It’s only me pursuing something I’m … Wait. What did you just say?
So I finished the changes I wanted to make to the enclosure formerly known as my pathetic garden, and then this afternoon at the usual time for chicken-tending I brought the Jeep trailer and loaded up the Araucanas. Drove them home, got them unloaded and was just about to feed them when…
…one of the ‘hens’ started crowing.
I have remarked before that these birds seem rather large, aggressive and flamboyantly combed and feathered for hens, now that they’re near maturity. But I don’t know anything about the breed, so kept it to myself. But Smithers got the hatchet because he started crowing and so outed himself as not a hen. Now I’ve got another, and he’s the smallest of the lot.
I feel betrayed. Hm.
Okay, maybe this trip will harm you after all. I’m not feeding cocks.
You could probably sell them. Good looking chickens are in demand , at least around here.
Don’t know why this should bother you so much, Joel. They are “food,” one way or another. 🙂 You win some, and you lose some. That’s just the fact of life with any sort of farming… even hermits in the desert. Did I ever tell you about the time I wound up with six male geese? LOL
I’d say caponize him, but that has to be done before he reaches maturity.
It bothers me because we’ve spent several months raising them in hope of eggs, not meat. Could have just gotten a half-dozen more Cornish, which grow faster and cause less trouble. And they weren’t cost effective either.
Meh, it’s an ongoing experiment – those are never cost-effective. RuPaul should make a lovely dinner for you.
There are a number of ways to sex chickens starting from when they are first hatched. The one I was taught I wouldn’t try to describe, but you can read about it and others here http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/sexing-day-old-chicks-zmaz74zhol.aspx?PageId=1#axzz37f8aws45
The article might also give you some ideas about how to choose a breed that is a better fit with your environment, facilities and temperament. If your chicks are older when you get them, there are other possible techniques also described in this article and others that are breed specific that you can find online using chicken sexing as a search term. If you aren’t interested in feeding male birds, you might want to cull them as quickly as possible and use all your feed money on the females.
If you all are buying commercial chicks from a hatchery I’d suggest switching suppliers to one that does a better job of sexing the chicks before they are mailed to you.
Once you get a large garden going, feeding them will be easier and a lot more cost effective.
Enjoy your dinner!