We were naively ecstatic when our first chicks were hatched in 2003. Not only were the chicks adorable, but it also meant that we were self-sufficient when it came to providing eggs for ourselves. Our hens were providing us with eggs, and they were providing us with their replacements so that when they slowed down and eventually stopped laying, there would be younger hens to replace them.
A year later, we had about forty hens and twenty-four roosters. Most of the hens had bald backs because roosters think they need to mate a hen at least every fifteen or twenty minutes. And when one rooster pinned a hen, three or four other roosters would line up for their turn. The constant mating pulled all the feathers from the hens’ backs, which then exposed their skin to the roosters’ toenails as well as to the sun. I understood why the books say that you only need one rooster for about every dozen or two hens. I realized that if the hens went into winter with no feathers on their backs, they could freeze to death. We briefly considered butchering some roosters but quickly dismissed the idea, hoping that the urge to mate would decrease as fall approached.
One day as I was walking through the barn, I saw Emerald, a beautiful Silver-Laced Wyandotte rooster standing like a statue. As I walked towards him, he didn’t move. I stood right next to him and crouched down. Nothing. I waved my hand in front of his face. Nothing. As I moved around to the other side of his body, I realized his other eye had been pecked out. I gasped and ran to the house to tell Mike that he needed to put down the rooster.
Of course, I expected Mike to put the rooster out of his misery. He objected, “Well, can’t you do something for him?” I explained that although I could get medication for him, he would have to spend the rest of his life in a cage because his blindness would make him an easy target for predators and other roosters. “Emerald was the king of the barnyard,” I explained. “Being in a cage is no life for a rooster like that.”
Mike finally agreed, but by the time we went back out to the barn, Emerald was dead. We thought about what to do with him, and it seemed like a waste of good, organic meat to bury him. A few months earlier, we had decided to eat a hen that had wandered onto the road and been hit and killed by a four-wheeler. When we thought about the reasons that we did not eat meat, none of them applied to our chickens. They were not vaccinated or medicated or debeaked. They were healthy, living happy lives, running around outside, eating bugs, and doing all the things that chickens naturally do. We decided to eat the rooster.
Over the next few weeks, the rooster fights became more frequent. I found another rooster standing in the barn, staring into space. His head was covered with blood. It didn’t take long to convince Mike to butcher him, but by the time he had sharpened his ax, the rooster was dead. After the third rooster died, we decided that something had to be done. The roosters were obviously fighting to eliminate the competition for mating the hens, and it was getting to be quite inconvenient to drop everything to butcher a rooster that had lost an argument. We realized we could either butcher them on their schedule or ours.
This is an excerpt from Homegrown and Handmade: A Practical Guide for More Self-Reliant Living by Deborah Niemann.
This is the story of how we changed our thinking and our practices regarding roosters. Many people get chickens and don’t think about what they will do with the extra roosters. We were no exception when we moved to the country in 2002. It only took us a year to figure out that it was not a good idea to keep all of the roosters. Now we butcher cockerels around 4 months of age, and we keep the pullets as replacement layers.
Matefrio says
How is it thrifty to feed something that isn’t producing? 8 to 11 weeks it’s bucher time for any undesirables. The meat in your freezer is the harvest.
thriftyhomesteader says
That’s very true, and we do butcher roosters now. This is the story of when we first moved to the country in 2002-03. Because we raise heritage chickens, we butcher roosters at 4 months.
Kristin says
Thank you! I just ordered 50 chicks and have a lot of roosters. Now I have an age to go by for butchering.
Anna Runnings says
When I was first starting out, I was also reluctant to butcher my roosters. I had about 1/2 roosters and 1/2 hens. When, for the safety and comfort of my hens, I eliminated all but one roo to every 8-10 hens, I went from filling the feeder every day to filling it every 4th day. Which means that half the chickens – the roosters – were eating 3/4 of the feed, and producing but noise and stress on the hens. I now keep the ratio down, and if there’s a young rooster I want to keep, an older one has to go.
Michelle says
We need to butcher some roosters, too. We just haven’t found the time yet. I think as homesteaders we go through that learning curve and learn why it’s best to just go ahead and butcher them.
Jone says
NO ROOSTERS MUST LIVE!!
Neal Bynum says
Come on y’all castrate those roosters before they are mature and get some of the biggest best tasting Chicken on the planet capons I live in the city and even I know that capons are great
Amy says
Thank you for posting this, I think the problems of having too many roosters are not what a lot of beginner chicken lovers think about! It was nice to read how you worked through the issue and found the most thoughtful and humane choice, especially when you had already chosen to not eat meat! Bon appetit!
Beth says
I’ve heard that having a guard goose, eliminates barnyard rooster fights. (Justin Rhodes , now Art and Bri’s, guard goose breaks up barnyard disputes) anyway, thought I’d mention it, for those who might want to keep some of their birds a bit longer.
thriftyhomesteader says
This seems to be a personal trait of some animals. Our geese never cared how much our roosters fought. But we used to have a dog that hated it and would break up fights. However, that only works to a certain point. If you have as many roosters as we did, there was nothing that was going to keep them from fighting because there were just too many.
Jone says
say it with me ROOSTER ROOSTER ROOSTER ROOOOOOOSTER
Rae Callaway says
I really need to learn how to process my extra roos. I’ve watched lots of videos, but I just cannot take that step without assistance! I need to either watch/help the first time.
Jackie King says
We have about 17 of the most beautiful roosters I have ever seen – cross of Black Australorpe Rooster and a gold sex link hen. They are about a year old. Wish I could sell their feathers. Can’t near to kill them. We don’t mind that hey crow as a choir at 4 in the morning. Hens follow them like groupies. Our problems same as yours. I think I will ask our chicken processor if he will process them for us.
Julie says
Thank You! This article came at the right time. I am on a farm in South Africa. I didn’t think I could ever love birds as I love my hens, chickens and roosters. Such comedic characters! I captured 4 roosters today for the pot. They screamed like children. It was traumatic! I now have 5 roosters left and 20 hens. Please may I have some advice? Do I need to cull more roosters? I don’t think I can go through the trauma for a while!!!
thriftyhomesteader says
You are definitely getting closer to a good rooster to hen ratio. If you are feeling up to it in another month or so, and you could butcher two more, that would be ideal. But hopefully you won’t see too much fighting with the number you have now. Good luck!
Kelly says
I just hatched around 20 eggs earlier this year. Now that they are about 3 months old, I’ve discovered that more than half are roosters! Thank you for your honesty about how you handle roosters.
Random Guest says
Or you could STOP BREEDING the damn birds and separate them by sex so they do not reproduce. Like a sanctuary that loves animals would do. Hens in one area, roosters in another area. Stop buying from breeders too and just adopt/rescue. That’s what I do. Adopting saves lives. Breeding is greedy, for profit, and adds to the problem.
Kate says
I work in rescue and I have my own farm. If you want chickens as pets you can adopt, sure. But adoption for egg production isnt very feasible. There aren’t many adoptable hens out there. They never come solo. It’s always a breeding pair. Not only that but getting a bunch of random chickens and putting them together doesn’t often end well. Also, you cannot combine random roosters together. That’s a mess. I know bc I’ve rescued my fair share. Now I have a bunch of coops with animals that can’t be with others. Not everyone can do that.