What do people do with boy chicks?

[BantyChooks]

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

It certainly is tough to not be all weepy about it. I know I can't, so while I am learning, I do not involve the children. They will be at some point but not until I am more confident I can do it quickly and without passing out, lol.

So far I have only processed (for meat) one jerk of an Australorp. It was still hard. Next year I will have to do more, and I don't look forward to it. Euthanasia is easier in that the bird is generally almost dead anyway.

Your posts on this topic are great, by the way. You've clearly spent a lot of thought on it.

 

[MizzClucker]

Very interesting points of view everyone. I really appreciate the different viewpoints. This has been a really good “debate”. Sorry to the OP for thread stealing.

As far as my emotions, I wear my heart on my sleeve so I have been told. While my son gets his cues from me, I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. Therefore sending our little cockerels away to be butchered or rehomed if possible.

For those who say they don’t become attached to the males how do you do this? From what i understand you cant tell gender for a few weeks. By this time you can bet that my kids and I will have named and snuggled all of the chicks probably more than necessary. Full disclosure, our hens get daily kisses from my little man.

 

[happyhens1972]

I do not involve the children. They will be at some point but not until I am more confident I can do it quickly and without passing out, lol.

Your posts on this topic are great, by the way. You've clearly spent a lot of thought on it.

Oh my gosh, the first time I culled an adult bird was actually an act of euthanasia....a beautiful orpington girl who had egg peritonitis. She was definitely mummy's baby girl, completely tame, always ran to me as soon as she saw me, sat in my lap for cuddles, I raised her from an egg. I was a complete mess. My dad helped me out. He hunts, both with a gun and with ferrets, is what you might call a 'man's man', not bothered by anything so trivial as killing a chicken but he took one look at the state I was in and cried right along with me. He begged me to let him do it on his own, out of sight, so i didn't have to suffer but I insisted it was my duty so I howled and sobbed and shook and put my baby's neck under a broomstick and.....well, I didn't pass out but it was close! Then me and my great big, not-so-macho-after-all Papa Bear hugged and cried and made macabre jokes about the whole thing.

So yes, thank you, I have spent a lot of thought on it....and heart. My personal take on it is that I must take responsibility for my birds, their lives, and their deaths if necessary but ain't no way they'll ever end up on my plate but I DO eat meat, I know how it gets to my plate and I know it ain't pretty! I would certainly never judge anyone else for being capable of eating what they raise xxx

 

[Lazy Farmer]

hi everyone! I was thinking about one day hatching out some eggs and I was thinking what would happen if I hatched more cockerels than pullets. Of course everyone wants more pullets but the reality is that you get half of each. People say that they keep their chickens in a 1:10 ratio of roosters to hens but what do they do with the other 9 baby boy chicks? Do people kill and eat them? What if you want chickens for eggs and you don’t want to kill any? Can the chicks grow up naturally together with half of each gender and stay in that herd? What would happen in the wild, would the cockerals fight and only leave a couple alive?

This has really interested me and I can’t find any answers elsewhere so all responses are appreciated, thanks.

I place classified ads.

If they don't sell by maturity, I rotate freeze stock.

 

[lomine]

For those who say they don’t become attached to the males how do you do this? From what i understand you cant tell gender for a few weeks. By this time you can bet that my kids and I will have named and snuggled all of the chicks probably more than necessary. Full disclosure, our hens get daily kisses from my little man.

That's why lots of folks like the sex-linked chicks. No chance of getting attached to a boy.

For the ones I hatched I had it in my head from the start that I couldn't keep them all. It's a mindset you have to adopt. For me, and often times for others, the males are braver and usually more friendly so it is easy to get attached to them. Most of my chickens don't have names but I am especially careful not to name any before I know what sex they are. I have also found that the friendliest often become the troublemakers as they age. I have my rooster and his son (two of the few that actually have names ); both of them as chicks were more standoffish but were far better behaved than the 'friendly' ones.

If you do decide to get straight run, you will need to be very careful about having maturing cockerels around your son. Those friendly boy chicks can become dangerous if they are over-babied.

 

[bobbi-j]

It certainly is tough to not be all weepy about it. I know I can't, so while I am learning, I do not involve the children. They will be at some point but not until I am more confident I can do it quickly and without passing out, lol.

So far I have only processed (for meat) one jerk of an Australorp. It was still hard. Next year I will have to do more, and I don't look forward to it. Euthanasia is easier in that the bird is generally almost dead anyway.

Your posts on this topic are great, by the way. You've clearly spent a lot of thought on it.

I will admit - I have not killed a chicken myself. My husband does it, but I am the one who chooses which ones go and which ones stay. The way we do it is, I go catch one, hand it to him, he dispatches it while I'm getting the next one. If I were to have to do it on my own, I would have to convince myself to do it, but I would. DH uses the hatchet and stump method. I'd probably use a killing cone.

Very interesting points of view everyone. I really appreciate the different viewpoints. This has been a really good “debate”. Sorry to the OP for thread stealing.

As far as my emotions, I wear my heart on my sleeve so I have been told. While my son gets his cues from me, I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. Therefore sending our little cockerels away to be butchered or rehomed if possible.

For those who say they don’t become attached to the males how do you do this? From what i understand you cant tell gender for a few weeks. By this time you can bet that my kids and I will have named and snuggled all of the chicks probably more than necessary. Full disclosure, our hens get daily kisses from my little man.

I don't make pets of my chickens as a rule (although there are some who make pets of themselves whether I want them to or not...). I don't name them all, either. What I do when I discover cockerels is, I immediately stop handling them. That's when I start to mentally prepare myself for what I need to do. They get food and water, but no real interaction. They have a good life, however short it may be.

 

[BantyChooks]

Very interesting points of view everyone. I really appreciate the different viewpoints. This has been a really good “debate”. Sorry to the OP for thread stealing.

As far as my emotions, I wear my heart on my sleeve so I have been told. While my son gets his cues from me, I’m not sure it’s a bad thing. Therefore sending our little cockerels away to be butchered or rehomed if possible.

For those who say they don’t become attached to the males how do you do this? From what i understand you cant tell gender for a few weeks. By this time you can bet that my kids and I will have named and snuggled all of the chicks probably more than necessary. Full disclosure, our hens get daily kisses from my little man.

Birds go through a 'distant' stage, both pullets and cockerels. By the time that happens you can tell genders. So, I just don't make an effort to re-tame the cockerels. I am motivated by the fact spoiled cockerels go mean. Been there, done that---I ended up having to sell my most favourite cockerel for slaughter because he was so aggressive. Loved that little guy.

Oh my gosh, the first time I culled an adult bird was actually an act of euthanasia....a beautiful orpington girl who had egg peritonitis. She was definitely mummy's baby girl, completely tame, always ran to me as soon as she saw me, sat in my lap for cuddles, I raised her from an egg. I was a complete mess. My dad helped me out. He hunts, both with a gun and with ferrets, is what you might call a 'man's man', not bothered by anything so trivial as killing a chicken but he took one look at the state I was in and cried right along with me. He begged me to let him do it on his own, out of sight, so i didn't have to suffer but I insisted it was my duty so I howled and sobbed and shook and put my baby's neck under a broomstick and.....well, I didn't pass out but it was close! Then me and my great big, not-so-macho-after-all Papa Bear hugged and cried and made macabre jokes about the whole thing.

So yes, thank you, I have spent a lot of thought on it....and heart. My personal take on it is that I must take responsibility for my birds, their lives, and their deaths if necessary but ain't no way they'll ever end up on my plate but I DO eat meat, I know how it gets to my plate and I know it ain't pretty! I would certainly never judge anyone else for being capable of eating what they raise xxx

Aww Kudos to you for doing that. I see some that just let them waste away and die because they aren't 'brave enough', or even leave them out for the wild animals to kill. I cringe when I see that. If someone keeps chickens they ought to have a plan for when they need to be euthanized---their responsibility as animal owners.
I currently have a lovely little bantam that acts just like you described your orp. I hope with all my heart I never have to euthanize her and she just passes in her sleep some year.

First one I had to kill was a baby chick with prolapsed intestines. I used ether in a container. It was rapid and easy-ish on me and the chick, I think. I still cried like a kid but it had to be done. Ether knocks them out rather than replacing Oxygen like CO2 so it's more foolproof IMO.

 

[BantyChooks]

I will admit - I have not killed a chicken myself. My husband does it, but I am the one who chooses which ones go and which ones stay. The way we do it is, I go catch one, hand it to him, he dispatches it while I'm getting the next one. If I were to have to do it on my own, I would have to convince myself to do it, but I would. DH uses the hatchet and stump method. I'd probably use a killing cone.

That works. The man of the house here is a city kid and doesn't do that kind of stuff. So, that leaves me... unfortunately.

When I first started I got my neighbour's kids to shoot the ill and injured birds. Then I decided that if a teenage boy could do it, there's no reason why an adult lady can't.

 

[BantyChooks]

I place classified ads.View attachment 1230895 If they don't sell by maturity, I rotate freeze stock.
View attachment 1230894

I try and place the nice males, but I can't even give them away any longer. The market (what little there was) got flooded. There used to be a good one in 2014--2015.

 

[bobbi-j]

That works. The man of the house here is a city kid and doesn't do that kind of stuff. So, that leaves me... unfortunately.

When I first started I got my neighbour's kids to shoot the ill and injured birds. Then I decided that if a teenage boy could do it, there's no reason why an adult lady can't.

I'm the "city kid" in our relationship. Married my farmer right out of high school. We started out raising meat birds, then I decided I wanted layers. Inevitably, chicken math happened, and I don't remember if we hatched them or bought straight-run, but we ended up with too many cockerels. It was years before I'd let him butcher the "pretty ones", so we had a lot of chaos around here for some time. Then I figured out that if we are raising them, we (I) needed to be more responsible in the managing of them. The hardest part for me is turning a live chicken into a dead one. Once that part is done, it's just a chicken body with feathers. I am always a little sad when butchering day arrives, though. Just until the real work (plucking and gutting) begins. It may help that I grew up hunting and cleaning ducks and pheasants.