Hello!!! I have some roosters that came with the chicks i got this spring...They are EEE's but they are large and I had ordered only hens....just a mistake at the hatchery and I had planned on processing them when they hit 18 weeks...Well we are now at 13 weeks and they are becomming big jerks...of course its to be expected...there are three of them, 11 hens...and there is lots of mounting....fighting and carrying on. I am contemplating processing two of them early, just to settle down the flock. Is 13 weeks just way to early?? they are bigger then my Barred rock hens.....but i dont want to process them so early that its just a waste...if that is the case i will wait...what is everyones opinion???
Can you set up a bachelor pad for them, so they can grow out some more but not harrass your pullets? It doesn't have to be fancy, just something to keep them separated.
unfortunatly I cant set them up their own place...I did think about that....but its not do-able.....if its to early to process them...we will have to muddle thru.....they are not horrible with the girls yet.....i was just thinking if I could process them now...why make the girls live with them if they dont have too......
I tried that with my roosters. Separate the trouble maker from the rest. This guy was the most awesome escape artist I have known. He climbed out of an 8 x 8 dog kennel run, squeezed his big butt out through the top just to get back in the pen with the others. So we make the top escape proof, even for a "climbing" rooster. Then he started crowing non-stop. And by non-stop, I mean 24/7, until he was so hoarse he could hardly crow. He finally shut up long enough to sleep a bit but as soon as he woke up again, non-stop crowing. My neighbors, who are a good piece away were not too happy with this. Needless to say he is no longer around to be a nuisance but what a tool he was. The other roosters also are gone, thank goodness. Nice and peaceful now. These guys were about 16 weeks old and no where near eating size. Just a mixed bunch of boys, some bantams, some standards, but the big guys sure did not look big enough to eat. So they found new homes with people who didn't care if they were loud and obnoxious.
The way I see it, you have three cockerels that are not going to produce huge amounts of meat, no matter how long you hold on to them. So you have to ask yourself whether the nuisance of keeping them is worth the few ounces of meat you will get if you wait 4 or 5 more weeks. For me, I would process them now. I do not have a lot of tolerance for rude cockerels, and I am sure your girls feel the same way. Or, you can find a grouchy old hen who will mop the floor with the little brats, and that may buy you a little more time. When cockerels get rude, I put them into the layers' coop. They go in cocky, and wind up hiding in the corner or on the highest perch.
