We don't want to kill chickens

[Oregon Blues]

I keep my hatch down to what my family can eat ourselves. Then, if they don't sell, it is into the freezer with them.

Your options are limited. Eat them, kill them and throw them away, or sell or give away and they will probably be eaten. Or you can build a whole bunch of individual pens and keep them all as pets until they die of old age in about a decade or so.

My opinion is: if you can't cope with disposal of rooster, you shouldn't be breeding. You should never buy any straight run of anything, and you probably shouldn't buy day old pullets, because there might be a rooster in there by mistake.

If you want to hatch, you need to have a plan about what to do with the roosters. Since the birds belong to your son, have him consider the options and decide what to do with them.

The chances of finding 100 lifetime pet homes for roosters are absolutely nonexistent.

 

[elbertchick]

Our neighbor felt sorry for me with my roos and kindly took them to auction in a local town, they sold for 20.00, I would like to think that no one would pay that much for a couple blue cochins if they were going to eat them. He thought maybe I should get him more roos, since he didn't think he would get as much for them as he did. He still may need to take another group, watching some EE and one more cochin. Am praying for girls! These were hidden in straight run group however my EEs are supposed to be pullets, as if that means a lot.

 

[yinepu]

If there's a livestock auction in your area give them a call and see what their policy is on chickens.. if they allow them and you meet their requirements cage the roos with hens.. don't try to sell roos by themselves.. if people want hens they will have to get a roo to go with.. then keep your fingers crossed that they bring a good price at the auction

 

[yinepu]

Quote:
X2

 

[Beekissed]

I don't have any problem killing/eating chickens, so I can't say I've ever had your problem....hope you solve it!

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

Okay. Others have tiptoed around it.

I'm going to bite the bullet and say it.

111 pets??? No. Can't be done with the kind of relationship that would qualify any of them as a pet. Your son has a flock of chickens. Not unlike a herd of cattle. Or a flock of sheep. Never mind 111, would you have allowed him 10 of each of five breeds of dogs . . . and still called them pets? Sorry, but such a plan sounds like a puppy farm for chickens.

Were you planning to compete with the hatcheries??? Your son has landed (his choice, or your own) in the realm of husbandry. Which means that, while going about the business of tending carefully and atttentively to the daily tasks necessary to the proper care of the animals in his charge, he should learn to keep a manner and tone of voice about him to put them at their ease in confinement, in the time before they go to slaughter.

Buy a freezer. A big one.

 

[JayneMae]

Quote:
sorry, op, but i have to agree.

 

[Beekissed]

I had a whole thread about this subject...but it went to the wayside when a few bad apples didn't like the message. I agree with Scotty...reality is that you have a chicky mill, gave no thought for all those lives you've created and now have no plan for~ now what? I'd say you need to take responsibility for all those pets and keep them in a safe and happy retirement home, as you cannot seem to consume them.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
sorry, op, but i have to agree.

Yep, you said it well Scotty. I have a cow herd......it's a fact that I know when all those cute little calves are born at some point most all of them except for the replacement heifers we keep will end up on someone's dinner table......I know when I hatch out lots more chicks than I want to add to my breeding flocks that 99.9% of the roosters will end up on a dinner table.As much as I'd like to keep them all I know I can't.

 

[Mrs. K]

I am wondering how upset your son would really be, getting rid of that amount of work, would have to be a relief. Butchering seems terrible, horrible... until you do it, and then you realize, it was much bigger in your mind, than in the deed.

If you give them away, they are out of your control, don't dwell on it. They are gone. What someone else does with them, is their responsibility.

Personally, I think you would be giving your son a real lesson in life and where food comes from, animal husbandry and responsibility by butchering them.

I love the new chicks, and so, the older ones must complete the cycle and make room.

MrsK