What to do with too many roos

[trkcChick]

I can't seem to eat mine. I give them away on freecycle.

 

[Keara]

They don't need to be full grown for soup! I am making rooster soup right now. Black Copper Maran Rooster to be exact. I butchered them at about 15wks, before they got to interested in the ladies. pleanty of meat for soup, and lots of stock.

I really need to get some eggs in the incubator so I can hatch out more roos for eating!

 

[Heckel's Hens]

I had 11 roosters sent to me from Ideal...thanks, guys....and when I could definately tell they were roos, I posted them on Craigslist and a very nice family came for their famr. Otherwise we would have eaten them around 16 weeks old.

 

[donrae]

Quote:
I've been thinking this same thing. Our snake is small--hopper mouse size--but there a few large reptile shops in town and I think I'll approach them about taking day old cockerals. Of course, this is when I'm able to have a seperate area to breed sex-link birds! Until then, we just eat them. I'm lucky enough to free range, so don't have to build another pen

 

[Junkmanme]

Quote:
I've been thinking this same thing. Our snake is small--hopper mouse size--but there a few large reptile shops in town and I think I'll approach them about taking day old cockerals. Of course, this is when I'm able to have a seperate area to breed sex-link birds! Until then, we just eat them. I'm lucky enough to free range, so don't have to build another pen

Snakes can eat something a LOT bigger than themselves (their jaws "unhinge"). I recall seeing on the Internet about a MAN that passed-out DRUNK in South America and was eaten by a large snake.

Around my place....I let the Bull-Snakes alone because they keep the rattlesnakes away and thin the field-mouse population. But, I can say with certainty....I would NEVER have a snake for a pet. (When I was young, I had a few girlfriends that had the same attitude as a snake....didn't keep them around either.)

Ha-Ha !!!

-Junkmanme-

 

[Mrs. K]

I found last summer, during the long days, as I am a teacher, I am home most of the time. I could have quite a few more head in my flock becuase they spent most of the day free ranging. As in the layers and two mother hens and chicks. They spread out, however, with the fall, and short days, school, I need them in the coop most of the day, then I need to have my numbers down.

Worked for me, without extra building.

MrsK

 

[Judy]

For breeds with single combs especially, it's often pretty easy to identify the males by two weeks or earlier. It's not a 100% thing, of course, but pretty good, and hey, a female chick is just as good a snake meal as a male chick. My one week guesses in my mutt chicks are usually right.

Around here we raise them to 12 or 14 weeks and eat them; by then it's pretty obvious. They're tender enough to fry or use any fast cooking method at that age. A little less meat, and costs more than store bought, true, but very good eating, and not something you can buy in a store. You can always let them go longer and roast at a low temp if you want to be really sure you're not eating females, or if the breed is hard to sex.

Here's a great article about eating dual purpose at any age:

http://www.albc-usa.org/documents/cookingwheritagechicken.pdf

 

[Martin Grove Farm]

We do try to sell our extra roos but sometimes that doesn't work. In that case we either process for us to eat or process for the dogs to eat. It depends on the age of the roo. I don't like to eat them once the get too old.

I have never been fortunate enough to have an fairly even split on my hatching eggs. Seems we always get more roos.

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
This is true, however even snakes have their limitations. The general rule is not to feed something more than 50% wider than the width of the snake's body. I've seen my snakes eat a small rat that was perhaps twice the width of their body but that was pushing it. I've also had a snake regurgitate a meal because it was too big for it to handle.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I was the proud owner of about 50 roosters in 2010. My girls hatched out all of those roosters.

I tried to sell as many as I could. I sold about 40 roosters at $10.00 a rooster. I couldn't see giving away a rooster when most people are looking for roosters to eat (unless they are looking for a specific breed). When I first started off with chickens many years ago, I COULD NOT eat of my animals but as time progressed and people have shown me the advantages of having chickens and knowing when to cull and send to freezer camp, my mind set changed. Any extra roos that are not sold within a certain amount of time, are processed and put in my freezer. I can't cull them, so I ask someone else to do it. The extra roos have provided food for me and my family, so I don't have to buy chicken. It takes a little longer for the roos to cook but it's worth it.

Many people can't cull their chickens and that is ok. You will have to decide what you can handle. But too answer your question........ I sell some and process the rest.


ETA: Pics of Rooster Dinner.