Grown Up Talk.

Listen People. Chickens die a lot.. on their own.

So No. I don't mind eating chicken. I like it. It tastes good. 

But--I won't kill any of my own chickens.

And-- I'm not shocked and shaken when we lose a chicken now and then.

It's part of having chickens.

I might complain about it a LOT though.. I'm working on that.

A few of my "Grown Up" chicken keeper friends have no problem dispatching a neck like they were snap peas. Swift and Vulcan .

Therein lies my 'Chicken Hypocrisy' debate.. Were I to seriously "Keep it Real" barn yard style I would be like this;

Lately I've been looking at the pages of people and first of all... I'm not really sure y'all realize how beautiful your worlds are, but you don't have nosy neighbors who don't believe that you should be eating your own eggs. 

So for those of you who are limited zoning  

Riddle Me This: do you dispatch your roosters or re-home them?

I've gone back and forth about culling a chick who starts to show signs of being of the unwanted sex. Sorry Guys... although I'm sure some of you had it coming.

(I'm looking at you mean anti-social neighbor whose dog pissed on my shoe )

Children don't like it when you kill things they name.  And honestly folks I'm too big of a bleeding heart to look into their big eyes and say, "Sorry baby but we gonna kill him, bless your heart". 

Him of course are the male chicks you have irresponsibly let your children name--and then had to rehome-all our roosters of the BBCE microfarm....

Spike (White Crested Blue Polish), Forrest/Jenny (Turken), Kramer (Splash White Showgirl) and last but not least Ralphie as in Christmas Story (Black/Blue Bearded Silkie). 

He really does look like what Ralphie would look like.. if he were a chicken. How could I kill something who represents Raphie? I mean come on people. 

Got distracted.. sorry

So absolutely no disrespect to those of you Farm Sturdy people who aren't me and have no problem with this. I mean that in the best sense.

How does everyone handle this?

What are some good ways to learn to buck up and do whats right or......WELL, come on they're little kids.. they'll believe pretty much anything.

Cock-a-doodle-- what?!!!

Many of us backyard flock keepers may be familiar with the feeling of waking one morning to hear a faint and almost immature "cock-a-doodle doo..." at 5am... we smile softly at the idealism of waking up to a rooster. Then urban farm wife horror when you realize you don't have a rooster, you're not supposed to have a rooster, and that there is a whole law against having rooster.

The mystery deepens as we watch our flock with a paranoid fever and just keep scratching your head trying to figure our which of the Gertrude's is in fact a Gary.

Recently I've just experienced this sensation. Remember watching the Sixth Sense for the first time?
Yep, it was just like that.  Finding out my sweet little Turken, Jenny is in fact a Forrest.

Jenny/Forrest in full crowing action

He's being sent to live at a family farm in the country. But not so many people are fortunate to know of another chicken lover who is willing to take young cockerel.

Here are few links that may help in this endeavor.


Backyard Chickens auction board. Here you can list your rooster for free. If you decide to offer to shipping then charge only shipping to send them off. Take special care to arrange a time when the temperature is lower than normal in these hot summer days.

Craigslist.com - Here you can post your rooster for free. To improve your chances make sure to include a picture and a few endearing rooster comments.

Facebook  - feel free to post Boise Backyard Chickens Facebook page and connect to others who have chickens. You may be able to find someone willing to take a roo for you.

You can also ask to post a flyer at your local feed store, just be careful as most people willing to take a Rooster might be apt to make him dinner and not a pet. :)

Wishing everyone luck-- and wishing my turken Jenny/Forrest a happy life!