We have three Roosters... Now what?

[adkrock]

We are new at this and having purchased ten chickens, five at a time over a month ago they were maybe a couple of months old(I really don't know) it turns out that three are looking a lot like Roosters. I wasn't sure we wanted a Rooster to begin with but may try having one around. Two came in the last bunch and they are very "chicken" and hang together. The other was with the first batch of five and seems a bit more user friendly. My question is... What do I do with the other two?

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[gander007]

Alright

great to have you joining the BYC flock

BYC has a very useful Learning Center

Extra Roo's ,,,,,, there are several things that a roo is good for but producing egg's is not one of them so they can be eaten, kept as spare roo's or sold or given away

 

[N F C]

Welcome to BYC!

Too many roosters is a frequent problem, gander007 has pretty much outlined your alternatives.

If you decide to add chicks in the future, you may want to take a look at the sex link hybrids and breeds like red or black sex links or Plymouth barred rocks. Some roos may still slip through but less chance of getting them that way.

It's nice to have you join us.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Alright

great to have you joining the BYC flock

BYC has a very useful Learning Center

Extra Roo's ,,,,,, there are several things that a roo is good for but producing egg's is not one of them so they can be eaten, kept as spare roo's or sold or given away

X 2
Welcome to BYC!

 

[Michael OShay]

Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. You either need to eat or re-home those two extra roosters. The recommended ratio of roosters to hens is 1 rooster for every 10 hens. As they mature, too many roosters will become very hard physically on your hens; over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially, seriously injuring them. The only reason you really need a rooster is to fertilize eggs for hatching and 1 rooster can easily handle 10-15 hens in this regard. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your excess rooster problem.

 

[henpeckeddad]

Hey adkrock! Welcome.
I had two roosters, a couple years ago, out of 4 chickens. Pullets at the time. So, they all looked the same. When we started getting eggs, we couldn't understand why we only got two. One day, while I was cleaning the coop, I noticed two of them had really colorful neck feathers. That's when the light bulb went on in my head. I'm thinking, man did I get gipped. No sooner did I tell my wife, they started crowing the next morning. It was kind of neat, for a while. But, then they started at midnight! 2 am, 3am, all day! Not cool at all. Like Mike was saying, once they were full grown, they both started picking on the two hens. Plucked their lower back feathers down to the skin. Plus, they started acting weird when my 4 year old would be close to the hens. That was it. One winter weekend, with my wife and kids out of the house, I took care of the both of them. They made really good soup.
If this is something you wouldn't be up to, I'd trying selling/trading the roos. If you have an Amish market near you, they usually do that kind of thing. I hope this helps.

 

[adkrock]

Well, a big thank you to all! First for welcoming me and second for answering my question seriously yet I find humor laced into most of the answers. Goes with chickens I guess as we are having fun raising them. I have a few options now and short of tossing them into someone else's flock or eating them is not likely to happen as we are too new to this, I will look around to trade or simply give away to someone. I like the idea of trade as then we will have 9 hens and a rooster which as I read above is pretty close to the ratio. Originally we were not interested in a rooster but having the chickens around, seems a rooster would make our little farm of chickens and a few goats well rounded. I think I had mentioned above that one of them came with the first five and it gets along with the hens more than the other two later arrivals so that would be the one we would keep. Thanks again for helping me. I have learned so much already from this forum!

 

[drumstick diva]

I'm sorry but," into every life some roosters must fall." About the only way to not get any is to buy laying hens, or pullets at point of lay. When people order "straight" runs, you can quarantee there will be roosters in the bunch. The Hatcheries have so little regard for male chicks, they use them like packing peanuts in small orders, or ones sent in cold weather. The recipients are not always thrilled to get a bunch of males, even if they are free.

 

[Michael OShay]

Well, a big thank you to all! First for welcoming me and second for answering my question seriously yet I find humor laced into most of the answers. Goes with chickens I guess as we are having fun raising them. I have a few options now and short of tossing them into someone else's flock or eating them is not likely to happen as we are too new to this, I will look around to trade or simply give away to someone. I like the idea of trade as then we will have 9 hens and a rooster which as I read above is pretty close to the ratio. Originally we were not interested in a rooster but having the chickens around, seems a rooster would make our little farm of chickens and a few goats well rounded. I think I had mentioned above that one of them came with the first five and it gets along with the hens more than the other two later arrivals so that would be the one we would keep. Thanks again for helping me. I have learned so much already from this forum!

You're welcome.