What do you do with unwanted Cockerels ?

[birdofhermes]

i just have a rooster as a pet so i would recommend trying to unload them on people as pets. lots of facebook groups for re-homing roosters as well

 

[Alleybird21]

I have lots of roosters as pets. make a separate large coop and put any unwanted roos in there away from females. the only way they will fight is if they have a female to fight over. they will set a pecking order soon and live quiet peacefully. I know I have a lot

 

[Mylied]

I gave them away, no questions asked. After raising chickens for a while, I now process them. I don't eat meat but my husband does. I hate seeing those trucks full of chickens and just don't feel right buying store chicken when I have my own supply.

 

[nminusyplusm]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, or even how to ask. We are just getting started with chickens. A hen adopted us, and then a rooster - then two young pullets just show up - NOW, we have ordered some babies!! SO, as I contemplate how our flock might progress - we consider the excitement of having a hen go broody and having baby chicks. But then, I wonder - what would we do with another Rooster? We have one, and for the most part he is a dutiful companion to his hen and tolerates the pullets. He does sometimes try to keep the young ones from eating and letting them roost in the nest box - but I digress. WHAT would we do if we did get a hen that was willing and she hatched a bunch of baby Roo's!?!?

We have no desire or intentions to cull any of our chickens. If you are unwilling to kill them - what do most people end up doing with unwanted Cockerels or Roosters? Just putting the cart before the horse - again.

I'm in NM too and I just went through this with an accidental cockerel who was supposed to be a pullet. It was hard rehoming him. I was lucky to find someone in the next town who was looking for a true Ameraucana roo because he could sell blue eggs for a higher price at the farmers' market but I still wonder how my boy is doing... and I'll never really know if at the end he's had a good life.

I've thought about this a lot too. Where I live there's a limit to 10 hens, no roos. Because of this, I think I will not opt for fertile eggs to replenish my flock. Also my flock carries CRD and I would not want that spreading to someone else's flock. When the time comes, I'll pay more for female chicks.

And although I'm a vegetarian, if I lived in a more rural area where I could have more chickens and roos, I would process them and eat them because I'd know they would have had a happy life during their time here.

 

[Alleybird21]

sorry but what does CRD mean? I'm kinda new!lol

 

[nminusyplusm]

sorry but what does CRD mean? I'm kinda new!lol

Sorry! Chronic Respiratory Disease. Luckily, it seems they got it way after the rehoming of the roo.

 

[Enchanted1s]

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately - these are the answers I assumed I would get Since the question came to mind - I have been keeping my eye on Craigslist and FaceBook sales sites - especially while looking for baby pullets - there are a LOT of Roosters advertised. For sale and for free. I do not know of any Rooster Rescue sources near us. My better half says ABSOLUTELY NO to putting them in the freezer. I will continue to try to convince her, but she has already put her foot down and said that I would have to kill, clean, cook, and eat it myself! I don't cook and don't want to think about the cleaning part. NOW, she says that we won't be hatching any eggs! I was really looking forward to that part

@nminusyplusm That is exactly what we did too - just placed an order for three baby pullets, and shipping was not cheap! But they guarantee pullets We are anxiously awaiting their arrival! They are in a box, making their way to the desert from the cold that is OH - they should be here first thing in the morning!

 

[sourland]

@Enchanted1s, given the circumstances with your better half, and the FACT that rehoming roosters is problematic You have reached a logical, common sense conclusion. I applaud you.

 

[Mylied]

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately - these are the answers I assumed I would get Since the question came to mind - I have been keeping my eye on Craigslist and FaceBook sales sites - especially while looking for baby pullets - there are a LOT of Roosters advertised. For sale and for free. I do not know of any Rooster Rescue sources near us. My better half says ABSOLUTELY NO to putting them in the freezer. I will continue to try to convince her, but she has already put her foot down and said that I would have to kill, clean, cook, and eat it myself! I don't cook and don't want to think about the cleaning part. NOW, she says that we won't be hatching any eggs! I was really looking forward to that part

If you want to hatch just for the fun of it, sell the chicks unsexed at hatch up to a couple weeks old. That way you don't have to deal with roos but you still get the experience.

 

[nminusyplusm]

If you find a rescue let me know, but I've had no luck with that either. I've only seen suspicious craigslist ads in the El Paso area saying they will adopt unwanted livestock but I sincerely doubt any animals they get have good lives. They're probably crammed into overcrowded cages and then butchered. Better we do it ourselves than that.