What do people do with boy chicks?

[happyhens1972]

While you have issues with "breaking your heart, and that of your 4 year old", it's important to remember who's the parent. Children take their cues from the adults around them. If you're grossed out and upset, he will be also. What did the 4 year old do before there was a grocery store with neat little cello wrapped packages? He was probably out in the yard, helping Mom pluck the chicken for dinner. If you present the processing as a matter of fact part of animal farming, it will be accepted as a matter of fact part of life. My grand dtr was around and very interested in the processing when she was only 6 years old. She'd have been part of it at the age of 4 if I'd had birds then. She was intrigued with the internal anatomy, and not at all grossed out, even though she was present for incubating the eggs, and got to be involved in raising those little fluff balls.

I agree with everything you are saying, in principal, but you are taking emotion out of it. You said it's important to remember who the parent is here and that the child will take cues from the adult and that it absolutely correct but you are not allowing for the adult being emotionally invested. I have culled when necessary and feel it is my duty as a responsible animal keeper to do this myself BUT I have sobbed uncontrollably, shaking, snot everywhere, truly grief stricken because I LOVE these creatures. I could not have portrayed the calm, controlled demeanour you are indicating, if I had tried, and would never have allowed my children to witness the procedure because you're right, you have to hold it together for them, and I just don't have the ability to do so. I'm sure you wouldn't advocate strangling the family dog and disembowling it in front of a child and to some people, like myself, this isn't vastly different (yes, different, but not vastly) xxx

 

[lomine]

Side question to all of this. I have recently become interested and slightly more educated in the ways of ethical eating/farming. Slowly but surely I am making some changes to my family’s food sources. This includes raising our own chickens for eggs. I’m not brave enough to raise anything to butcher, I just can’t do it. This year I will be buying chicks from local breeders straight run and from ethically approved places (only by my standards anyways). I am at a loss of what to do with the boys. Everyone around here seems to be giving away roosters. So I can a) butcher myself - not going to happen. b) send them to be butchered - this will be difficult as they are our pets or c) give them away where goodness knows what will happen.

What is an ethical byf owner to do? Support possibly unethical hatcheries or break hers and her 4yr olds heart by “getting rid” of the boys.

If you really must have chicks you could try to find a local breeder that has auto sexing chicks. That way you get all girls and they will deal with the males as they like. Most likely they will butcher them but not at one-day old. Of course sometimes it's hard enough to find a local breeder, let alone one that has auto sexing chicks.

You may also look into buying older pullets. You can generally tell the sex by about 6-8 weeks. You won't have the experience of raising chicks but you have a much better chance of only getting girls. Again, the breeder with deal with the boys.

I have only recently started my journey into raising my own meat. I started with quail last year and did chickens for the first time this year. It is never easy and not at all something I like doing. I was told many times "You won't be able to do it." But there is a certain pride I take in knowing I hatched, raised, and butchered with my own hands. Also, I have a much greater respect and appreciation for the birds I knew and raised then for any I used to buy in the store. I try even harder to not waste any meat because I took the life that allowed me or my dogs to eat that meat. I think the experience has had a profoundly positive effect on me.

 

[Thorn Fulford]

Set the roosters free in the wild??? Not right with no hens and still probably food for the wild???

 

[happyhens1972]

Set the roosters free in the wild??? Not right with no hens and still probably food for the wild???

I don't know about the States, but that is completely illegal here in the UK, to release a non-native species into the wild. And as you said, no flock and food for predators. I think that would just be a complete cop-out to the problem.

 

[Runt of the Flock]

we butcher and eat ours but at one point we had up to 15 roos and we sold some. good time to butcher (my opinion) is right after they start to crow. (and crow they will!) but don't let them crow for too long, they begin to get tougher to eat. (my opinion from experience)

 

[lomine]

I agree with everything you are saying, in principal, but you are taking emotion out of it. You said it's important to remember who the parent is here and that the child will take cues from the adult and that it absolutely correct but you are not allowing for the adult being emotionally invested. I have culled when necessary and feel it is my duty as a responsible animal keeper to do this myself BUT I have sobbed uncontrollably, shaking, snot everywhere, truly grief stricken because I LOVE these creatures. I could not have portrayed the calm, controlled demeanour you are indicating, if I had tried, and would never have allowed my children to witness the procedure because you're right, you have to hold it together for them, and I just don't have the ability to do so. I'm sure you wouldn't advocate strangling the family dog and disembowling it in front of a child and to some people, like myself, this isn't vastly different (yes, different, but not vastly) xxx

For me, I didn't get emotionally attached to the chickens I knew where destined for the table. Not to say I didn't care about them. For the meat chickens, I took care of them and gave them a good life but as chicks I didn't hold or cuddle them. For the chicks I hatched, as soon as I knew they were males I started to prepare myself for what would need to be done.

Of course I also know how hard it can be to get rid of a cockerel. With my very first batch of chickens I got a straight run of 3 Blue Ameraucana. I knew my chances were very high of getting boys and I thought I was prepared to "get rid" of any boys. Well I only got one boy but he turned out to be the most well behaved little cockerel and I couldn't give him up. I kept him in my suburban backyard (illegally) for over a year. Funny enough I got a warning from animal control a month before I planned to move out to the country and they gave me 30 days so he was out before it became a real issue. Had it come to it I would have butchered him but I can empathize with those who have a hard time letting the boys go. I joke that I moved just to keep him.

 

[bobbi-j]

What is an ethical byf owner to do? Support possibly unethical hatcheries or break hers and her 4yr olds heart by “getting rid” of the boys.

How are the hatcheries unethical? By killing the baby males? It does seem terrible, but if they don't suffer, I don't see that it's inhumane. It's not a job I think I could do, but I can't say that I think those who do are doing a bad thing.

Yes I agree it’s good to teach them where food comes from and we have quite extensively. But eating an animal you’ve never met and eating one that you’ve raised and invested in is different. Especially to a little boy who won’t let me throw out our old broken toaster. True story, I have the old one sitting next to the new one because there were so many tears when he found it in the garbage.

I do agree with everything you are saying though, it is the better alternative to buying sexed chicks from a hatchery. Logically I knew more than half would be Roos, that’s how chromosomes work. Sending them to be butchered seems like the best alternative for us. Any advice when looking for a local butcher?

The 4-year old will take his cues from you. I have found it best for myself to start withdrawing from them as soon as I know they are cockerels. And telling the 4-year old from the start that these chickens are not pets would help. Let him make pets of the pullets. Cockerels aren't always the best for pets anyway. When my boys were 10, 7, and 5 we got a little Holstein bull calf that was about a week old. They named him Butch because, "We're gonna butcher him anyway, Mom"

But that’s the thing. By what I’m hearing people say “if you don’t have a plan for cockerels then don’t hatch” then this also means if you don’t have a plan for the cockerels then buy sexed chicks. I’m not convinced that this is any better. Maybe im missing something. Feel free to enlighten me as I’m fairly new to chickens.

You're not missing a thing. Buy sexed pullets and let someone else dispose of the cockerels or hatch or get straight run and have a plan.

I agree with everything you are saying, in principal, but you are taking emotion out of it. You said it's important to remember who the parent is here and that the child will take cues from the adult and that it absolutely correct but you are not allowing for the adult being emotionally invested. I have culled when necessary and feel it is my duty as a responsible animal keeper to do this myself BUT I have sobbed uncontrollably, shaking, snot everywhere, truly grief stricken because I LOVE these creatures. I could not have portrayed the calm, controlled demeanour you are indicating, if I had tried, and would never have allowed my children to witness the procedure because you're right, you have to hold it together for them, and I just don't have the ability to do so. I'm sure you wouldn't advocate strangling the family dog and disembowling it in front of a child and to some people, like myself, this isn't vastly different (yes, different, but not vastly) xxx

Yes, LG is taking the emotion out of it. That's a choice each person has to make for themselves. Turn them into pets, or treat them as livestock. Get emotionally invested, or remove yourself from that and make it a little easier on yourself when it comes time to part with them.

Set the roosters free in the wild??? Not right with no hens and still probably food for the wild???

This is the most inhimane and irresponsible thing a person can do. The birds don't die a quick and painless death most of the time. They die in terror and agony as they are being eaten alive.

 

[lomine]

we butcher and eat ours but at one point we had up to 15 roos and we sold some. good time to butcher (my opinion) is right after they start to crow. (and crow they will!) but don't let them crow for too long, they begin to get tougher to eat. (my opinion from experience)

I've found that 13-14 weeks is good. You don't get as much meat but you also don't have to deal with a lot of the behavioral issues that come when they get past that age.

 

[8 Chicks 1967]

This would change everything..https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj-v76PpMnYAhVJ0oMKHW_BCqYQFghEMAQ&url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/male-chick-culling-technology-1.3647228&usg=AOvVaw1THu3xzyKitD14kFUAotrP

 

[happyhens1972]

Yes, LG is taking the emotion out of it. That's a choice each person has to make for themselves. Turn them into pets, or treat them as livestock. Get emotionally invested, or remove yourself from that and make it a little easier on yourself when it comes time to part with them.

I couldn't agree more. It is definitely a choice thing. I wasn't criticising LG, just saying that in this case, MizzClucker clearly WAS emotionally invested so giving her son the necessary cues to prevent him being upset, may well not be possible.

I actually wish I could remain unemotional about things. I love the IDEA of raising happy, healthy, ethical birds for the table. I even 'set aside' a cockerel for the purpose once but I just couldn't do it. As soon as he started showing personality, I couldn't see him as supper. He ended up joining my flock as a second cockerel and maybe it was fate that he did, as the lead cockerel got into the school polytunnel, ate a ton of tomato plants and had to be culled as a result of severe poisoning. He took over the flock and is still in top spot to this day. He's nearly six now