When to re-home?

[WallyBirdie]

I have never re-homed a roo before. Never needed to. At this point, I still don't, but if it comes to that later-

When?
How?
Where?

I know there is a forum on here for that. But I just need a little info from people who are more experienced.

I have three male turkens that are one month-old. I am keeping at least one. In the future, one or two may need to go.

What factors should I take into account before deciding to re-home?
How can I be sure that the bird(s) won't be eaten?
Are people more likely to take interest if they are free or sold for a low price?

Free is always something that grabs attention, but paying for it usually means people put a little more value/care into it.

I've never re-homed a roo or cockerel before. I know I can't logically keep tabs on them once they're gone. But I still want to be reassured...

I had a promising home lined up for a 'just in case' scenario, but I vetoed it after learning that they lost several chickens due to predators in a very short span of time.

Predators are everywhere. I know. But there are precautions that can be taken...

 

[lomine]

Cull them from the flock when they start causing stress to the others. Hormonal cockerels will harass pullets/hens and if you have multiple they may start fighting. Most cockerels will start by latching on to the head feathers of the pullets. The pullets will squawk and if you're lucky your rooster or a hen will come and put the cockerel in his place. Of course this behavior is normal for them. The problem ones are the ones that don't learn. They'll continue to chase the girls or fight. I think with observation you'll know which ones are the ones that need to go.

If you are dead set on not selling/giving to someone who will eat them, you may want to look into keeping an all rooster flock. Especially if you keep hatching eggs. There are only so many people who need or want males.

 

[Mrs. K]

Roosters are where romance meets reality as AArt says. It is a good truth. Roosters are a crapshoot, and often times people vastly underestimate the violence a rooster is capable of producing towards people and or towards each other.

If you have multiple roosters, you need a plan B (which is what I think you are trying to do) set up and ready to go. A hook or a fishnet so that you can separate fighting roosters.

Once they leave you, you have no say what others do, it is really none of your business. Selling a rooster is possible, if you have some very nice birds, but it is not likely. Roosters are a dime a dozen, so to speak, as more people have roosters that are ruining the whole chicken experience, than people that want roosters. Rehoming for most is a lovely idea, but not a practical one, in as they can't find a home for them.

Separate coops will help you keep them. The thing is you really cannot change natural chicken behavior, and a lot of the behavior is pretty ugly if you are in a smaller confinement area. Separating them is really your only option and it is an expensive one.

You will be able to tell, when your pullets and hens become bare backed, keep hiding in the coop, are repeatedly harassed for sexual favors and upset by fighting birds.

People often come to this forum with some preconceived ideas about how this will go, but chickens are chickens, and do not always act nice and get along. Wishing will not make it so. Sometimes a bachelor pen will work, some roosters it won't work.

Mrs K

 

[sourland]

To assure proper care and a lifetime home for your cockerels, it may be necessary to form an all rooster flock separate and away from the hens.

 

[Folly's place]

Good ideas already! It's best to not hatch chicks if you don't have a place for extra cockerels, or are unwilling to have them become dinner somewhere. That's what Turkens were developed for, after all.
A bachelor pen is your best alternative if you plan to keep more cockerels, so that your hens and pullets aren't living in misery.
Mary

 

[WallyBirdie]

Good ideas already! It's best to not hatch chicks if you don't have a place for extra cockerels, or are unwilling to have them become dinner somewhere. That's what Turkens were developed for, after all.
A bachelor pen is your best alternative if you plan to keep more cockerels, so that your hens and pullets aren't living in misery.
Mary

Very insightful. I admit that I didn't think too far into the idea of hatching eggs. My girl was broody and I decided to give her a chance on the eggs. There was room for a few more, where she is. I hadn't factored in male to female ratios at the time- even so, I still might be able to arrange something because my juvenile guineas were moved from one run and successfully integrated with the adults, so that clears room with a group of girls (large friendly hens).
I could add a young male in with them. (It was a good option when I needed help with my grumpy cockerel- whose behavior has been reformed).

I'll have to keep an eye on things and do some figuring. If I can pull my resources, a bachelor pen would be most ideal.

Come to think of it, I know someone who is getting rid of a 'duck hut', which is essentially a small coop they used for ducks. It would probably be a good start for what I need.

Thank you for the advice here. I'll get things figured out soon!

 

[Acre4Me]

We’ve used a livestock auction to get rid of our excess males. We googled “livestock auction near me” in maps and that is how we found one. We have sold 4month and 10 month old males in a cold January auction and made about $8 avg per bird. We recently sold 5 month old males and they sold for $9.50-$13.50 each. One thing I did was to cage them separately, and label them with hatch date/age, source (name and location if breeder/hatchery), and egg color genetics. Figuring that a person looking to add to their living flock may be more interested bc more care was taken in presenting them. No doubt some males are sent to the dinner table, but at $10+ each, my hope is that they went to live a little longer.

Other ideas we had: post on community board at feed store. CL or Fb. FB does not allow selling animals, so you need to find a local chicken group page or similar, like homesteading, and you may be able to post there. I liked the auction bc I did not have to try to coordinate with anyone or have to meet them, etc as my schedule is variable.

Once an animal leaves your possession, you don’t have control on what happens. Even if you are told one thing, something different may happen.

 

[Futuregreenefarm]

I am curious as to how you reformed a "grumpy" roo and what you define as grumpy as well please?

 

[BYCforlife]

Sell then to @CP Chicken maybe.

 

[Acre4Me]

Thank you for the suggestio, but I am not looking to re-home just yet. If it comes to that, the most ideal solution would be to find someone who wants to add to their longterm flock.
I will not be knowingly sending my birds off to someone's dinner table.

My question wasn't simply where to send the birds, but also when is re-homing necessary? And is there a good age for that? What factors determine that a bird needs to go?

They become overall jerks around 16-20 weeks, and throw in their crowing, and that’s about when you’ll be wanting them gone, and so will the hens and pullets.