What to do with an extra roo?

[csalt]

My cute little chick grew up to be a gigantic rooster in a hen house that already has a beautiful bantam roo. They get along now but I'm very afraid that as this giant matures he's going to take tiny Napoleon out. What do I do with him? I refuse to eat him or put him on Craig's List for fear of someone taking him for cock fighting. How do you find a home for a big, loud, but beautiful rooster? (I live in Harpers Ferry, WV).

 

[HorizonSon]

Ummm... please forgive me, of I'm blunt; as this question is asked on a daily basis...

Regardless... you can keep him or just assume he will be eaten for the food that he is... Plain and simple. Sorry; I don't have any purdy butterflies to offer.

 

[Liamm_1]

He looks delicious

This was my first experience turning a roo into food:

Assuming you eat chicken, why not eat the meat of a bird you raised, fed and gave a good life to, instead of a store bought bird that was housed in a sloppy factory, fed/treated with who knows what, and spent his entire life in a miserable existence. Would you rather support that factory farmer when providing a meal for yourself, or support your own hard work? I had to learn the whole processing routine, but in the end it was well worth it, as I felt I accomplished something very grand, raising my own food, just like having a garden. If you don't want to do the processing yourself, maybe you can find someone to help you. My 10 year old son said it was the best chicken he ever ate. Like the previous poster said, he 'is' food

 

[emys]

If you really can't stand the thought of eating him and you are dead set against anyone else eating him, you will have to house him separately yourself. Build a small pen for him alongside your current pen.

Rarely, you can re-home a rooster to some other flock, using word of mouth, posters or Craigslist. In general, those that need another rooster either want a particular breed (which he is not) or free range and lost their last rooster to predators and will subject the new rooster to the same.

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

Sometimes you can get lucky. When one of my EE "hens" started crowing, I asked my facebook friends if any of them knew someone who wanted a rooster. A girl I went to high school with said her dad had about 40 hens and kept talking about getting a rooster for his flock. The next day, my extra roo was living the life!

Honestly, though, if someone had wanted him to eat him, I would have let them take him. I would much rather know that one of my birds is going to someone who will butcher in a humane manner than worry about the possibility of a stranger cockfighting one of my chickens.

Good luck!

 

[gritsar]

He's a beautiful roo. I wish you were closer, I'd take him in a heartbeat.

I'm sorry if I missed it, but do you have enough hens to support two roos? Size means nothing to roos and if your banty is dominant, that may never change. It could change, with the big boy trying to take over the role of alpha roo, but you could cross that bridge when you come to it. I'd be more concerned about the wear and tear on your hens if there's not enough to go around.

If you absolutely cannot keep two roos, I'd either learn to cull myself or find perhaps a relative or friend willing to do it for me. That way you are not running the risk of having a stranger cull, who may or may not be humane about doing it.

I personally cannot cull my animals; even though I eat meat. My DH does it for me. I am bothered enough by nightmares as it is due to a seizure disorder, I don't need to add fuel to the fire. If that makes me a hypocrite, so be it. It is what it is.

No need for anyone to get snarky or be rude to a newbie. The OP was asking a legitimate, honest question. BYC is all about friends helping friends. I'm sure there's a forum for comedians somewhere on the net.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
What breed is the rooster?

 

[44Wolves]

Quote:
Is he a D'uccle? (SP?) Anyway, ask some friends or find your states thread on "Where am I? Where are you?" and ask there!

 

[teach1rusl]

There's really only a few choices. House him separately, give him away knowing there's a chance he could be eaten - not a horrible ending if it's quick, killing/eating him yourself, killing him and burying him if he's a pet to you, or getting someone else to do the deed (maybe a vet. would euthanize him?). Good luck. When I think about how cool it would be to get an incubator and hatch eggs, that's what scares me most - what to do with all the roos. Easy answer if you raise them for meat...not so easy if you don't.

 

[csalt]

Thank you gritsar for your kind words. I was heart sick after reading the posts telling me to eat him. I love my birds and treat them very well. I could no more eat one of them than one of my cats. So, I've posted his picture on facebook and asked for help finding him a "no kill" home. If that doesn't work I'll get him his own pen and in the spring I'll get a fence company to fence in the coop area so there will be plenty of room for everyone. Also, I'm delighted to learn that size doesn't matter. My little "Napoleon" banty roo is definitely the alpha roo and gives Rex a run for his money for the time being. Let's home he keeps it up.

I can't describe how much better I feel now that I've read the helpful posts. I can't get the picture out of my head of that poor rooster in the frying pan! Please try to remember that people have feelings too. Thanks.