What do you all do with your roosters after hatching?

[ChickensAreSweet]

I take them to the livestock auction now (I just want to tell you though to go WITHOUT the feeling that they are your pets- my mistake the first time I went

).

 

[theoldchick]

This is a good question. Since I can't process my own birds, (to wimpy) I'd find somebody who'd do it for me off my property.

 

[PepsNick]

Quote:
Then don't raise the breeds of chickens that are used for cock fighting.

Exactly.

 

[Jonny]

Quote:
Then don't raise the breeds of chickens that are used for cock fighting.

Exactly.

I know too little about chickens I guess.. didn't know they used special breeds for cock fighting. Just curious to find out what people do with roosters...

 

[Kelly G]

I have given all of mine away on Craig's List.......and they are always gone in one day.

 

[chickensrfood]

You should really try eating a few. You can dispatch them humanely and have some healthy food.

 

[triplepurpose]

Quote:
I agree: You REALLY should seriously consider this. There is a huge, untapped source of wonderful, nutritious food for you in this. You many THINK you can't slaughter--our culture has bequeathed us such a phobic attitude about life and death--but with the right attitude it is really not a difficult process at all.

I can't help but be cynical about "finding a home" for your roos. You are always going to have about the same number of cockerels as pullets when you hatch. What exactly do you think people are going to do with them if you give them away or sell them? Chickens often live for a decade, and how many pet roos do you really think there is a market for in this world? BTW I'm really not trying to be hard on you, but just trying to be realistic. Probably most of them will get eaten, but by someone else, when you could be enjoying them yourself!

If you really can't bring yourself to slaughter them yourself, then you could try to find someone who will do it for you. Otherwise, I would seriously reconsider hatching chickens in the first place. At best, it's a song and dance to try to get rid of all your extra cockerels, and not really responsible (kind of like neglecting to have your dog fixed). Furthermore, what do you plan to do when your laying hens get to old to lay? They will still live for YEARS afterwards, but will give you hardly any eggs. There is a reason that all throughout history, chickens have always been kept for meat AND eggs, because it's by far the most logical and practical way to keep chickens.

Sorry to sound so negative. Please, pleeeease, don't take offense.

it's just that you have to believe me when I say that even among my own friends and neighbors I've seen WAY too many chicken start-ups fall apart, or cause stress and send money down the drain, because people didn't take these things realistically into account from the beginning.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Jonny]

Quote:
I have thought of CL... seems like a great place for disposal of a lot of things lol.

Hey btw, you got two norwegian fjordinger?? I love those horses. I'm from Norway myself, done some riding on them. Pretty horses, aren't they!

 

[Wild Trapper]

We butcher off any that we consider to be food. That said, we have also gotten rid of some via CL as some people only want a small flock and would rather not take a chance at buying chicks that turned out to be roosters. One man only wanted 4 Black Australorps laying hens and 1 rooster. He bought them to start his flock. Most people today do not want to butcher their own chickens, we would rather not butcher hens as they are usually worth more to sell to people who want to have a few chickens and it's easy to get too many roosters when you buy from a place like TSC. We now have our own incubator, so eliminating unwanted chicks is something that has to be dealt with. Of course, some of those are intended for food anyway, but the roosters are mostly intended for that purpose.

Well, you see it becomes an addiction after a while.

 

[featherz]

I have not yet had a problem rehoming them on craigslist. Also, out here there are a lot of farms and 4-H kids. If they are purebred, I call 4-H before i put them on craigslist.

Better yet, the 4-H kids will take them when they are little!

(I'm vegetarian.. my husband is not, so he is welcome to eat them if he wants but he can't even kill spiders).