Noticed cockerels are getting 'frisky'...........

[elizajay]

Interesting. Not had cockerels before (and don't want again) but find it all very interesting. Thankfully not for long, somebody has agreed to take them

[Snadger]

Interesting. Not had cockerels before (and don't want again) but find it all very interesting. Thankfully not for long, somebody has agreed to take them

If I had the land and finaces available I would set up a home for unwanted cockerels!

[RichmondHens]

But then you'd need a load more hens to keep them happy, they couldn't all live together! I figured that it might be a way to sort out ex batts and unwanted cockerels all at the same time. 30 ex batts to 6 cocks etc etc. You would need quite a lot of space though. But to take care of all the unwanted cocks that seem to be advertised round here you'd need about 1000 ex batts - eek!

[elizajay]

I know somebody who has quite a lot of land and she re-homes unwanted cockerels, but she has no hens there.
She took 2 of my bantam cockerels when she started out and they lived with her ex-bats. Those have all moved to her garden now and the cockerels live on her land along with other unwanted animals; horses, pigs etc. and some feral dogs all kept in their own fields. She only keeps l/f cockerels there now, so she couldn't take my current bantam cockerels. She got a huge piece of land with wooded bits from her local authority on a peppercorn rent because it is not saleable due to being trapped between motorways.
She sells her cockerels for meat at farmers' markets after they have had a good life and she does the same with the pigs she breeds. She has done butchery courses.

[Snadger]

I have seven cockerels, three of which have there own flocks, but the other four are housed together without laydees no prob.
I't would be a bit of a problem adding cockerels to this bunch tho as the poor newbie would get beaten up by tuthers!
If cockerels are brought up together from hatchlings they establish there own pecking order, but I wouldn't even contemplate addung to them in an enclosed environment.

[petal]

If I had the land and finaces available I would set up a home for unwanted cockerels!

I wouldn't, i would eat them.

[RichmondHens]

I.
She sells her cockerels for meat at farmers' markets after they have had a good life and she does the same with the pigs she breeds. She has done butchery courses.

That's fine if people don't mind them being eaten - I would take unwanted cocks on to be eaten - but 99% of people state they want them to go to a good home and not for the pot, which is highly unrealistic.

[petal]

and very silly. I am inundated with people thinking i might like to give a forever home to an albeit perfectly nice mongrel cockerel -when I cull anything but the most perfect examples of pure breed cockerels myself! I won't even sell on something that is not a perfect example of its breed- I feel it is so important to maintain the standards of pure breeds.

[RichmondHens]

I have seven cockerels, three of which have there own flocks, but the other four are housed together without laydees no prob.
I't would be a bit of a problem adding cockerels to this bunch tho as the poor newbie would get beaten up by tuthers!
If cockerels are brought up together from hatchlings they establish there own pecking order, but I wouldn't even contemplate addung to them in an enclosed environment.

My remaining batch of meat cocks - 3 indian game and 3 light sussex (two of which came from a veggie friend who hatched them and didn't want to eat them but was ok with me eating them) - are set on raping each other! One LS actually managed it with one of the IGs, poor little lad. They have three more days, then they are going into the freezer.

[Scarlet]

and very silly. I am inundated with people thinking i might like to give a forever home to an albeit perfectly nice mongrel cockerel -when I cull anything but the most perfect examples of pure breed cockerels myself! I won't even sell on something that is not a perfect example of its breed- I feel it is so important to maintain the standards of pure breeds.

Same her, I had a lady that was so shocked last year when I said I would happily take the 'mongrels' off her hands and would have a great BBQ. She had 3! Oh no, a good loving home only...