Advice please. Cockerel attention. Hens won't come out of the hen house

[mrsbusy]

Just for the record the cockerels are culled; one of the neighbours a few doors down - came and protested so we obliged him! I tried to rehome them but altho one person said yes, it did not come to anything. Silence is golden....
I have a lovely Aussie son in law so no problem mate. Plus he is used to using an air gun - I have only had to cull one sick hen it was not as easy as it looks on u tube.
The hens seem a lot happier and hopefully the neighbour is too - one of the ex batts who refused to come out of the hen house died too so we are 3 less - hopefully she did not die of shock from the cockerels attentions!
But thank you to all who chipped in.

[Scarlet]

I have a lovely Aussie son in law so no problem mate. Plus he is used to using an air gun - I have only had to cull one sick hen it was not as easy as it looks on u tube

Practice makes perfect!
Did you eat them?

[Nicos]

Three of the 4 Marans chicks we hatched earlier this year have started to crow
We'll most certainly be eating those once they're een in the freezer for a few weeks....absolutely delish flavour

[Scarlet]

I hatched a dozen eggs once - a just a couple were duds...one girl, 9 boys

[4Shoes]

Sad news... The Keets are no more . We have a local black cat that is always hunting around the small holdings. It is said to have taken them. Unlike chickens, Guinea Fowl chicks are left to defend them selves more or less. They only option is to run and keep up.

The cat has been hunting in my yard the last 2 days, keeping down the rabbit population.

The other bad news from the Chiel - the 3 broody hens earlier in the season have all had cockerels. They are all a bit young for the pot, but getting that way. Don't know if it has anything to do with a late brood?

[mrsbusy]

hi Scarlet O'Hara,
I am afraid I did not... I did find it all quite traumatic...and have no idea how to prepare birds for eating - they just come in a plastic bag don't they !
On a serious note - altho I don't eat anything that has come via intensive farming - this means I am pretty much vegan apart from the eggs our hens lay - I would eat one of our hens if I was starving - but I know enough now about how to feed myself without resorting to eating dead things.
My cockerels and the poor old ex batt were cremated with due dignity : )

[mrsbusy]

So at what point did you realise you had cockerels? And at what age did you deal with them?
I am interested because I want to hatch again because tis a wondrous thing how a hen will mother her chicks and has no comparison with an incubator and a heat lamp - I thank the lord for the 2 hens I now have and weep for the 2 cockerels dispatched.

[4Shoes]

Sexing chickens can be a complex and sometimes specialist skill. There are several methods to identify Male Birds but the easiest method is to incubate eggs from chickens that Autosexing (Colour Sex Type). Do some research. Many chicks can be identified at hatching.

Autosexing took off in the 1930's for utility poultry. By crossing a Rhode Island Red cockerel with a Light Sussex. All the males were white (and used for meat production), females were brown and used for egg production. This was one of the building blocks of the modern hybrid.

other ways of identifying sex include

Feather Typing.
Male birds may have sharper pointed feathers. Female a more rounded.

Head / Comb
Male birds tend to have larger combs.


you could be looking at 6 weeks ish (plus) for some of the harder breeds

Wiki page on this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_sexing