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chrisjbell
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Loc: Sierra Foothills, Northern California
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Thinning the flock
02/14/04 12:25 PM
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My chicken flock is not a good mix. There are ten of them - five hens and five roosters. A couple of the roosters are pretty vicious and have got to go. There are two problems (only one of which I think I can get advice on  ). First issue is that my daughter (six) thinks of them as pets even though they attack her like crazy. I've decided to tell her that I'm "giving them away", and that they live "somewhere else".
Second issue, and more relevant is how to kill the meaner roosters, which I think is the only solution. The only "gun" I have is a little Daisy BB pump rifle - that would be easiest if it will work. Thoughts? Other solution I suppose is to catch them (easier said than done) and wring the necks. Never having done this, I'm not sure how to go about it.
But I'm sure that there are folks out there that have been down this road and I'm hoping to get some advice. Thanks!
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Bird
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Chris, I don't think the BB gun will work very well. As for catching them, if they attack you, they'll try to get their feet up to get the spurs forward; just grab them by the feet. When I was a kid, we kept a piece of very thick wire (well, maybe almost a thin metal rod) with about 6" of one end bent back in a "U" shape, then the very tip bent out; i.e., a hook to catch them by the feet. Once caught, there are several ways of killing them. Some use a hatchet to chop the head off, some tie them hanging by the feet, grab the head in one hand, and cut the head off. And I've killed many chickens by holding them by the feet, letting them down just enough for the neck to touch the ground, laying a short piece of broomstick or old hoe handle across the neck, stepping on it quickly on both sides of the chicken's head, then pull up and toss the chicken out in front of me to flop around headless to bleed out.
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JoeR
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We killed our mean rooster by placing a broomstick across its neck and standing on it. It was very quick and easy. He was dinner that night. If you don't have the fortitude for that, you can put paper towels in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and saturate the towels throughly with the starter fluid. Then put it inside the bucket and put the lid on tightly. It will be gone in just a few minutes. The starter fluid puts them into a deep sleep very quickly. Do not eat the chicken it you use this method.
Joe R.
Edited by JoeR (02/14/04 08:48 PM)
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chrisjbell
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Re: Thinning the flock
[re: Bird]
02/14/04 09:15 PM
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Thanks for the advice. I was hoping to do this at something of a distance, but I figured the bb gun wasn't up to the task. Sounds like I'm going to have to get my hands dirty, and thanks to yourself and JoeR for the advice on how to do it.
One more thing, then, if you would be so kind... I've heard that roosters are not very good eating. If that is true I think I'll use the starter fluid method so I don't have to break necks (I am a bit squeamish, I'm afraid, although to really live the country life as reality requires I'll have to get over that ). But if they are any good for eatin' I'd just as soon have them serve some use and also try to develop some intestinal fortitude  .
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egon
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Roosters aren't that bad for eatin. Just depends on their age. For the older ones it's best to boil them in large pot of water with a rock in it. Add lots of salt and hot peppers.After several hours throw out the rooster and eat the rock.
Egon
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DUMBDOG
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They are all good eating one way or another. My mother used to make the best chicken soup, I have also made it, but it never tastes as good as hers.
This is a link on how to take care of the rooster.
Old Time Butchering
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Bird
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Chris, like many things, it just depends on how you cook it. If they're very old (and I suspect these are old enough), it will be too tough to chew if you fry it. The only way I'd cook an older rooster would be in the pressure cooker. Then the meat can be used for chicken and dumplings, chicken soup, or we used to grind up the meat to make chicken salad sandwiches.
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missourihick
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Re: Thinning the flock
[re: Bird]
02/15/04 08:11 AM
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Ask my 11 year old son about what a bb gun will kill. We have a flock of ducks that are determined to poop the back porch full,a common practice is to give the bb gun a couple pumps and shoot the ducks.He did this with about 5 pumps and dropped a duck like a hot potatoe. A rule around here is if you kill it you clean it and eat it. I came home and as I was coming down the road I could see him on the pond bank and feathers all around,he actually did a good job of cleaning the duck and he did eat some of it (it was real tough). Not the perfect thing to kill a rooster with,but a shot of wd-40 in the barrel and 6 or 8 pumps and it can do the job if you get a head shot,you'd probably have to be within 10 feet to get a good aim. Mitch was 30 feet away with his duck.Just a lucky shot I told him,he said it was skill. I would suggest a piece of plastic pipe with a length of stout rope of twinethrough the pipe,like a noose. slip it over the roosters neck and pull like the dickens on the other end of the ropes,might give the pipe a good jerk in the process.
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chrisjbell
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Well, here's an update. The biggest troublemaker was (yup, was) a small bantam rooster. A couple of days ago he came at me and as I was kicking him away he got a spur in me and nailed my leg. That did it - his life was about to end. I waited until the evening when they'd all bedded down because catching them is pretty tough.
Tried to grab the bantam and one of the other roosters decided to try and peck at me. Snagged him and pulled him out of the coop - and then he got away. I had a length of rebar to use (didn't have a broomstick) and also had my BB gun, pumped up to 10. Well, I tried to shoot him with the gun, and hit him, but I got him on the side and doubt that the BB went in at all.
Shot at him a couple more times as I chased him around the yard and I'm not sure if the BBs slowed him down or if he finally got tired but I caught up to him and got his legs. Put him down, put the rebar across the throat and stood on it until he stopped moving. Down to the pasture with him (was hoping he'd get eaten by something).
Then it was time to get the rooster that was causing the real problems. Now that I'd gone through the exercise once I did a better job. I grabbed him out of the coop and managed to hold on to him. This time, I'd charged up the BB gun and while I was standing on the rebar I shot him from pretty close range in the head. The BB took him out before he choked, so I think it was a better technique than just standing on the bar.
Anyway, the chickens seem to be much happier (certainly the hens are). And I haven't been attacked since then, so I'm happier. And if any other roosters decide to attack my daughter, I know what to do  ...
When my daughter asked what happened to them, I tried to skirt the issue. I told her that I had "sent them away". She nailed me down and asked if I'd killed them. Thought about lying but decided that she should know the realities of raising farm animals and told her, "yes, I did kill them". She then surprised me by saying, "thank you, thank you Daddy for killing Flower!" (the bantam rooster).
Next step for me...learning to butcher them. Not looking forward to that, either ... But dangit, I'm supposed to be a country kind of guy, right  ?
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Jonathan
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Loc: Sloughhouse, California
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Chrisbell, congratulations on thinning your flock! Sounds like you don't live terribly far from me. I'm in Sloughhouse, south Sacramento county, formerly from Pollock Pines. I told my kids the chickens were for eating before they ever saw them, and the only names allowed were "breakfast," "lunch," and "dinner."  Then I banded them and the layers are known as #1, #2, etc. Having dispatched animals with the stick and the hatchet, I think the hatchet is easier (it's over quicker). I get less squeamish with practice, so this year I'm going to try snapping the neck and letting them bleed ... at least once.
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egon
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Just a word of caution. Never name any farm animal that may become farm produce.
Egon
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zuiko
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Re: Thinning the flock
[re: Jonathan]
02/18/04 12:46 PM
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Where did you get the bands? That would be a neat way to tell them apart. I can recognize about a good number of them but there are several I can't tell apart.
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Jonathan
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Re: Thinning the flock
[re: zuiko]
02/19/04 12:47 AM
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I got bands at the local feed store. They were behind the counter so I had to ask. They're also available on the Internet. One site is http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/product/leg_bands.html
Plastic bands are easy to use, but get dirty in mud. I occasionally scrape the mud off if they're too hard to read. The bands have helped me most in identifying the egg eaters. One supper later the egg supply doubled. 
BTW, the web page with the leg bands also shows a "Fowl Catcher"--a pole with a wire hook for grabbing their legs. I don't have one but it looks like it might help with the skittish birds.
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Bird
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Re: Thinning the flock
[re: Jonathan]
02/19/04 05:45 AM
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That "fowl catcher" is the same thing I was trying to describe that we used when I was a kid, except we made our own and didn't have that fancy plastic handle.
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chrisjbell
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Re: Thinning the flock
[re: egon]
02/19/04 06:20 PM
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See, that's the problem. My daughter named all of them as chicks. They ain't so cute any more... These are the last to get names, for sure.
But a cute story - my daughter is in kindegarten, and one of the things they do every day is write a sentence in a "Journal". The day after she learned of the demise of the roosters she wrote, "Daddy killed the ferocious rooster." (No, I have no idea where she learned "ferocious" :-)
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