I live in Seattle with no roosters allowed. I have 4 pullets and 3 cockerels all hatched first week of August. One cockerel is a BLRW, slow to mature, snuggly etc. so he's not a concern just yet, but the other two, a Barnevelder and a Wheaten Marans, will need to be rehomed pretty soon. The Barnie is boss, bigger, dominant, protective, but a nice guy. The WM is his underling, understandably a bit more timid but friendly with humans and the girls. I have a friend with four chickens that is offering to take one of the cockerels for me until he crows, then dispatch him. My question is, which one of them should I relocate? My gut tells me send the Barnie away because he is confident and will adjust better to the new space; he knows how to be the boss and will only need to learn a new environment. I worry that if we sent the WM off he would be in over his head suddenly needing to be the roo and in an unfamiliar environment with new girls. Any ideas? I want to make sure that who ever stays behind can handle suddenly being unchallenged top bird. Does this make sense? Am I thinking about it too much?
I wouldn't worry very much about a roo adjusting to a top spot. They seem to understand what happened with much trouble from what I have seen. You can try posting this on the Washington State thread. Here is a link to the thread. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=461&p=5473 The sad thing about roosters is that there are more of them than any flock owner could ever need. The extra roos are often used for food. There is a chicken auction every Saturday in Enumclaw. The bird needs to be checked in by 10:30am. I also believe that the Monroe Feed Store will take extra roos.
Thanks justbugged - I would be delighted to find someone outside of town who wanted to keep them to do their roosterly duty, but I'm a realist too. When we got the chicks they were straight run and I thought "We'll find someone who'll want the boys". Well. Of course out of 8 we got 4 males, and it's sad that they probably won't live long and happy lives. If they get eaten they get eaten, but I'm still hoping for adoption! One went to live in Kirkland with 10 girlfriends, so I know it can be done. Thanks for the tips about places that will take them. I thought I had a place at Baxter Barn all lined up but they filled up before we were ready to part with the guys.
I do a lot of hatching and end up with a lot of boys and unfortunately I know some of the boys will be going to freezer camp. I do try to find them a home if I can and sometimes I take them to our local auction.
