# what age to process white leghorn roos?



## TNchick (Jun 26, 2013)

I have three 16 week old white leghorn roosters. They are crowing madly all day and night. They look small but I know they are skinny birds anyway. If I process them now am I missing out on any meat? Really ready for them to go.


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## TNchick (Jun 26, 2013)

These roos just have to go. My hens are stressed. I haven't really found any information either way about their maturity. So my current thinking is it would be more humane for the flock to go ahead and do it. Maybe today. If anyone has a comment or encouragement I would appreciate it.


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## minmin1258 (Nov 5, 2013)

This isn't something I know anything about, but if you flock is suffering because of them then yes they have to go! I wish you luck in doing it.


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## TNchick (Jun 26, 2013)

*4 in The Freezer!*

Well, Yesterday was the day. I know many people on this forum have been raising chickens for years, or raise a large flock, so when you have to cull it's not that big of a deal. We are a bit different. We, (me, hubby and three kids) began our flock in April of this year, in our backyard. 
We do not treat the birds like pets, but do have a close relationship with them. The kids know birds are ultimately food, even when the layers get older they will be eaten at our table. We raised a few cornish cross which I processed and I have had to cull one mean bantam roo.
This is a little different, we purchased a bunch of unsexed chicks of various breeds to add variety to the flock. We ended up with alot of roosters in the group. I have been reading all the information about what to do, and when to do it, how to do it most effeciently, etc. But none of this prepares you for that moment. It causes so much stress. I sent my smaller children away to their nana's. My oldest daughter, who is 14, helped catch the birds and bring them to me at the killing tree. She was in tears and emotional all day, even though we discussed it and she said she understood. 
The hubby helps as much as possible but gets easily grossed out and so mostly just stands by as a helper.
So after all the deciding that it's proper and best to get this done, they hand me the silly roo and it's up to me.
He's staring at me quietly tucked under my arm, daughter is crying and hubby looking like he could throw up.
But it's not an option for me to be weak now. I must do this as best I can. My hens need me to protect them, my freezer needs meat. So I push aside all the uncomfortable feelings and squeemish thoughts and hang my bird on the tree and just get it done. Thanks for this forum and all the support and information. It would be much harder without you.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

I love this. Us moms do have the hardest job of all most days, don't we? When the whole fam is a mess we got to pull it together lol.


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## minmin1258 (Nov 5, 2013)

TNchick I admire your strength! I don't think I could do the deed if I had to. I'm not squeamish or weak but I am soooo attached to my flock. My Granddaughter would be the one doing the butchering and I'd b the one standing in the background crying like a banshee! I'm sorry that you had to have that experience. Hope you have a freezer full and won't have t do that again for a long while.


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## nj2wv (Aug 27, 2013)

You did a great job. I don't like to do it either but that is what chickens were made for.


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## TNchick (Jun 26, 2013)

I know I make it sound so dramatic, but these silly birds are close to us and the whole family is invested in them. Last week I was given a new dog, by a coworker who couldnt keep her. She is some type of hound mix, not a puppy but not fully grown either. Her name is Cricket and she is from the city. She is well behaved and bright. However, she's never been in the country and certainly never seen a chicken.
Well, everything has been great until we hit a snag last night. After the big rooster rapture, I still have a brown leghorn rooster. He likes to jump the fence and run around the yard. The dog we already had named Judah, knows not to mess with the birds. 
Cricket was let out to potty at the same time big Roo decides to jump the fence and oh the chaos that broke loose after that. 
The dog chasing the rooster, the kids chasing the dog, I'm chasing all of them screaming calm down! But in the end everyone was fine, even Roo, who layed down and played dead under the cedar tree, we all thought he was dead. I reached out to pick him up and he popped up and the chase was back on for another round. 
update: My hubby just called and said Cricket has knocked down the Christmas tree. He's not happy, I may have to find her another home.


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## Jim (Sep 26, 2012)

TNchick said:


> I know I make it sound so dramatic, but these silly birds are close to us and the whole family is invested in them. Last week I was given a new dog, by a coworker who couldnt keep her. She is some type of hound mix, not a puppy but not fully grown either. Her name is Cricket and she is from the city. She is well behaved and bright. However, she's never been in the country and certainly never seen a chicken. Well, everything has been great until we hit a snag last night. After the big rooster rapture, I still have a brown leghorn rooster. He likes to jump the fence and run around the yard. The dog we already had named Judah, knows not to mess with the birds. Cricket was let out to potty at the same time big Roo decides to jump the fence and oh the chaos that broke loose after that. The dog chasing the rooster, the kids chasing the dog, I'm chasing all of them screaming calm down! But in the end everyone was fine, even Roo, who layed down and played dead under the cedar tree, we all thought he was dead. I reached out to pick him up and he popped up and the chase was back on for another round. update: My hubby just called and said Cricket has knocked down the Christmas tree. He's not happy, I may have to find her another home.


training or crating could be good.


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## TNchick (Jun 26, 2013)

I'm attempting to train her now. Over the weekend she dug under the fence and attacked one of my best layers. The bird is injured badly in the thigh, but doing ok. We reinforced the fencing around the pen. She is a smart little dog and understands when she is being scolded. Hangs her head, mopes around. We are stepping up the training. I want to keep her. The most frequent advice I've found on the internet involves tying a dead chicken to the dog's collar, but I'm hoping to break this behavior before it comes to that. The other most popular suggestion is a shock collar, and I just don't do shock collars. So, she is being watched closely.


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

A few things I have learned over the years is when culling don't carry the chicken around under your arm grab it by a foot. Hanging upside down always relaxes them and in Patches case it put him to sleep he became so relaxed. I always make sure that the rest are not where they see what is going on.

I also think it's best for the adult to do the head chopping. My son did a mess of the job with Half. He had not sharpened the axe enough or even the machette so he ended up hurting him rather then cutting the head off, and the noise he was making got all the chickens upset. Kids also have a tendency to not do a clean cut like I would. They always tend to do things gently. Once I took over it was one quick and hard whack and the job was finished. When I did patches it was done quick. My 15 year old is learning now you do it hard not softly.

I also would recommend when doing roosters do them when they are very young. My oldest one Half was almost 2 years old and the meat was tough and was almost black when cooked. Even the dog wouldn't eat it.

Sometimes us women have to take charge. If my husband took over the yard would be full of old roosters. He wont kill them, and when he found out he couldn't even give them away he started building new coops for the boys to be in. I wont keep that many, as it is I will be having 4 extras just in case.


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## TNchick (Jun 26, 2013)

Update and thoughts on culling.....
Peace was restored with the major offenders gone. The flock is getting along just fine now. I still probably have 1 or 2 more roos than I need, but as long as the hens are ok and no fighting, they can stay. One thing I have learned about culling...just do it. The first little bantam roo I culled for meanness, I debated and debated over the right thing to do. The injured hen I tried to save, debated over her stress and suffering versus recovery odds. The three roos were beautiful and healthy and robust in their roosterdom. I debated over the amount of meat, the stress of the flock, on and on. 
The point...Once it was done, in each and every occasion so far, the stress was over. Even the hen that we loved so much, once her suffering was over, it was clear we did the right thing.
My instincts are good, I need to learn to trust that and stop worrying over if I'm doing the right thing. This is my flock. I raise them well, treat them well, and kill them well. So I'm trying to learn that even my mistakes are my mistakes and what I choose to do to manage my flock is my right as long as I follow my principles.
Each culling has brought more peace to flock and less stress for me, not to mention some excellent fried chicken along the way.


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

Same thing with us as I cull some I have noticed how well everyone is getting along. I have even started hooking the dog back up after finding out she is the reason why my #1 laying hen stopped laying and today I got an egg. She made a nest right in the dogs bed. We learn daily things that can upset them and make them stop laying as well as can get them out of their normal rituals. It was so awesome to spend that quality time today with Buffy after she laid her egg. I have 1 lady in with my rooster Stormy, and then later on we will put another one in with our BO rooster so he wont be lonely. However that will calm the other boys down and they will have plenty of ladies to share.


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