The Problem of Roosters

I recently convinced my sister to build a chicken coop and raise chickens for eggs. After all, I've been doing it for several years now, and it's an easy and fun way to teach your children (and yourself, if you're a transplanted city girl like me) about agriculture, biology, animal behavior, etc.

My Sister's New Coop!

The list of subjects goes on and on. Chickens are extremely educational.

So, my sister recently texted me a photo of her homemade rubbermaid brooder and her four cute-as-can-be chicks she picked up at the local feed store.

Being the practical sister I am, I texted her back..."You do realize that at least 1 or 2 of these cuties are roosters, right?"

She was not amused.

When all you really want are hens, roosters can be a problem you have to deal with... even if you can have a rooster where you live, you'll likely only need one...what do you do with the rest?

Recently, we had five roosters from our first large incubator hatch that we had to...um... send to freezer camp. I know that sounds cheesy, but in a way - it helps me to find a smile, when it's really not much of a smiling kind of thing.

Living where we are, we are allowed to have roosters - but we are only on 1/2 acre and live close to neighbors who are not thrilled with the concept of roosters.

Unfortunately, with this last batch...one of those roosters became my daughter's special friend. Since hatching, this particular chick had been extremely friendly, would roost on her shoulder, and was simply a lovely bird. We hoped that it would turn out to be a hen, but... it wasn't. That chick turned out to be a very, very loud rooster - doing what roosters do best .... crowing with joy and vigor at 4:30am.

In the end, these particular roosters taught my daughter and I a great deal about being both humane and human. On our way to drop the birds off at the processor, we cried together. We reminisced together. We were strong together.

We realized we are human in our practice and need for protein and meat. We can do as most humans do, and purchase our meat at the grocery store - having no idea where it came from, or what kind of life it lived.

Or we can choose to know those things, and choose to be humane in our consumption.

Our roosters had six months of good food, water, dustbaths, bugs, roosting, flapping, and fun with the hens. One rooster in particular had an amazingly unique life, being treasured and petted by a beautiful young girl.

At the end of those six months, they met a swift and humane end, and we know where our meal came from...

Our Five Roosters