The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: caroway on July 26, 2011, 11:16:30 pm
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Does anyone want any cockerels? I have 6 and only 6 little hens who are getting no peace!!
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what part of the country are you in?
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Hi - I'm in Fife.
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long long way away :wave:
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What kind of cockerels are they? x
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They are bantam cockerels of very mixed breeding ! - 4 hatched last year and 2 older ones.
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I'm not having a go at caroway here, but this is one of the problems of hatching eggs that folk just don't think through. We used to get boxes of cockerels dumped at the livery stables where I used to keep Smokey. Some of the horse owners would feed them, but they fox usually got them pretty quick. TBH, I suppose there are worse ways to go, but it's just not very responsible and was pretty annoying.
If you are going to hatch eggs, be prepared to deal with the resultant cockerels.
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I think the fact that she has had them since last year and longer and now trying to find homes shows she has been dealing with the consequences, not dumped them, which of course is irresponsible. I too have 6 bantam cockerels, 10 weeks old, FTGH but am prepaed to keep them if no one wants any. I'm not having a go either :wave:
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It's just a matter of time before they start fighting. You always have a surplus. Best to do the responsible thing.The freezer beckons.
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I have 2 cockerels in together at the moment, they only fought after they had been separated for a while, I broke it up a few times and now peace reigns and no more crowing so maybe if there's a whole bunch of them they'll be ok ??? time will tell. Anyway there's not enough on them to make a meal out of and I couldn't kill/pluck them, don't know if I could eat them but I'd rather eat them than the poor things that end up in the supermarket after a miserable existence
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two bantams make quite a good meal. you have too many eat them up.
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I've kept some going for the pot this year. currently have seven light sussex cockerels in a pen together with no real problems but at the first sign of serious fisticuffs it'll be oven time. Or as soon as there's a reasonable amount of meat on them, whichever comes soonest ;D
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well, wev hatched out a fair few this year and look forward to having a good few dinners from them.
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Mine start annoying the hens, each other and me at 5-6 months, at which point they go into the freezer.
You always get too many cockerels and I don't know that people want them in general (only the occasional high quality pure breed for breeding), so best to let them have a nice life then eat them ;)
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Thanks for all your comments. I wouldn't dream of dumping them. Not too much fighting - they seem to respect boss cock but unfortunately he doesn't stop the young one's annoying the hens. I can't bring myself to kill them in case I don't do it properly (and them enjoying life!). Sadly the person who used to do it for me is no longer here.
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If they weren't bantams i would happily have taken one from you, as i also am in fife.
sorry i could help, i'll keep my ears peeled for you incase i hear anything
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I think people who keep poultry really need to face up to this issue. Either just keep hens or be prepared to cull some cockerels. It's a choice that needs making at the outset, not when you've got the cockerels and don't know what to do with them.
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I think people who keep poultry really need to face up to this issue. Either just keep hens or be prepared to cull some cockerels.
We eat them. Skin not pluck, breasts and legs & thighs off. Rest goes in bin. Great in the slow cooker.
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We eat them too. I actually quite enjoy plucking a chicken. Killing them's not great but as soon as they stop flapping they're just meat. They have never been pets to us though.
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well I have faced up to this issue,it's not a question of not knowing what to do with them - if no one wants them I shall keep them, as pets or I may possibly get someone to kill & pluck them, my choice. It's not imperative that you kill something just because it is male.
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We're in a similar situation, in that we now have two adult cockerels, two just coming of age, and another seven which are just off heat. It's just my luck really that out of twelve chicks hatched this year, nine have turned out to be boys! ::)
I suspect you'll have trouble later on if you decide to keep them all though. Our twelve girls hardly get a moments peace just now, with four boys in the flock. However, one of the young ones is going to be Sunday lunch, and the other is going to a colleague, so we'll be back to just two by next week (and I'm sure the Girls will all breathe a sigh of relief!!).
I used to think that in commercial set-ups, the girls were kept for eggs, and the boys for meat. I realise now of course that this is totally wrong, and that the boys are killed immediately. So, although I won't particularly enjoy killing the excess cockerels, at least ours have had a decent six months or so of free-ranging first, rather than being bumped off as day olds.