Part 0800.0005

[LolaCola]

I'm a novice, and would like to hatch some buff orpingtons, but what about any males that hatch?! I can't keep a rooster, I'm ins large residential area. Please could people tell me what they do with there un wanted males? I couldnt dispatch!

[Tweety]

You really need to try to find homes for any unwanted cockerels before you start hatching, and bear in mind that you are likely to get at least 50% male birds.

 

Will you be getting your eggs from a breeder? If so, you could ask if they would be interested.

[Griffin]

My advice is that if you cannot despatch, don't hatch. Of all the male chicks I've hatched, I can use my fingers to count how many I've rehomed to good homes. I've had no choice but to cull at least 90% of the boys, and some hatches have been all boys too. Each time it breaks my heart but you have to realise there are virtually no homes out there for boys.

[Redwing]

over 90% of the males hatched here are culled too I am afraid. I am in a good position with my barred Wyandottes as I have people willing to pay good money for cockerels but the rest of my breeds arent so lucky

 

Sometimes you get a stroke of luck and are able to rehome the odd cockerel but if you go in to it knowing that some of the cockerels will need to be culled then anything else is a pleasant surprise

 

You dont have to know how to cull but do find someone who can do it for you or ask the breeder if they will have the males back to be culled (if I give hatching eggs away I always say I will take the males back)

 

Hatching good quality pure breeds will give you the best chance of rehoming males

[LolaCola]

Was worried I would be told that! still would love to try it.

Dare I ask, how do you dispatch? Is there a painless, humane way?

[Redwing]

I use the broomstick method on chooks over 8 weeks and a modified version of it for chicks

 

Where are you in Bucks? if its the northern part of the county then you wouldnt be far from me and I would be willing to help when the time came if thats any help? I am not far from Towcester

[surfer_chicken]

There are a few videos on youtube if you look up the broomstick method. You'll need an account to view them as you have to be over 18, but they give you a bit of idea of what's involved. I hatched for the first time last year and raised the boys for the table. What really helped me was remembering that even though the boys were dispatched at about 20 weeks, they had a longer and much better life than most of the meat birds you see for sale in the supermarket. I really enjoyed the experience overall and would definitely do it again in the future.

[Gloss-Hen]

I have had two hatches so far and had to despatch a little chick which had 1 wing had spay leg and foot sores

[chuckmum6]

I have rehomed one boy, had on for Christmas dinner, kept one and all others have been dispatched when I knew what they were.

My cockerel is sadly going to have to go I think, he is a pain with the girls, my Sussex girls have bald necks where he hangs on (he is a bantam, they are large fowl). He crows far more now than he used to and OH is really moaning. The new neighbours are in the process of converting the out buildings into their bedroom, which is right next to my chickens, Onion crows at 4am then goes back to sleep until 6, I can't see him being popular there either. I will miss him as he does change the dynamics of the flock, even if he is a randy noise boy! OH is charged with sorting him out of home or organising the deed this time.

 

You could get Legbar eggs as the sex of the chicks can be told from the day of hatch, easier to dispatch.