Advice on Culling Roos Needed

[LipsChicks]

Have you tried taming the tyrant? My Japanese Phoenix ,Sammy , short for samurai, would slam into my legs when I was leaving the coop. For a while, I would stop and shout NO directly to him. That helped some. I then tried picking him up and holding and petting him. I gave him treats out of my hand. He doesn't slam into me anymore. Now my little golden seabright and Belgian de' Uccle roosters are another story.

 

[nevergiveup]

Hey ChickenLegs13 !!! I don't know whether to laugh or cry ! What you have described is exactly what I am afraid of. But misery loves company and it is wonderful to hear that this is a common problem.

 

[nevergiveup]

Hey LipsChicks! I am willing to try anything! It might work. Thanks for your advice.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

Yeah it finally dawned on me that the rooster I wasn't happy with kept producing chicks that I wasn't happy with. He was a great looking & tempermented rooster but somewhere along the line he had game in his blood and kept producing mean, scrawny birds that layed small eggs.
I went through about 80 young roosters in the process.
A friend gave me some random eggs from his higher quailty flock last summer and after the hatch & cull I ended up with 3 large, beautiful, mild mannered roosters that work together well. I have 100 of their eggs in the bator right now, fingers crossed that they increase of quality of my layer flock.

 

[lazy gardener]

Nevergiveup: Bobbi Jo also gave excellent advice: If you're set up for keeping a rooster, perhaps by the time you get to the last one, the change in dynamics, the improved maturity, or the fact that he was just not quite as mean as the others and now has no competition, may cause him to exhibit redeeming qualities. Basically, only you can decide if any of these roos are worthy of your flock. I wish you the best with that decision.

 

[bobbi-j]

Yup, bobbi-j, its going to turn out like that anyway really because we don't have a freezer so we'll have to cull and eat one at a time. And it took us one week to eat all of the first one. Yum ! Also every time a roo is culled it changes the dynamic of the group, so although I am preparing myself to have to cull them all, I am hoping one will show some wisdom and pull through without being a bully. Thanks for that, bobbi-j

I was going to ask if you have a pressure canner, but then I went back and read that you only have a couple more to go. In the future, though, if you find yourself with several roosters or spent laying hens that need to be thinned from the flock, pressure canning is a great way to take care of them! No freezer needed!

 

[nevergiveup]

Good point bobbi-j ! I got myself an All American a few years back..... not so easy to get a hold of in Europe ! And canning jars are almost as difficult. But I got them for the chickens and I'm guessing a tough old bird would improve with some canning, wouldn't it ? Although, I did an experiment when I first got it and canned two post-Christmas half price turkey crowns and they tasted different...... well like tinned meat really.....don't know why I was surprised ! But like you said if I want to cull more than one at a time I can do that.