Roosters... Should You Keep Them? Process Them? What To Do!?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Today we tackle the issue of Roosters and what you should do with roosters on your small farm or homestead.
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Whether or not you keep roosters on your farm or homestead can be a hard decision.
We love to keep a few roosters with our flock. Roosters make great sentries for our hens. Roosters are always on the lookout for danger, and will fight off predators for you.
But some roosters can be too loud for your neighbors or too mean for you and your children to be around.
Sometimes a farm can even have too many roosters. So what should you do with roosters? We talk about it in todays videos.
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Funny, I can listen to a rooster crow anytime but a dog constantly barking really gets on my nerves
Same here. I cant stand a yapping dog, but don't mind a rooster cockling at all.
Agreed 100%. I was hesitant to get roosters, but my neighbors leave their dogs barking all day long. Of course in small flocks only the friendly ones stay.
Same here..
Same here
People are no damn good. Try being a HAM RADIO operator with a yard full of beautiful antennas and listen to the neighbors bitch.
Thanks to Homesteady, I was able to butcher my first rooster this week. I didn’t want to do it, of course, (as just a few short years ago I couldn’t even touch a whole fryer from the store because it looked too much like a chicken 😂) but it became necessary for two reasons-1)The “female only” chicks I bought were NOT female only.....I was wondering how they would know at a day old, but being a newbie, I just went with it. Lesson learned...2)He was just plain ole’ MEAN! I got really tired of being pecked by him!
So, I watched some videos, including your duck butchering video, bought me a traffic cone for $10 at Lowe’s instead of waiting for a “real cone” to ship from a poultry company, and did what I NEVER thought I could do.
I feel so accomplished, because I know that I gave that bird the best life I could-fed him good feed and provided him with a safe environment, and then killed him in as peaceful a way as possible. I took it from a few days old to the freezer to provide for my family. That makes me feel so good about what I’m doing! This is really what homesteading is all about! Taking what you have and using it for the good of your family and community. Thanks for all the encouragement y’all have given me in this journey. You have taught me so much, and I look forward to many more lessons in the future!! #iamhomesteady
Lori Brakefield this is great! It’s never easy the first time...or any time really. But great job! Now you’ll have some peace from being pecked 😂
It's not pleasant, but it's the circle of life and the other animals deserve some peace. I raised quail last summer. They're so easy to process, it got me prepared for processing chickens.
I felt your experience 😂😃☺️
We have a farm by us that does an exchange. 1 Rooster for 1 hen chick. They do it a few times a year here in Western PA. It's a good program for those who don't want to butcher.
That’s so smart!!!
Good idea but everyone should at least butcher an animal once in their life so they no how to do it
My dad told me a story about when he was a kid back in the 1940's. His grandfather had a rooster who had a bad attitude, but it was rather sporadic, and usually just aimed at kids. One day my dad, as an adventurous 8 yr old was doing some chores around the homestead, helping his grandfather feed animals and such, when outta the blue this rooster attacked my father and was violently trying to spur and peck the youngster. His grandfather, seeing what was happening, stepped in and punted the rooster across the barnyard. Well, that was the last time that rooster did that. He survived, and continued being a rooster, but he attacked no more Humans.
I've seen that as well.
Honestly it’s worked on every rooster over ever met.
Wow haha!
I remember well my Days Inn Duluth Minnesota. I was a little boy about 4 years old in a rooster Peck me in the chest and my dad punted him clear across the pond. He never text me again LOL
@@davidlang80 Must have punted the fingers right off that rooster if it wasn't able to text you anymore! ;)
Loved this video. If you have beat up hens, get some chicken saddles or hen saddles, they can protect your hens from disease or being picked on by the other hens when they see that one is hurt from too much hard breeding from the roosters. It's good animal husbandry, take care o' them hens. Best wishes always. Peace
I had one silver laced Wyandotte rooster that always tried to fight my oldest daughter and even cut me, through a pair of pants, on my knee. I beat him with my flip flop and he didn't go for me again. We did eat him soon after. We have a beautiful black Australorp (Noir) who is head 'man' of the flock, a Rhode Island red (Rhodey Roo), who doesn't get much play, and a young Barred Rock roo (Bob) for our flock of 35 hens. All are very well behaved with us. Rhodey Roo loves my oldest and dances for her, she told him something in chicken one day and he's loved her ever since..Haha.
I'm lucky, I live in a urban area but EVERYONE who has chickens has a roo, so they are all going off all around. It's really quite lovely. I found my little bantam roo as a teenage chick in the road (someone prob just tossed the poor thing and hoped for the best) turning out as a roo, and he protected our flock yesterday from a huge hawk! Along with the crows chasing it off, but he earned his keep, and now hes super vigilant today
I just bought a bunch of old chicken supplies and the guy included a caponizer, we have never done the procedure but it is a very interesting antique kit
Just came across this video again. I can't believe it's been over 2 years already! Time just flies!
I have one rooster and we absolutely love him ! We got rid of the one that was mean. Our barred rock we have now and he’s gentle around us and the grandkids. This was very good information!
White rooster
years ago when we raised chickens, we had a big white rooster with one white hen. one day we noticed that the rooster stopped crowing. he would try, but nothing would come out. so we took him to the vet. the vet said that he needed more hens. sure enough, once we got more hens, the crowing came back.
There is 6 or 7 family’s around our house plus ours with roosters. It nice to set outside and listen to them
Dude, LOVE the song you're using at the 5:00 mark! It fits perfectly and is enjoyable to listen to!
I live in a city my rooster scares all the dogs in the neighborhood lol 😂 I even take him shopping
That's cool
Thank you so much for your honesty regarding how and what to do with roosters! It has definitely helped me to make my decision.
Great video , I’ve got four young bantam roosters in our flock so I started researching. Hopefully I can keep them as they free range all day
Hey! I just subscribed to your channel. I've been watching alot of your videos and I really like your content! I'm a city boy that just went country. Purchased 13 acres and the homestead comes with 20 hens and 2 roosters. I haven't the slightest clue what I doing but so far my confidence is up because of your videos... you wouldn't happen to have a book would you? I have lots of questions...
Your wonky-fitting hat makes me feel better about myself! lol. I love that you both are just normal people. Very cute normal people. :)
and I don't think you have enough eggs..........(joke)
Man, what a cool video. Lots of info mixed in with great looking footage. Well done.
I've never heard of caponing for flavor, all the videos and stories I've heard were for a beneficial "Nanny" rooster. When they are caponed they stop acting like a male, except they will still protect the chicks. From what I have heard when they are caponed they begin acting as a nanny to the chicks, and will defend them to great lengths. They no longer have the urge to fight and stop competing for the hens. Essentially Nanny/bodyguards for the flock. Many times in the old days they would capone a rooster to add to the protection of the flock.
That's mental, never heard of that
Cabúns are like bullocks. They fatten fast and the meat is alot more tender then a Cock. They don't have the high muscle mass and testosterone so they make a great table bird
you can get a little collar that reduces the sound of the crowing - they sell them on ebay
I've had to process a couple roosters. I have a small flock of silkies. My rooster now, Love Shack, is the sweetest, gentlest fella'. He comes up to me and lets me hold and cuddle him. I've never seen anything like it. He's safe. Lol
It's the best relaxing sound in the start
i keep a small home flock of around 8 hens and a rooster. All pure bred, heritage breeds. I only keep the rooster because I like having them around. A let one hen go broody in the spring and I order eight eggs of the particular breed I want that year. My goal for the year is too raise and keep two good pullets to add to the flock. Of the eight eggs, usually two eggs don't hatch and of the 6 eggs that hatch I hope for two pullets. If I get more I easily sell them because they are a pure breed...that's the key for getting a good return for selling pullets. Barnyard mixes are a dime a dozen and are hard to sell. As for the roosters, whatever I get I raise that summer and in the fall (before they start crowing, fighting and mating) I call up our local chicken processor. When he gets a big order to kill and wrap he lets me know and I take my two or three rooster to him. He charges me $4 each. I get them back home and into the freezer they go. I've processed my own birds but don't like doing it so for a few bucks I save the aggravation to me and my sympathetic family. This works well for me. Nice job on the video!!
I love love love your videos, they’re getting better and better! I learned a lot on this one. Thanks guys, can’t wait for the next video! XOXOXOXO
I have 9 hens and I had 3 roosters I seem to keep the roosters who are special in some ways. I just lost a 5 year old? rooster that I helped hatch after mom left the nest a bit to soon . I was able to put him back under mom that night. his coloring was enough different that I always knew who he was. he was golden Boy he will be remembered. I sold lots of roosters to people who planned to eat them .. I grow meat birds but I do not want to eat the ones that are hatched here. The girls learned to stick close to one rooster for protection from the others. now that I am down to 2 they have their pecking order down and the extra rooster just hangs on the outskirts waiting for his chance at a lone girl . the more roosters you have the more they crow. it's "I am the boss "no " I am the boss" all day long. good thing I like the sound of roosters.
Bio security is VERY important! I raised chickens on my friend's property before we bought this property. Myself and another friend had our own flocks on the same property and never mixed them. It worked out great for both of us. Well, there was another woman who boarded her horses on the property. She did an impulse buy at an auction that was known to sell diseased animals. She brought the 2 old hens to the property and did not keep them quarantined. Thankfully, my flock was on lock down because of a fox. But my friend was not so lucky. Those 2 hens came in contact with her flock and spread disease. Because of the nature of the disease I chose to sell off my healthy flock before they caught the disease, getting out of the chicken business until I could raise them on my own property where I would have better control.
I loved my last rooster but he did not like me. we had to put him up so I could go feed them and so I could get the eggs. I loved hearing him in the morning.
love the "delicate" way you keep referring to the ratios of rooster to hens...lol. Waitin' to see one of those big boys sportin' some gold bling and askin' where his ladies at?? Don't think I will ever be butchering but great to learn your reasoning.
😂 so funny
I only want one rooster but 25 hens. Will that work ok if I'm not wanting all the hens eggs fertilized anyway?
First time viewer. Cool video, and very timely. We're going to start a small flock next spring, and this was very informative. We were also considering a solitary guard goose to compliment the rooster(s)
I had a evil Rhode Island Red rooster, raised him from a baby chick. He tried several times to spur me, I gave him away and the man who took him thought he could break him but the rooster broke his spur in the poor guy. I would never have another RIR rooster, I was told they are not a docile breed, they are related to games which are used to cock fight. I only have hens now, I am raising Buff Orpingtons, but would like to make sure the roosters are gentle.
i have had several Buff Orps that were nice roosters.
Get to the Farm thank you, I want to make sure before I add them, appreciate you letting me know
Standard Cochins are also very docile. Even with these every blue moon you get a mean one...these should be allowed to get through teenagerhood because like teen boys they can be a bit boogery then calm down. If they persist either harvest them or get rid of them. It doesnt happen too often in well bred cochins and orpingtons.
You do not want a barred rock rooster...the barred rocks are on the aggressive side...
Brahma roosters also tend to be docile..
I have six Roosters right now. The Barred Rock Rooster is by far my best Rooster. I have a Buff Orpington Rooster and he tries to flog me and Danny. It is amazing, but the Barred Rock Rooster defended me! Not once, but 3 times within minutes! I wouldn't have believed he would do that, but he did. I try to handle all my chickens. I bring them treats too! I agree with you that a good rooster is there to protect his flock!! Children should NOT be left unattended around a loose rooster!! EVER!! Even a normally gentle rooster could see a child as a threat to his hens! Either put the chickens up or the children. Bad roosters make good chicken and dumplings! Bee blessed Danny and Rita in TN on Rooster Ridge
yeah!!! We have a mean one that needs to be taken care of and we haven't had the heart. I can't wait for the video
We just had our 9th chick this morning! Love it.
I love how the make good alarm clocks
I currently have 6 roos, all different breeds, but I keep them in their own pens to prevent them from hurting each other and the hens (have about 40 something hens). I also hatch, raise and process my own birds. Processing the first few birds can be difficult as not everyone can feel comfortable enough to take a life. I found it sort of gets a little easier the more you process the animals, though.
I also have had a few aggressive roosters (called man fighters, usually) that were always mean.
i had a Brahma cross rooster that was a nasty bird. He jumped me a few times and would even hit the fence if my kids walked by. So it was a no go for me. But "fingers crossed" next spring we will get more egg layers and a rooster to breed and make more chicks.
Great video guys!!
My husband would cullnasty roosters for people but he would do it on their property and then he only had to clean the gear he took onto their property rather than risk them bringing something onto our place our birds are organic and we work hard to keep them that way and it takes some effort
Wow that's a lot of eggs per day. Can I ask how many chickens you have?
I kept Roxie and a bunch of other Roosters. And I love each and every one of them! ❤️
I ended up having 4 out of 8 end up being roosters. I got rid of one that was being a jerk to everyone. They are 15 weeks old. We may add a couple more hens. We really like the roosters we have now and live out in the country on 6.5 acres. They are in a large coop and 10X12 run. Not sure what to do.
Thanks. Enjoyed the rooster info. Have a fine week.
We have had a wonderful rooster and a very mean rooster. Good Info.
Our neighbors have a rooster. I enjoy the different animal sounds in the morning. I let the dogs out and enjoy coffee each morning. I don’t hear them from inside the house because of insulation and our homes are far from each other.
11 out of 21 of my meat birds are roosters. Harvested 3 and ate a breast of 1. Wasnt overly happy with the texture. Are the legs and wings like hen meat or is that different as well? Im sure Ill find eventually. Cheers
Bwa-haha! I love ag euphemisms... Can we talk about" processing" some politicians without a visit from the FBI? LOL!
great video. i would love to have a rooster but i live in a built up area. my girls are in need of one though as one is taking on that role herself lol
Roosters also break up fights between the hens.
I needed this! I have two beautiful RI Roos that I don’t know what to do with! I’m fairly new to chickens. Would it be okay to have one hen with one rooster in their own coop?
Hey guys,the next time you want to hatch eggs,look at the egg shape,if the egg is pointed or cone shape, it's a baby rooster, if its rounded off it's a baby hen,I've been raising my cuties for 25 years🤗
That’s not always true
Unfortunately that's not true , temperature before incubating is another , just roll the dice
Just the way you two explain your story is purely awesome. The professionalism in your personalities and the way you explain everything is refreshing. No jabber. No foolishness. Just fact. Just professional attitudes. Very impressed.
My Grandmother said the roosters call was English.
I-WANT-TOOO-BEEE-DINERRRR!!!
And she would frequently accomodate them!
😂 I love this
(love those beautiful black roosters...so regal) Old rooster and hen meat might be tough to soften or chew...but still...a lot more tasty if they were actually free ranged (especially in stew and soup)...you will never find a more dependable biological alarm clock too (multiple roosters will have an hour long call and answer crowing at the start of the day it's like them reminding each other where my domain is at)...the downside is that they are not efficient at protecting themselves at night...they are literally at your mercy at night so get em perching and roosts safe from predators. Them cats (and some dogs) can and will decimate them chicks (for food) on the daily even if they be nice pets for mice/rats.
Were thinking of getting roosters. We want to finally start breeding, but we also like eggs. So my question is ... when I go collect the eggs in the morning for breakfast, how do I know which ones have been fertilized?
Thanks. Also great vid
The Garden Of Feodora you don't. However, they do not beginning development until they are incubated. If you collect them every day, they are fine to eat. If a hen gets broody and incubates them, only the fertile ones hatch.
Depending on how many hens you have your eggs will probably all be fertile if you have a rooster but don't worry about it you'll be fine I have raised chickens for over 25 years we always had a few roosters
Having a rooster all your eggs will be fertilized
Beautiful farm and lovely animals with "freedom".
What do you mean by "freedom"
I understand that some situations don't allow for roosters, but I don't understand how anyone who can have one chooses not to have one.
I say this for two main reasons
1. They not only protect the flock, they find food and keep track of all the individual hens.
2. This not that many people know about, If you don't have a rooster one of the hens will take on his job and she will not lay any eggs, so you gain nothing by not having one. Invariably nature's way is better and quite often people give advice when they don't have a grasp of the subject they're advising on. Honestly who hasn't been given advice only to find out it was wrong?
Half the fun of having chickens is having a couple roosters back in the day everybody have a card in a flock of chickens and rooster what's wrong with that got to get back to self-sufficiency you get used to hearing a rooster crow it's not the worst thing in the world if everybody wasn't such a stiff about it I've had chickens half my life and raise them it's nice to hear the roosters crow
If you're raising farm animals they're for 2 things you'll probably dual purpose for eggs and meet if you have too many roosters what you're them and put them in your freezer and have a dinner with him That's what I would do because I grew up on a farm and that's what my father did
How many hens do you have?
Great info! Thanks, y'all!
Yeah, Mr Fancypants is gone from where I get my eggs, he got mean. Sad, he was the small one, the kind wit feathers all down the legs
i had to google what caponizing a chicken was. it's taking its gonads away so they gain weight. its been outlawed in some places due it being inhumane to the quality of life for the chicken. its on the same line as force feeding geese for fatter livers. i love eating chicken, don't abuse the food for pleasure,
Your roosters are beautiful! What kind are they?
I have a rooster his name is Rocky I don't know what kind of rooster he is. He just showed up at my door I live in Detroit Michigan I'm getting ready to move back south and I'm just now getting in to chicken I got a few hands when I get my eggs from and I love my rooster so smart
Thanks always want to learn more
BRAZIL---Paulo----Very well presented!!
Cute German Shepherd❤️, who’s dog is it though?
My extra Roos
I process them for animal feed or for us
Some I do on purpose to ssll
For fertilizing does it matter if you have more then one different type of hens
I have a bantam rooster who sleeps in most of the time. 7 am earliest. Not the loudest in the neighborhood.
What do you do with al those eggs? Was that just one day of laying?
I live in town so far i have had my boy for 9 months I even hatched 3 pullet eggs cause i wanted to at least get some girls he sired i got 2 boys and a girl from him. I bought 3 from the hatchery told them I needed only girl as we can't have roosters in town well i ended up with 2 boy's and a girl. Which means culling 5 including my favorite boy.
I don't know why I love Roosters, yes I do love the crowing...I bought one last time I was in Tenn. for $12.00 as a pet for two weeks then gave him away. HaHa I got pictures of John and me.
Where do you sell these many eggs?
If I have too many Roos I sell them at the local livestock auction or give them away on Craigslist
I have only 1 rooster. Currently he is very small. What to do with him when he grows up!! Need to buy a hen too?
I want a rooster just to hear him crow.
Great information thank you
Looking forward to that recipe
I love your videos
We have 32 hens and 8 roosters!My parents say we can't keep all roosters but I don't want to kill them.
i love all of them in a way. yesterday they started fighting and hitting each other until death. I like none of them to be the looser. I want them to stay beside friendly or at least nonviolently. Is there any way to keep all of them and live peacefully? Or struggle for survival is inevitable?
*They live in an area of about 100m2
I live in the city we are not allowed roosters. I ordered 15 hens got 15 hens but I had one after about 6 months started acting like a rooster it did Lay 3 eggs or so and stopped it started crowing I was told that some hens do that well in the end my hen turn to a rooster did research and found out one in every 10,000 turn two roosters. Sorry i have forgotten the the scientific name for it
this gender fluid is getting out of hand, now chickens are doing it too. lol
Can you still eat the eggs or will they have baby chicks inside this is the deciding factor I need a rooster to protect and keep my flock under control
Great video!
I DON'T THINK IN MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS THAT ANYONE SHOULD USE THE SAME ROASTER TO BREED WITH THE BABIES THAT GROWN FROM HIM BECAUSE IT CAN CAUSE INBREEDING PROBLEMS.
I was watching this video and my rooster heard y’all’s rooster crow 😅, anyway, crowing match is on at my place. 😂
Capon are real good
Capons are quite juicy and delicious. Oh and that whole thing about getting too many roosters to bens ( we had a bunch of bald hens), my children called it chicken porn!
Where did you guys go?
Very nice 👍
I live in a suburban area do you think we could have a rooster?
BOM DIA FAMILY ESTOU MIRANDO TODOS OS VIDEOS VERY GOOD, ES OBRIGADO OK ABRAÇOS! !
UM BYG ABRAÇO AQUI DO BRASIL! !
Its always nice to have a rooster as long as they aren’t agreeing
FAZENDA LINDA, FAMILY BELA LINDA! !
Marco Antônio Ribeiro obrigada!
Caponizing is illegal where I live. Can't buy them in the store anymore either.
Need a few to keep things copastetic
My grandparents raised chickens for eggs and meat. They butchered the excess roosters for meat. And if there was a mean, aggressive rooster, he would wind up in the cookpot. I miss the chickens, they are funny little characters.
What are you feeding them in the video?
My Hens were laying slowly before the Roosters came now they are laying everyday and it is winter.