I love roosters, and all this anti rooster propaganda just makes me sad. So many cockerels are killed every year by big hatcheries for no reason, besides the stigma they seem to have in the chicken community.
There is some stigma going on, but I also think that in some cases, it is literally that much of the current population of chicken owners are people who live in suburban or urban environments, and either:
A) Are legally prevented by law to have a rooster
B) The noise restrictions in their area prevent them from having a rooster
C) They are not allowed to have more than 4 or 5 chickens at a time, so can't have roosters because of the ratio
D) They do not have enough space/a good location with the proper amount of space to have enough hens per rooster
E) Have jerk neighbors that prevent them from having a rooster
F) Have family members that prevent them from having a rooster
G) Some of the above
H) All of the above
Because most people are not allowed to have roosters because of aforementioned reasons, hatcheries do not see a very high demand for them. The people that can and want roosters usually have plenty from hatching their own eggs, so they don't need to order and from a hatchery unless they are looking for a specific breed.
Because hatcheries cannot control how many cockerels they hatch, it's no surprise to me that they often have extras that they have to sadly dispose of. I won't say that I agree with the inhumane ways some hatcheries deal with them, but they have to do something. Rooster stigma is only part of the problem.
