What to do with male chicks

[alsomadaboutchickens]

I would like to breed but don’t know what I would do with unwanted male chicks as I only want to keep one cockerel. i understand it will be difficult to sex them until they are a few weeks old and once this is done what should I do with the unwanted males?

 

[Trimurtisan]

I would like to breed but don’t know what I would do with unwanted male chicks as I only want to keep one cockerel. i understand it will be difficult to sex them until they are a few weeks old and once this is done what should I do with the unwanted males?

You could list them here, craigslist, or other venues for a low price. Even if you only charge $3-5 each it'll help pay to feed the remaining chicks.

Not sure how many your hatching, but it adds up fast. Right now I have 37 eggs going, if half are males and sold for $3, that's $55.50. That alone would cover the cost of the eggs I bought.

Raising them until they crow and then slaughtering them is always an option too. It'd still be a return on your investment, although smaller than letting them mature first.

 

[ColoradoPip]

My plan for straight run is to eat the roosters.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I hatch often, and there's no such thing as "extra" roosters around here. Unsold cockerels and roosters become much-appreciated nourishment. I grow them out in a tractor on pasture with fermented feed, and they taste amazing.

If you do plan on eating them, be prepared for the reality (and labor) of processing them (or pay a processor). I see lots of ads for free roosters and just shake my head - many will end up being free meals for someone else, so why not a delicious meal for you? You can ensure they have a better life - and death - than a factory-farmed broiler did.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I would like to breed but don’t know what I would do with unwanted male chicks as I only want to keep one cockerel. i understand it will be difficult to sex them until they are a few weeks old and once this is done what should I do with the unwanted males?

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

Grow them out and eat them is the most logical. Either plan to process yourself or find someone ahead of time that will do it for you. You need to grow them out anyways in order to select one with good enough qualities for breeding as so many things can change when hormones hit and molts happen. Comb sprigs and other things might not show up as early as gender. With predator losses and possible illness, never good to cut yourself too short. What are you wanting to breed and why? That can have a big impact on your options.

When breeding... selling straight run chicks means others deal with the cockerels instead of you, if you aren't trying to increase YOUR flock size.

Give them away as soon as ID'd. Or sell if you are able. There are tons of free roosters all day long here... so selling is not really gonna happen most the time. Do NOT expect them all to find non food homes.

Dispatch and leave somewhere acceptable for wild animals or carrion eaters, maybe even donating to a zoo or wildlife rehab for their use. By the time they are sexable, likely too large to sell as snake food. I have a feral barn cat that cleans up any carcasses left out. Or add to the compost pile for fertilizer. Make a maggot bucket. Or find a way to feed back to your animals. When my dogs catch something like a gopher, there is nothing left. Whatever the dog drops, the chickens clean up.

Good for you for thinking ahead! I too had to decide what to do as a responsible hatcher. Get a plan in place and think about plan B, as life changes and things do fall through sometimes.

It's also possible to keep a rooster and not hatch anything. To me, breeding should be done with a purpose... either to improve the breed, feed my family, etc. But if one is not able to select for good qualities... then that's not really breeding to me.

Happy adventures!

 

[chickens really]

I'm going to give my unwanted Cockerel to a raptor/Wildlife rehab centre. Plus I have a lady that uses them as dog food.

 

[Matilda Belle]

I rehome them.

 

[Mosey2003]

I eat them. People in my area will not pay for male chicks unless they're something special like Ayam Cemani, and even then far more pullets sell than cockerels, from what I see.

 

[aart]

I eat them too, at about 14-16 weeks.

 

[CatWhisperer]

I cull bantam males as soon as I can tell they are boys. The local wildlife gets them. I don’t want any cats on my property getting a taste for fresh chicken.