raising chickens | goodbye to the roosters

and then there were four... We said a bittersweet goodbye to our roosters Dottie and Clark the other week. It was the right decision, but one that did not come easily. All in all, it was a lesson learned. When we decided to raise chickens, roosters were never a part of the plan. In the Spring, when I chatted with our farmer's union about which hen breeds we wanted, I was talked into also including a rooster into the mix. The reason being was that the rooster would provided a good security alert for any potential predators.

To me, that made all the sense in the world because we live in a fairly rural setting where folks who let their chickens go free-range, often find themselves a few hens short. The rooster would sound the alarm if something wicked this way was coming.

Logically, we also we very aware of the fact that the roosters would fertilize the eggs. We didn't worry too much about that part since we'd be dedicated egg pickers harvesting them the same day they'd be laid. If you do that and place the eggs in the fridge, fertilization is pretty much a mute point.

So, with the good advice from the Farmer's Union, we added Clark, a New Hampshire Red rooster, into the mix. We specifically selected Clark's breed because of their temperament. Fast forward a few months and we discover that Dottie, our Silver Wynadotte hen, is actually a rooster. That's when I learned my new favorite quote about the sexing of chickens, "You won't know it, til' they crow it."

Dottie was always by far, the most aggressive of the chicks. But he grew to be an aggressive rooster who bullied the other chickens. I was sitting right next to the coop when I saw him grab Turtle by the neck and whip her right into the fence for no reason. The other problem was that Dottie would not stop crowing. 4am. 5am. 6am. All for 20 minute intervals. Anytime you were outside, he'd crow. A fly would buzz by, he'd crow. We were not winning any neighborly love with this. So we started to look for a new home for Dottie. And we looked. And we looked. Turns out, no one wants a rooster. I mean no one. I even got desperate enough to call up animal control to see if they even knew of anyone in need. Nope. This went on for three weeks and during this time the hens were at the beginning stages of trying to nest and Dottie's aggressive behavior was amping up even more.

Finally, we found a family in need who took Dottie. A few days later, we got word from a very knowledgable source, that we should also get rid of Clark. He said that Clark would be literally on top of the hens 24-7 and that the Farmer's Union only told me to get a rooster because they need to find homes for all those rooster chicks. Heartbroken, we took Clark to a farm that only raises roosters. Our quest to find homes for these two birds did not end up as we had hoped. Realistically, these two birds have provided meals to deserving families.

As a former vegetarian, it is hard for me to look at these birds and imagine them eventually on our dinner plate. But if we choose to eat chicken, at least we know that these animals were raised well, feed well, and lived a nice life. When you compare that to the horrors of those dark, dank chicken barns where they pack them in by the thousands, you come around to accepting the fact they are not pets, but livestock. I won't lie to you, I'm still not comfortable with the thought of "off with their heads", but I also cannot ignore the reality of where that styrafoam package of chicken in the market is coming from. As news of samonella and e. coli outbreaks garner headlines, we can rest slightly easier in knowing where our food comes.

On a positive note, our remaining chickens are doing quite well and are starting to nest. We're trying to lure them into using the nesting boxes by placing a golfball in each one, but so far those hens seem to want to lay down everywhere but the nesting boxes. Within the next few weeks we should see our first eggs. We can't wait!