I've always had backyard chickens, my parents always had a chicken or two so it's just normal to me.
Recently my sister gave me a bunch of young hatching chickens that she couldn't keep, they are all a bit B-grade so she doesn't want to keep them in her chicken breeding programme. But they will lay eggs, and they're the right price, I.e. free.
The real price is that most of them are hens, but two of them are little cockerels, and my sister can't bring herself to kill little surplus cockerels.
but you have to, there's simply no future for surplus cockerels. You can't just keep them as pets with your hens. Until one eventually establishes himself as the Rooster and guardian of the flock, they will just fight each other constantly, they will aggressively eat first so that the productive egg-laying hens wait or go hungry, and once they become mature they will just rape their sisters, aunts and mother constantly until all of your hens are sick, injured and unhealthy.
You can't give them away or sell them, because absolutely nobody wants a sub-10 rooster who isn't a great example of his breed. Even the most Chadly of Gigachad roosters are lucky if they find somebody who wants him for their flock or their hobby chicken breeding operation.
So it's off to the chopping block they go. At least they have enjoyed a sunny southern hemisphere summer, with a lot of good days, and only one brief bad day at the end. That's better than what some people get.
Intellectually I hate how blackpill-adjacent this whole situation it is. But I'm a good enough backyard farmer that I understand it has to happen, and I have to do it.
But mostly, it's just not an easy thing to kill little animals. Chickens don't really have the kind of character that cats or dogs have, that you can make friends with. Chickens are basically reptilian brains, that don't do much more than seek food and water while watching for danger. But they are a bit more than just flies or roaches that you can squash without a moment's hesitation. Feels bad man.
But on the other hand, I do enjoy having a supply of basically free eggs. I'm not a chef but I like to eat...
Recently my sister gave me a bunch of young hatching chickens that she couldn't keep, they are all a bit B-grade so she doesn't want to keep them in her chicken breeding programme. But they will lay eggs, and they're the right price, I.e. free.
The real price is that most of them are hens, but two of them are little cockerels, and my sister can't bring herself to kill little surplus cockerels.
but you have to, there's simply no future for surplus cockerels. You can't just keep them as pets with your hens. Until one eventually establishes himself as the Rooster and guardian of the flock, they will just fight each other constantly, they will aggressively eat first so that the productive egg-laying hens wait or go hungry, and once they become mature they will just rape their sisters, aunts and mother constantly until all of your hens are sick, injured and unhealthy.
You can't give them away or sell them, because absolutely nobody wants a sub-10 rooster who isn't a great example of his breed. Even the most Chadly of Gigachad roosters are lucky if they find somebody who wants him for their flock or their hobby chicken breeding operation.
So it's off to the chopping block they go. At least they have enjoyed a sunny southern hemisphere summer, with a lot of good days, and only one brief bad day at the end. That's better than what some people get.
Intellectually I hate how blackpill-adjacent this whole situation it is. But I'm a good enough backyard farmer that I understand it has to happen, and I have to do it.
But mostly, it's just not an easy thing to kill little animals. Chickens don't really have the kind of character that cats or dogs have, that you can make friends with. Chickens are basically reptilian brains, that don't do much more than seek food and water while watching for danger. But they are a bit more than just flies or roaches that you can squash without a moment's hesitation. Feels bad man.
But on the other hand, I do enjoy having a supply of basically free eggs. I'm not a chef but I like to eat...
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