Getting rid of my rooster (guilt)

[Sinadrea]

Hello all,

I have had my 3 year old Starlight Green Egger since he was a chick with my first flock. He has just had 6 chicks and at least 1 is a 3 month old Roo.

The elder hasn't settled down at all. He has spurred me 3 times and comes after me every day so I have to arm myself with a stick or something to push him back.
He seems great with the girls most of the time but 3 of them are showing signs of overmating and I can tell they are stressed out.

I haven't had the courage to try and assert dominance over him. I have a 15 month old who wants to go outside and I feel like I am out of options because I don't want the rooster to run our backyard anymore.

Is it irrational to give him away? The person interested will eat him. He has had a great life. He has free ranged for 3 years, he has 7 hens, 6 pullets, and now 6 babies.

What are your thoughts? And thank you in advance!

 

[rosemarythyme]

If he spurred your toddler you wouldn't be feeling a lick of guilt over seeing him off. He's had a good life, better than most roosters would, and he's had his chances, but it sounds like he's made things stressful for you and the flock, so off he goes.

 

[Sinadrea]

If he spurred your toddler you wouldn't be feeling a lick of guilt over seeing him off. He's had a good life, better than most roosters would, and he's had his chances, but it sounds like he's made things stressful for you and the flock, so off he goes.

Thank you.

 

[Livia Ammon]

It isn’t irrational at all! He has lived a very good life, from the sound of it, and many people ( including myself) wouldn’t have let him live as long as he has so far.

With a young child in question, it is far safer to give him away than to run the risk of your child getting hurt. His fertility is going down anyway, and he has outlived his usefulness, so away he should go.

 

[Sinadrea]

It isn’t irrational at all! He has lived a very good life, from the sound of it, and many people ( including myself) wouldn’t have let him live as long as he has so far.

With a young child in question, it is far safer to give him away than to run the risk of your child getting hurt. His fertility is going down anyway, and he has outlived his usefulness, so away he should go.

Good to know, I didn't know the age fertility started going down. Is it wasteful to give him away? My husband wants us to harvest him but I don't know if I could watch it.

 

[mapel walnut]

Here's an idea. Put a add up for the roo and see if anyone wants a challenge. Be sure that they understand that he's hard to deal with. BUT DONT FEEL BAD. You're kid comes first chickens are wonderful but they are chickens .

 

[Pukkits]

I second rehoming him. Once he's gone, whatever happens to him is not on you. Roosters protect their flock, including from humans. I understand it's natural. I don't advocate for keeping aggressive roosters in a home with kids. Maybe I was mentally scarred as a kid from my uncle's aggressive peacocks. Or my neighbor's aggressive wild turkeys. Especially with small kiddos, it's just not worth the safety risk. That and he's stressing your hens? Bye, bud.

You gave him a good life. Your hens will appreciate the break, and maybe your next rooster will be a gentleman toward people.

As for harvesting him yourself, up to you. Even after the deed is done, the cleaning, plucking by hand and cleanup always sounded like more than I wanted to do. I'm definitely an egg rancher, not a proper farmer. I've always given my roosters away. I'd rather buy a young, tender whole plucked, safely chilled chicken from the store, as I view I'd spend more money worth of my time plucking than the store cost.

 

[Sinadrea]

Here's an idea. Put a add up for the roo and see if anyone wants a challenge. Be sure that they understand that he's hard to deal with. BUT DONT FEEL BAD. You're kid comes first chickens are wonderful but they are chickens .

Thanks,
I have one on Craigslist and only 1 person wants him. I said he was aggressive in the description. The person who wants him is going to eat him.
Maybe I can reword my article to make it sound like he'll be a challenging yard mate.

 

[Sinadrea]

I second rehoming him. Once he's gone, whatever happens to him is not on you.

You gave him a good life. Your hens will appreciate the break, and maybe your next rooster will be a gentleman toward people.

As for harvesting him yourself, up to you. Even after the deed is done, the cleaning, plucking by hand and cleanup always sounded like more than I wanted to do.

I'm not the best with the quote button yet... but agree, I'm not sure how I'd do yet with first time gutting, plucking, disposing of innards, and deterring wildlife from wanting to eat the waste. I think giving away this one is best.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Thanks,
I have one on Craigslist and only 1 person wants him. I said he was aggressive in the description. The person who wants him is going to eat him.
Maybe I can reword my article to make it sound like he'll be a challenging yard mate.

Please don’t endanger someone else’s child or grandchild by “handwaving” in your listing!

It’s ok that whoever takes him will send him straight to freezer camp. You’ve given him a good life, he’s acting like he’s acting, let him go.

You may have to sit with the reality of his fate for a while. Keep him penned separately during this time.

And if your husband wants “us” to harvest him, then he needs to be willing to do the whole nine yards: dispatching him, plucking, cleaning, figuring out the wait time before freezing.