens we'd talk about rabbits, and maybe someday pigs. When the first clutches hatched we all held and cooed over the chicks, but I reminded the kids that these were all the be named "PotPie".
As harvest date drew near we talked about where store bought and fast food chicken comes from, what their lives are like compared to our happy healthy chickens. I pointed out it's their choice to eat meat or not, but *if* we choose to eat meat we need to be awake about it.
So far, so good.
But no rabbits. Maybe pigs, but lots of prep work before we're ready for that.

 

[FortCluck]

I haven't read through the whole thread, but I thought I'd mention something. I have a collar on my rooster. This does not hurt him, it simply makes him crow quieter. Now, before you say "That's so inhumane, you shouldn't have gotten a rooster in the first place", he was supposed to be a sexed female chick (so it really isn't my fault). Once I had a rooster I decided that there were a lot of benefits to keeping him, such as having a protector of the flock, the potential for chicks, not to mention just how pretty he is .

But, we didn't want to hear him crow in the morning, so instead of giving up all of these great benefits, we used a collar. It's working great for us, and while he did go backwards initially (maybe 2 - 3 days?), he quickly got used to it. His hens don't mind and he doesn't either, especially since the alternative would have been soup. One other thing, I am NOT afraid of butchering and eating roosters, otherwise we wouldn't be hatching out chicks. I do like to keep him around though, for the benefits stated above.

Roosters are allowed in my area, but if they are not in yours, then I wouldn't bother trying to keep them.

I have two roosters that were vent sexed chicks by a reputable hatchery and supposed to be pullets, I kept both and let them crow all they want. They're both black Jersey Giants.

I bred them with my layer flock and hatched chicks that we are growing for meat.

 

[Skippersnh]

@LikeTurkeys why wont you let your rooster crow since your allowed to have roosters id say thats selfish

 

[FortCluck]

This. Our grandkids and their parents live on the property. We talked about the "Plan": hens for eggs the first year, then a rooster and any chicks would be meat. If we (ex-city-suburb dwellers) succeeded in harvesting chickens we'd talk about rabbits, and maybe someday pigs. When the first clutches hatched we all held and cooed over the chicks, but I reminded the kids that these were all the be named "PotPie".
As harvest date drew near we talked about where store bought and fast food chicken comes from, what their lives are like compared to our happy healthy chickens. I pointed out it's their choice to eat meat or not, but *if* we choose to eat meat we need to be awake about it.
So far, so good.
But no rabbits. Maybe pigs, but lots of prep work before we're ready for that.

I love this!

We are doing meat chickens for the first time, I just hatched 21 chicks. I'm keeping some of the pullets to put in my layer flock. I don't eat meat, but my family does and it is very important for me to provide healthy meat for them. I'm tired of grocery store meat and hearing stories!

I'm not afraid to butcher an animal for my family. I can't wait to provide them with food that I personally hatched and raised myself!

 

[FortCluck]

This. Our grandkids and their parents live on the property. We talked about the "Plan": hens for eggs the first year, then a rooster and any chicks would be meat. If we (ex-city-suburb dwellers) succeeded in harvesting chickens we'd talk about rabbits, and maybe someday pigs. When the first clutches hatched we all held and cooed over the chicks, but I reminded the kids that these were all the be named "PotPie".
As harvest date drew near we talked about where store bought and fast food chicken comes from, what their lives are like compared to our happy healthy chickens. I pointed out it's their choice to eat meat or not, but *if* we choose to eat meat we need to be awake about it.
So far, so good.
But no rabbits. Maybe pigs, but lots of prep work before we're ready for that.

We want to do pigs, rabbits, emu (eggs), and we want to hunt deer for the first time as a family!

 

[Skippersnh]

ive never had rabbit i wonder what it taste like

 

[FortCluck]

My husband said he doesn't remember the exact taste because it's been a while for him, but he says it's really good.

Oh yeah, I'm getting quail in the spring.

 

[LikeTurkeys]

@LikeTurkeys why wont you let your rooster crow since your allowed to have roosters id say thats selfish

You could say the same about eating roosters. Why don't you let your rooster live if you're allowed to have roosters? Lot's of people however eat roosters, so I think the same argument could be made about collars.