What do you do with excess roosters?

[JacinLarkwell]

For me, if I can tell one apart from another, then it doesn't matter whether I name them or not.

I often do give them names, because it's easier to say "Blanco" than to say "the White Laced Red Cornish Bantam cockerel that has more white than the other one." Or "Biter" instead of "the Sexlink cockerel that bites me when I pick him up." (Biter tasted especially good )

Lol. I have one that I called Funky Wattles cause he had one wattoe that grew folded over so it was half the size of the other. He made my neighbor's happy when they ate him

 

[Chicken Zen]

I have had these precious little fluff balls for a week now and already feel really attached. We ordered 15 unsexed, so chances are well have a fair amount of roos. We were planning to cull the extras to eat, but I don't know now.....

What do you all do with extra roos? What is a good roo to hen ratio? View attachment 2398257View attachment 2398257

The first time I got chicks I had some pretty bad luck...I ended up raising 5 cockerels out of 6 chicks! They all started crowing very early, including the pullet, probably due to being surrounded by roos! I looked into every option, but just couldn't bring myself to process them. Props to anyone who does this, but I just wasn't ready. No luck on craigslist or other forums, but would recommend talking to the vendors at your local farmers market. I ended up bringing several of them in boxes to one of the produce vendors, who had lots of land and was happy to take them! Best of luck! Ps that lone pullet is still by far our loudest hen :/

 

[SueT]

We have a monthly poultry swap in our area. I have taken our extra boys there and sold them.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I make stock. One Roo. One back up. a couple potential replacements (for one or the other) in the brooder. Excess and underperformers are culled. It is no kindness to delay the deed.

 

[spaceylocust]

We bought straight run when we first got into chickens, about a 1 1/2 years ago, with the intent to process the extra roos. We studied about the property harvest method, how to defeather and disembowel. There are many YouTube videos about the process along with very helpful books.

Since our mindset at the beginning was to process the extra males, they were not treated as pets, were not named, and we don't name the girls, mainly because I can't tell them apart!!! All are black australorp.

One thing I did on processing day that helped us both, as I was heading to the cone with boy in arms, I thanked him for giving himself for us and told him how much we appreciate his sacrifice. Didn't know it at the time, but hubby told me he really appreciated my doing this as it helped him during the procedure.

We both love animals and we respect all the creatures God has created. We want to treat all with kindness; however, I really didn't mind when the day came for George. He was the rooster we kept to protect the free range girls. He let 2 get taken by dogs while he stood by and crowed. Then he turned mean as a snake. Not sure if he was stricken with a case of the guiltys or not.

Good luck with your decision. If you decide at the beginning that you are going to raise your own meat, like you raise your own vegetables, I think that helps a great deal at the end of the day.

 

[Shezadandy]

Sorry if this is duplicate advice, so many great posts in this thread!

If you're planning to hatch your own eggs, think about what you want in the babies you'll hatch. Size will matter if you plan to eat the extra boys. If egg color is a factor for you and you have any of the blue/green layers in your mix, look for a cockerel with a pea comb - oftentimes it goes with having the blue egg gene.

But mostly one that's nice to you, nice to the hens, and meets your own personal criteria. I just had a 2-3 month old cockerel that started picking fights with the hens. For a few days it seemed like there were more squabbles going on, but I didn't know who (big area, lots of birds).

Then it became clear when he posted himself by the coop to harass the hens as they went to lay eggs - he forced hens to fight him, and when they'd give up and run, he chased them down and ripped a chunk of feathers out of their backs and kicked them one more time. While I watched, he did this to 5 hens in under 10 minutes ... so I caught him- and dispatched him on the spot. A cute black cockerel with a pea comb and crest feathers ... none of which mattered at that point.

They can change dramatically once hormones hit- what they do when it happens dictates their fate in my flock. Whatever switch flipped in his young brain that said attack and hurt the hens isn't one I want to pass on - and nobody gets to give the girls a bad time.

There's a difference between learning the act of mating and the inevitable pullet squabbles and screams that will go with it in the beginning. It's important to watch what's actually going on while everyone figures things out - that can help narrow the field. Not every roo will be a sweet talking Cassanova - but there's no reason to put up with one who is rough or abusive to the hens. For mine, aggression towards the hens is an immediate deal breaker. I keep several adult roosters and usually the cockerels until the 4-5 month range, all with the main flock, and it is peaceful. Then I decide who is worth keeping, who is worth the effort of rehoming, and who becomes meat.

Getting that first good rooster is the challenge, because he doesn't have an authority figure to learn from. The other factor is your girls are the same age- if there were older girls, they would lay down the law for that first group of cockerels growing up.

So, you may want to be prepared to have a separate pen for the guys until the girls start laying as soon as they begin pestering the not-yet-ready pullets. Some do this and add one rooster at a time to see how he treats them as part of the decision making process.

Welcome!

 

[Heivonz]

We eat ours. My advice is, once you recognize a cockerel, don’t handle it, don’t name it and don’t turn it into a pet. That makes processing day much easier for me.

The best “rooster to hen ratio” is what works best for your flock. The 1:10 that is often quoted here is not a hard rule. That’s what the large hatcheries use to ensure optimum fertility. Smaller backyard flocks are a whole other ballgame. In a flock your size, one would be able to cover all the hena without any problem. May I ask why you want to have a rooster?

We have a fair amount of land and the birds will mostly be free range, so I would like a rooster for some protection. Of course, if that doesn't go well, we'll reconsider.

 

[BGcoop]

I agree with the advice to not name them, treat them as livestock and eat them. There are places you can take live birds to get butchered and packaged for you for a small fee per bird if you don’t think you can handle doing it yourself. Also if you plan to rehome them be aware that Roos are more difficult to get rid of and many that do take them will be taking them for a food source.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I try to make every day perfect for all members of the flock, even the extra (unwanted) cockerels, every day except the last day... and I make that day as nice as I can for them before inviting them FOR dinner.

 

[Strong86]

I have had these precious little fluff balls for a week now and already feel really attached. We ordered 15 unsexed, so chances are well have a fair amount of roos. We were planning to cull the extras to eat, but I don't know now.....

What do you all do with extra roos? What is a good roo to hen ratio?

We started with 8 straight run chicks (mix of Orpingtons - blue, black, lavender) in May and ended up with 5 roos and 3 hens. I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years, but that's my decision and I think the most important thing as others have mentioned here, is giving them the best life until it's time for them to go, and then you do that humanely. We wanted chickens for eggs, but want to have a sustainable operation where we can refresh and grow our flock as needed over the coming years. We keep our chickens are both livestock (live in the barn, provide us with eggs) and pets (have names). We live in a rural area in Canada and by posting online actually found 4 small farms in the area that were looking to add a rooster to their backyard flock or hobby farm. Our ratio of 3 hens to 1 roo has worked so far - but Orpingtons are quite docile, including our roo. I think it really depends on the flock and the rooster - we are prepared to separate him from the ladies if needed, but so far the worst outcome from the mating has been a few mildly bloodied combs, that were easily treated. The ladies act healthy and happy. The recommended ratio is 10:1, but I've seen as low as 2:1 work fine, so I am hoping that our 3:1 will be ok through the winter until we can grow our flock a bit.

I've also seen people here on BYC do "bachelor flocks" and that seems to work well if you have a hard time parting with them