Advice on what to do with baby roosters?

[jfays]

Hello all! I've just hatched 11 beautiful babies! I am wondering if anyone has any advice on what to do if I end up with too many roosters. I want to keep one MAYBE two and a friend wants one but if I get more what do you guys usually do with too many roosters in a new flock? I would never kill them and the thought of giving anyone away hurts but I am guessing that's what I might have to do! Where do you guys usually ask around?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If it is a sought after breed and high quality you can probably sell them, even on craigslist. I've sold roosters on craigslist for as much as $40. If someone pays that much, they're not butchering it.

The reality is that there are, on average, 9 extra cockerels for every needed one.
So, when they mature, I select the very best ones for breeders and the rest make for some very tasty dinners. After all, I eat chicken and they have a much better life than a commercial Cornish/rock.

 

[rides2far]

I might have a roo, also. My son farms & his workers will take the roosters. I only have docile breeds, so I hope they want them for their hens - not their dinner! We've talked about butchering the Roos, I was raised on a cattle ranch, so I'm used to eating livestock I've raised, but my baby chicks are sooo cute!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So are calves.


But they still taste like steak.

 

[keesmom]

If you hatched 11 chicks, you most likely have too many cockerels. Statistically you could have only 1 or 2, but if you are like me then 8 or 9 are male. You may find them less cute once they start crowing, fighting and chasing pullets all day.

My extras go to the freezer. You could try to sell them, though depending on where you are located you may be hard pressed to even give them away. You could list them on craigslist or see if there is an auction near you.

 

[lazy gardener]

This statement is NOT directed at the OP. So, please don't take offense. But before anyone plugs in an incubator, or even allows a broody hen to set on some fertile eggs, there should be a contingency plan about what to do with all those roosters. If a poultry keeper is of the mindset that no chicks ever produced by their eggs will ever be used for meat, it is best to not hatch eggs in the first place.