The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Fleecewife on May 14, 2012, 11:39:36 pm
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Our cockerel and cock numbers have been gradually creeping up, as we wait for young ones to grow big enough to eat - they are Scots Greys so they grow very slowly. We suddenly realised that we had six - particularly noticeable first thing in the morning when they let rip with all those cock-a-doodle-*#%&@-dos :chook: Aaagh! So this morning my OH went out with the gun - and now there's only one :thumbsup: It had to be the gun for some as they had taken to sleeping rough so couldn't be caught (maybe they had a little suspicion they were surplus to requirements :o)
At first Napoleon, the original cock and sole survivor, did a lot of Ozzy-sounding crows, clearly waiting for an answer from all his rivals, but by lunchtime he was starting to realise he is back to being king of the dung heap again :chook: and all is peaceful - no cock fights, no rapes, no bully-boys.
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A grim but necessary occasional deed. The girls will thank you! And no doubt there'll be Coq au Vin on the menu for a few nights... :yum:
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:wave: No I couldn't face eating another cockerel. A total waste I know and against all I believe in but this time they are not on the menu. We usually bump them off in pairs and they make a tasty casserole, but 5 is just OTT. But I'm so pleased at the peace - they sort of creep up on me, gradually growing up and getting more of a nuisance, until I finally snap :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook: :chook:
Napoleon the old boy is such a gentleman and looking magnificent in his full plumage right now.
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This is something I must toughen to. ::) It is a necessity i think to keep a correct balance for the rest of the gang.
And a reason I'm hesitant in expanding our little flock with egg hatching until somebody competent can give me an experienced hand in this learning curve.
:chook:
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we're working our way through our eaters at the moment :'( :yum: :yum:
we do 2 at a time
got 4 hanging at the moment, OH is going todress them today while i'm at work
We'll start again at the weekend
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I had to put 9 in the freezer last back-end. I am eating my way through them gradually.
Yes, they creep up on me too, eventually the noise and hassling the girls gets too much, when they reach about 6 months, and I have to take action.
Haven't hatched any chicks this year as I did so many last year, so spared the problem for a year.
My problem this year is finding out who isn't laying anymore and dispatching them, I find culling old hens much harder and am tempted to just them them stay.......
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We have to cull a cockerel soon as I am wanting my speckled sussex to free range and we can't until the 2 in the barn are gone. One is going to a friend though so only 1 to cull.
We have got a couple of old hens kicking around who aren't laying particularly well. They are keeping my speckled sussex cockerel company though so they have had a reprive!
Helen
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I know that feeling. I love all the poultry but had to put some boys in the freezer last year :( They were tasty though and made broth and everything so that I felt I hadnt wasted anything. ;) Just cant despatch the old girls .... they have to live out their lives here and tell myself they have earned their keep! ::)
I am such a wimp.
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That's how I feel - they've earned their keep. Trouble is the flock gets bigger and bigger and the eggs fewer and fewer. I'm going to have to take action.......maybe next year :)
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Yes, our flock is expanding ;D Especially with a daughter who adores hens.... loves to hatch a few and seems to get given pullets by neighbours!
Good idea ..... I will leave that side of flock management until next year as well ;) ;D A few may go from natural causes by then! ;D
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We let the old hens live out their lives here too. Partly it can be difficult to know when they have totally stopped laying, but being free range they are not expensive to feed. Eventually they shuffle off...in fact every now and then we find a geriatric dead under the perch in the morning, having died in her sleep, which has to be a nice way to go 8) I just love having them around and don't particularly care if they are not productive any more.
It's so peaceful today I can't understand why we didn't do the cockerels sooner - well I can. It's because in spite of their faults they are so beautiful :chook:
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re culling old girls....I too was convinced last year that one hen was not laying (she was the only one to lay white eggs 'supposedly') When I did get round to the kill she had plenty of eggs inside....oops!!!!
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Oh!!! ..... Thats it!!!!
I shall plod along with my hens have a home for life policy ::) ;D
Still have 6 cockerels :o ........ but some are very small ones ;D. As long as theres no trouble they can stay but no room at the inn for any more, Im afraid.
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We did 2 yesterday and I overslept this morning :-[ you don't always notice how loud they are till it stops
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Our girls will live out their life here as gratitude for all the lovely eggs they have given us :yum:
Cockerels are not permitted on the allotments, I will need to dispatch any hatched unless somebody is willing to take them ( unlikely outcome) which is why I cannot hatch eggs until I can do this confidently :-\
Thinking maybe sex linked chicks will be the best option until then :chook:
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Its such a pity for boys and they are always so beautiful which makes it worse, seems such a waste. Our old hens, coming up for 7 years are still laying almost every day except when the weather was bad. They have all been ill (sometimes very ill) over the years but we have kept them and they are laying brilliantly this spring. Couldn't despatch them just because they are laying less or feeling a bit off. Don't be so tempted to keep reproducing you lot out there!! Be nice to the old girls!!
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Oh, you lot are making me feel much better ;D Good to know its not just me that doesnt do the deed as they get on a bit.
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Our girls will live out their life here as gratitude for all the lovely eggs they have given us :yum:
Cockerels are not permitted on the allotments, I will need to dispatch any hatched unless somebody is willing to take them ( unlikely outcome) which is why I cannot hatch eggs until I can do this confidently :-\
Thinking maybe sex linked chicks will be the best option until then :chook:
Sex linked breeds do seem a good idea, otherwise by the time you can tell who's who they are just about at the nuisance stage - a small window for culling them. It's also an excuse to have a pet snake, so the wrong coloured chicks aren't wasted ;D ;D 8)
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;D ;D I've brought many different animals home for one reason or another. Most going back to owners eventually but a SNAKE :o it would definitely be the final straw for OH. I'd end up living in the henhouse ;D
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You could always keep a ferret/pole cat or two they like chicks!!!
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Most cockerels dont start crowing until 6 months old-ish, most are big enough for the table around 20 weeks old.
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Most cockerels dont start crowing until 6 months old-ish, most are big enough for the table around 20 weeks old.
I don't think that's accurate? I've had cockerels crowing at 10 weeks and 15 weeks .... loudly.... during the day. They were however very tasty! ;)
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Our old girls stay here free-ranging until nature takes it's course. :'( After all the eggs they produce, they deserve their days in the sun :chook: :chook:
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Most cockerels dont start crowing until 6 months old-ish, most are big enough for the table around 20 weeks old.
Ours are Scots Greys and definitely start crowing lo-o-ong before they are big enough to eat ::) :chook: :chook:
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I did say most ;D i have had a few early crowers myself.
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I think that the age at which they start crowing depends upon the breed. Some seem to mature much faster than others. Our peekins were crowing at 6-7 weels! Friesians at around 12 weeks and RIRs not until 5-6 months old. Larger breeds take longer to grow and mature? ???
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That is a good point In the hills, bantams or lighter breeds will crow earlier. My Taiwans and malays take ages before crowing.
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I would have kept one Fleecewife. Cockerels have a habbit of dying when you don't want them to. We lost one to a sudden heart attack, one to a fox and are now down to the one who was the 'spare'. He had his own girls but now has a lot more -lucky boy! So we need to breed some more quickly (Blue Laced Wyandotte LF).
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We did keep one Chris - the original cock. He is many years old so probably no longer fertile and eventually he will fall off his perch, but we have had enough of breeding for a while. If we decide to start again we would need to get a new cockerel anyway.
It might not be the complete clear-out we are hoping as I suspect there are a couple of hens which have crept off into the undergrowth to sit on clutches fertilised while the cockerels were still around, so some of those might hatch. :chook: :chook: :chook: