What can I do with Male chicks/Cockerels?

Question

Hi there,

Can anyone help me, I am hatching some chicken and quail eggs but will not be able to bring myself to cull unwanted male chicks.

I can't keep them because if there are too many males they fight and also it is too stressful for the females who are constantly pestered for mating [Hmmm...sounds familiar]. What can i do with them?

I've not been able to find any animal or bird sanctuary nearby that will take them and the vets haven't been able to provide me with any details either?

Many thanks

Lisa-Dawn

Answer 1

you could try putting up notices in pet or farm produce stores, etc...

Answer 2

Its nice to see someone who cares.so many male animals are killed off in the farming area(.I know your not farming ) if you were you wouldn't be bothered about your males,

Can I suggest you advertise them as family pets ONLY.their must be some rescue that knows were they can live out their days without the fear of being eaten.

.Good Luck,

Answer 3

Have you tried freecycle?  Its a yahoo group where you sign up with your local area and everyone gives and takes free stuff.  Maybe someone else will take them?

http://www.freecycle.org/group/UK/?noaut...  (the UK page)

Answer 4

Put one in each of your neighbourhood gardens at Ramadan - easy way of telling us to stop eating and start prayer again.

Joking apart, could you not perhaps offer them to an egg farm (they may need them to mate with their chickens, or see if they would be able to sell at the local farmers market - I empathise with you, I would not like to cull them. I do know that manufacturers of chicken  soups etc use chicks   and for baby food but I wouldnt like to think about that one.....

Take a look at this website - not helpful, but interesting.http://www.flyintheface.com/cockerels.ht...

Answer 5

I am sure that any feed store would be happy to take them off your hands. I do not know what cull means but it is cruel to kill baby chicks just because they may be males. To give those away you dont want to keep if the feed store doesnt take them go here in your own area and place an ad for them. http://craigslist.org

Answer 6

Thank god you wouldn't cull them i never would either.

I had/have a similar situation to you except my roosters are all adults  

so what i have done is have all the main flock of 34 chickens (females) with only 2 adult males

and then i have all my other roosters in a massive run and coop

(we call it the bachelor's pad =) )

and they never fight and get along as happy as anything that is because the thing they fight over (the females) has gone so they have nothing to fight about.

I have been  doing it for years and never a problem

roosters are just so beautiful and i couldn't bare getting rid of any

They all have names too :P.

that would work well for you too.

otherwise trying putting them in the paper

as "family pets only"

Or there must be some place that could take them

like the RSPCA they'll always help.

Answer 7

Sell them. The owners can do what they like with their male chicks and cockerels. Before you think of them being culled, other people may be interested in doing the same thing as you.

In the mean time, you could always separate the two different genders, keeping only one cockerel in with the hens, if you wish to keep the flock going.

no cockerel? no problem. the hens will still lay eggs. They just won't be fertilized.

best of luck.