My initial "chick group" was 25 - and turned out to be pretty much 1/2 roosters. I would have just kept them - but they started crowing - REALLY LOUDLY, in the middle of the night. I thought chickens were supposed to sleep at night - nope - once my roosters started crowing, I'd hear them at 3 am, 2 am - anytime during the night. And if I could hear them - I knew my neighbors could too - especially the neighbors on the back side of my farm closest to the barn (and on the chicken-side too). So I had to place my roosters - put an ad in the paper and on the internet (didn't know about this site) and got no takers. The farmer where I got my chicks didn't want them - I can't kill anything that I raised and fed. Really I can't kill anything.
So finally I had to do something - they were really going to get me in big trouble with my neighbors. I already have a boarding kennel here, and am very careful to get the dogs in before it's too late to cut down on barking at night -
The guy that I buy hay from had a neighbor who he said would want them - to eat. I reluctantly agreed to give them to him - he came and got them, I made him promise to kill them humanely. I felt bad about it, but don't know what else I could have done with the roosters. I kept two, who have since died from "stupid chicken syndrome" - jumping into the dog runs when the dogs were present. (my dogs don't bother the chickens, I guess unless they jump into their kennel and then probably run around like chickens do in a panic)
Now I need a rooster, but I'll probably have one in the 3 chicks that just hatched under my broody hen.
molly
