Watching the miracle of life through hatching chicks is such a rewarding feeling. Learning that some of them are roosters just sucks, because we can't keep them and usually no one wants them. So heartbreaking to process them. Thanks so sharing.
Well you are right, there are people that feel processing chickens is wrong. But these are the people that go to grocery stores and dig through the coolers looking for that one package of meat that suites their needs. Hey, you live the "farm life"! This is the process our forefather's lived! And my thought is that these people are simply not in touch with life, as it was, and still is. I enjoy your channel and embrace your lifestyle! Thank you for making these videos! I am old but still learning from the "good folk" like you. God bless you and your family young man! This world needs more like you!
Out of the 14 eggs I hatched 9 were roosters, since my yard is literally 16x20’ I had to cull seven of them, and since I only have bantam chickens because of space limitations I used them for dog food. My dogs are on a RAW diet so it worked for us but it really sucked having to do it. I got lucky with my second hatch I had 7 hens and one roo ❤
We are having this debate right now about what we are going to do next year. Our hen/rooster ratio this year was realllyyyy bad but hatching is definitely a cool experience. Great video as always
Excellent video. Last year, my chicken hatched 7 eggs and there were 4 roosters. The new roosters almost killed my old rooster. So we gave away 2 and had to cull 2. It was an ugly job when you don't have the right equipment. A month ago, my hen hatched 5 eggs. I have no idea how many roosters there are.
We are in this same boat. We are fostering our roos in a bachelor coop for now. I’m holding out hope to find homes for them. Even if it takes awhile. 🤞 I wish I could process them, but I know them too well and love them. So I just can’t bring myself to that step yet. I really wish I could get to that step. It would make hatching out chicks an addiction, for sure. Because I love doing the whole baby chick process. 🥰🐣 Baby talk to your chicks. They love eye contact and to be talked to. That’s how I get mine to be so friendly.
It's a sad admittance, but a righteous decision. Thanks for sharing this. You will help someone else feel more comfortable that was experiencing the same.
I have been hatching chicks for my brother. We know that we will have to "process" our own birds. It's the difficult part of life. I had a batch of chicks that I had purchased. They are kept separate from his flock. I am hatching my hens eggs tonight and tomorrow. It's a world of fun, work, and yes, they come running to me from the first day. Handling, handling, and more... talking to them many times a day.
I’ve also found that feeding them in the exact same place makes them very active & abundantly come to you as well & of course always talking to the like they’re just a lil chicken family lol
@@baddogcustoms7496 We go for walks. The oldest go to the fish pond area where the grape arbor goes along the fence line. Currently harvesting grapes, many have been eaten by the birds, too. They follow me around looking for handouts. I don't disappoint them. They are good helpers clearing areas whether it's needed or not. Good buddies with the dogs and cat, until the roosters mature. Then the roosters attack the dogs but not usually the cat. The cat has watched out over them since hatching out so they are very good to the cat. They don't spend much time with the dogs until they are able to go outside at about 1 month old during the daylight hours. It's a lot of work having 4 separate age groups to tend every morning and evening but also very rewarding.
We had to cull 2 roosters Saturday night. It’s nature and that’s what we have to do. We must eat as well. The eggs are great, the reproduction is fantastic at times but at the end of the day there is only need for one rooster and even then you could always borrow someone elses rooster to get fertile eggs later.
Lol. 6 days away from my first ever hatch. Great advice for those that are not in the mindset. 20 eggs, 50/50 is what I’m hoping for, as always hoping for more hens; however I’m lucky here in Fiji I can palm off the roosters really easy with chicken forming a main component of the local diet. My guards are already lining up.
So true. I have had about half and half the last 2 years. Lucky me I have a bi-weekly small livestock auction very close. I have a hard time eating my chickens because they become friends with my kids.
Hi! Glad to have stumbled across your channel. Soooo glad I did! I am subscribed! Thank you for making this particular video, as I am getting ready to raise chickens next spring. I appreciate your honesty. Was thinking of hatching them out for a long time because I wanted them to be imprinted on myself and my husband. But after viewing your video, my husband and I have decided that hatching them out for us would not be the best idea. I appreciate you describing the reasons why this could be a hardship for some. The video footage of the roosters was great, helped me to understand so much better what I might be getting into. I understand from talking to my local hatchery that the chicks can be sexed at 1 day old, and acquiring them then can still insure that you have a great bond with them. Again, thanks so much for making this great video and opening my eyes to the pitfalls of hatching out roosters. Look forward to viewing more of your videos. 😊
I decided to let my extra roosters free range. I would turn them into dumplings if I ate meat. Lol!!!! I live on 69 acres and my dad has another 149 neighboring my property. Plenty of room for extra roosters. 💛💛💛💛 Ignore those who don’t agree with your choices. Keep doing what is best for you and yours. 💛💛💛💛
I wish I were closer. I would have taken a BBS Maran roo! When I had chickens in TX, this is what we did with all the extra roos. Filled our freezer up
We did a straight run ended up with 5 roosters, 2 hens, and a hawk got one of the hens. That ratio wasn't going to work so I had to cull the roosters. Chickens don't really do well by themselves. But eventually we were able to add 7 new hens and everyone is fine.
IF you were planning on selling fertile eggs you could have paired your roosters up with a hen or two in those separate tractors. I do agree though at least you got some meat out of the deal ... maybe you could bless someone who needs the meat if your freezers continually get full . Thanks for sharing!
I'm actually working on developing an all purpose breed that fits my needs. This year's the first year we've processed birds. We did 7 roosters and we have 2 more that need to go, but got the longer processing growth so it'll have to wait a couple of months. I had one perfect breeding stock rooster in the bunch. It's so satisfying. Next year, I'll be isolating him with a few choice hens for the next stage of the breed. So exciting. 😊 It was a little sad to process them as i was hoping for more hens AND we have these undesireable red birds that just about everyone was mixed with. 🙄 I'm trying to work on dividing the flock as my bf wants to keep the red roosters and all of the red hens.
I gave away 1 rooster once! Technically someone asked for him online on a farm forum, I was shocked they weren't flooded with people trying to get rid of roosters! He was 2 weeks away from my soup pot when he got a second chance. I'm really surprised no one wanted the splash roosters, if I was local I'd have been tempted to take one of them.
Buy cattle panels and stake them in. An to stopped them from digging fence up, run a hot wire 5 to 6 inches from the ground. This will keep pigs in. The pig hut solid wood and metal roof works great.pigs will pile up to get warm. last thing don't give pigs fresh clean drinking water just add to it any food caught in there wiskers will fall in water and they will still be eating
Of course you can have their meat. You gave them a good life and feed them. Now is time to get their meat. I still remember how our grandmother did it in our backyard. It’s one of the cycles of life!
Knowing that I would end up processing roosters is one reason I chose New Hampshire Reds over the smaller breeds. With a heavy breed you get enough meat to be worth butchering. Leghorn roosters are too small to bother with.
I have chickens and meat rabbits, I have done one rooster and many rabbits and my advice is: don't eat the first time you dispatch your animals. But I don't eat every time I go to dispatch. So just a heads up: you might not want to eat before you do your dispatching.
The rooster I had for ten years averaged 70% roos to 30% hens. After a few years I stopped letting the broody hens hatch because I was tired of processing the roosters! 🙃
I have a huge predator problems here in FL and if I dont have multipe roosters (eyes), I'm screwed. Bobcats are by far the worst and have killed 100+chickens since last November.
I'm confused! In the end all the chicken's will serve a purpose. Eggs or meat your videos said you shouldn't hatch eggs . Iv been on a farm like born hear and everything has to pull its own .
Their is only one reason to hatch your own chicken. To replace old hens and to fill the freezer. If they was at hatchery's they would just be killed at a day old since people don't hardly believe in providing for themselves anymore
The chickens are here for food production. I respect someone that cares for them in the best way possible and processes them respectfully but when the day comes no sadness. IMHO
