daxigirl Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 13 of my babies are off to the auction in the morning and I feel terrible. Several have turned out to be boys and have had a s"Ooops, word censored!" (Tues) they're all ok but had to be separated up. It means I have to let the little Marsh Daisy (Freckle) go in order to keep the little Dumpy (Haggis) company. Then I still have to decide on whether to keep the tiny Orp (Titch), same batch/size eggs as the others but only a third of their size. Hopefully I'll have made a decision in the morning before I pack them up. I want to keep them all so I don't think I'm cut out for chick rearing. It doesn't help naming them either does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 Don't feel terrible, I'm sure they will all be fine with their new owners . That's one of the reasons I don't think I could hatch any, I would want to keep them all, in fact I know I would . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittyl Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 aww I will feel the same I'm sure. I'm really hoping I can rehome mine amongst people I know, unless of course they all turn out to be boys! Yeh, keep Titch, he sounds sweet, I love orpys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 Everyone sold at the auction although only for peanuts quite literally, I couldn't watch and sat in the egg auction room so didn't find out till the end. Rather upset but know they had to go and am now ok about it. You'll be please to know that I kept Titch (7 weeks) who I'm hedging my bets is a girl. Just realised that she's the same size as the 3 & a bit week olds that are in the lounge!! Came home with 12 sebright eggs for £2 so haven't let it put me off yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittyl Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 You'll be please to know that I kept Titch Yeay! glad you kept Titch. - (got a piccie?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I have to say that this is one of the reasons that I haven't been tempted to hatch. I am not cut out to cull the boys, can't keep a boy for the sake of my neighbours and would be very upset to see them go at auction to an unknown fate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Okay, no-one else has said this so I will. Sending the boys to auction is, in my opinion, ducking your responsibility. It's a sad fact of life that male chicks are not wanted. Only the very best examples of their breed and the exceedingly lucky have any monetary value. The rest are surplus to requirements and anyone planning to hatch needs to grasp this. Sending lone males to auction is sending them to their death. At best they will be snapped up for a few pence by someone planning to fatten them for the table and end their lives humanely. If they're not so lucky, they end up as training birds for cock fighting or used as pet food, or both. Even sending a pair or trio to auction often means bad news for the male - it's not unknown for the buyer to take his pullets/hens and leave the males behind. Please, please, please reconsider hatching if you don't have a better plan for dealing with the male chicks. If you can't face raising them for the table yourself, they need to be culled as soon as their sex is evident. To do anything else is irresponsible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I have to say that Jools makes a good point A trio of top quality mature breeding birds will always be more wanted than a young mixed breed pair. Sending a male off with a female will not secure him a good home, more money would have been gained by sending the female alone this speaks volumes about the market for cockerels and is the sad reality A cheap pair bought at auction will almost certainly be split - the female will be traded on or kept as a pet and the male will sadly not factor in to the equation People make a living from buying up pens with a cockerel in and then selling on individual females sometimes at auction sometimes from a slick premises commanding high prices I'm not intending to make you feel bad but it will help several readers to know how auctions often work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 Well I now feel suitably chastised and scolded. I felt bad enough as it is and now I feel even worse and would rather like to have a cry. I'm can only appologise for not meeting the high standards of others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Try and rehome them first, practical poultry forum and preloved are good sites. If they are pure breeds you will have more chance of finding them homes where people will use cockerels for breeding. It is hard work and you have to use pictures and keep refreshing ads to make your boys appealing. I have friends who will help me with culling although I haven't had to take them up on their kind offer as yet When I started hatching I fully intended to cull any males, I had the procedure explained to me and was willing to learn. However I then realised I couldn't do it but this does not make me a bad person, I just had to find another way and I rehomed all 5 to people I know. I don't intend to continue with hatching (I have another couple to rehome from a later hatch or I may keep them). Beegal on Practical Poultry will rehome boys, but you would need to take them to him Coventry way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittyl Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Thats awful, perhaps this information should be available in the sticky about "the boys". It may help some of us that are new to this to make a more informed decision. Poor Daxigirl, I can understand how awful you must feel. If it helps, I know of a lovely couple of retired farmers who have a yard full of chickens & ducks that they love, they often go to the auctions & pick up the occasional friendly cockerel to add to their menagerie, they cant be the only ones. (-Not sure I trust the chap in Coventry, I nearly sent a much loved pet cockerel to him (long story)after promises that he'd be rehomed, then I heard that alot of them end up as lunch, dont know if thats true though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 I had advertised on poultry pages, here, the local pet / horsey stores, preloved, freeads without a single whiff of interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jools Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 It most certainly wasn't my intention to make you feel so uncomfortable. However, it was my intention to encourage you (and anyone else planning to hatch) to take responsibility for male chicks. The fact that no-one locally was interested does confirm that homes for the boys are as rare as hens teeth. This is the friendliest poultry forum on the net. I'm on a couple of others and interestingly there was a post yesterday about male chicks which generated far more forthright replies than this one has. I hope you don't decide to leave but I also hope you hatch more responsibly next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tweety Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I'm sorry that you feel so awful Daxigirl - I would too, and I do think that some of the responses on the forum can come across as very harsh and judgemental. It is hard not to take them personally, but as Redwing says in her response, they are not meant to make you feel bad but to give advice and serve as a warning to others. You haven't done a bad thing, and I think it unnecessary to accuse you of hatching irresponsibly. I must admit that I had considered selling at our local rare breed auction, where I have bought a few birds in the past. Thanks to this post, I will not be doing so now! However, there must be plenty of birds that go to good homes and happy lives after being bought at auction - I can think of several languishing in my garden as I write - and there is no reason to suppose that yours, which were rare breeds, won't be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 At the end of the day its about sharing experiences - as I hatch so many chicks I have made all the mistakes in the past two years - seen what happens at auctions, seen the cockerels left behind or in the car park in boxes or in hedges and heard how some sellers get their stock, I've cried the tears and hope that I can get the word out to others not to make those mistakes yes some cockerels do go to good homes some for breeding but the point is that you just dont know what will happen and this is a risk I am no longer happy to take I am in the very lucky position of having lots of people after my spare barred cockerels but the reality for all of the other male birds hatched is that they will have a comfortable but short life with me, its not about my standards its about my peace of mind Dont feel bad you have more information on the subject than you did last week, everything is a learning curve x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Thats awful, perhaps this information should be available in the sticky about "the boys". It may help some of us that are new to this to make a more informed decision. Poor Daxigirl, I can understand how awful you must feel. If it helps, I know of a lovely couple of retired farmers who have a yard full of chickens & ducks that they love, they often go to the auctions & pick up the occasional friendly cockerel to add to their menagerie, they cant be the only ones. (-Not sure I trust the chap in Coventry, I nearly sent a much loved pet cockerel to him (long story)after promises that he'd be rehomed, then I heard that alot of them end up as lunch, dont know if thats true though) Just to clarify Beegal doesn't offer them a home with him - he has lots of contacts and he endeavours to match birds to people Again if you make that choice instead of culling then you have to accept that the outcome may be different to what you had imagined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatsCube Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 This has all been very informative, daxi's experiences and also the experiences of others. Im now in the process of incubating m first lot of eggs, and my plan was to sell probably pretty much everything once its reached POL age. I have toyed with assorted ideas, from dispatching the males as soon as I can sex them, to selling them as twos or trios at auction. Im thankful for peoples honesty, I know it doesn't always sound nice, but otherwise I would have had no idea about the boys being dumped or the prices of the hens being effected. Now I know that unless I know people that want to take on any of my boys I will dispatch them myself so I know that they don't have some other less humane ending. I was thinking last night about eating them myself but Im guessing a 16ish week old pekin cock isnt going to make much of a dinner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I can see why people may be upset by some of the forthright posting on this thread but upsetting people or 'passing judgement' was not their intention. By visiting this forum you can learn from the experiences of others whether they be mistake or successes. Those that have posted could have remained silent and no one would have been any the wiser as to what can happen to these male birds. I think it is a much better approach to risk upsetting people but to give a clear overview of what can and sadly frequently does happen to these birds. Some have learned the hard way and it is so important to prevent others from doing the same if they can. Please don't see any of the comments made as personal attacks. It is important to remain focused on the most important thing which is to act in the best interest and the health and welfare of the animals in our care. Please continue to post with sensitivity and respect of fellow forum members The moderating team will look at incorporating some of this information into the existing Sticky for future reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 My sister took some cockerels to auction. They were bitzas & were going to go to go on the table. They did not become a heavy breed so not much meat on them. She just thought she would take them to auction. She said never again as it was quite stressful for the birds, being bundled into boxes, then put in a small auction cages, then another journey to their fate. No, she did admit that it would be better for the birds to cull them herself in future. & I would agree. I can't do the deed myself, but brother in law is always on hand. I just hope there is someone willing to do it once I've moved - or else I will have to toughen up & learn. I have a soft spot for the boys - they are usually stunners. But it is not practical / safe to keep them all. So far I have been lucky. I've kept them for breeding or found homes. Only one has ever had to be culled. Please please - if you can't handle the outcome - then please don't hatch or buy day olds. Stick to your point of lays! Chicks are cute - but soon grow up! Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 Just to be clear as I started this topic, it wasn't titled "re males" when I wrote it and it was never about the boys and what to do with them, it was about me feeling sorry for myself that I had let my babies go, it was a decision I'd had to make. I don't have a problem with what people do with their chickens that they've raised or any that they've bought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kittyl Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Still glad you kept Titch! how is she? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Just to be clear as I started this topic, it wasn't titled "re males" when I wrote it and it was never about the boys and what to do with them, it was about me feeling sorry for myself that I had let my babies go, it was a decision I'd had to make. I don't have a problem with what people do with their chickens that they've raised or any that they've bought. Sorry Daxigirl, I edited the title in order to make the topic more searchable and appreciate it may not have been the best edit I have changed it to add 'Auction' which is perhaps more appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted May 17, 2011 Author Share Posted May 17, 2011 Titch is fine and we had a little cuddle before I left for work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
