Meet Elvis. The king, the boss, the top dog …er rooster in our flock of thirteen chickens.
Elvis is a blue Maran. It took me a little while to be sure of this, he looks nothing like the three other Marans that we have. Marans are dual purpose birds (good for meat and eggs). They originated in France and are classed as a heritage breed.
Should we keep him?? I had no intention of keeping roosters. I want to keep strictly to an egg only operation and would rather not have extra mouths to feed. I am easily charmed by his morning wake up calls. Elvis got the memo and wakes us up exactly when we want him to (caw ca caw) He is beautiful. Crazy looking. He also seems watchful and protective of the flock. I really like this dude and he appears to be a good manager of the flock.
My husband ordered an incubator for his quail (it is suitable for chickens as well). With a few rooster in the flock we could hatch some eggs in the spring and get started raising chickens for meat. I have been postponing making a decision on raising birds for meat because we haven’t got the time to plan out the logistics of shelter and pasture. I am not comfortable with leaping in without a good plan in place first. Some of the roosters will have to go, either to a new home or into the freezer. For now all is harmonious so we will wait and see. No decisions today.
He’s a beautiful bird, I can see why your wrestling with the thought of keeping him. While I’m not vegetarian, I eat very little meat. We plan on raising chickens for meat someday – but I’m wrestling with the thought of processing chickens. If I can’t, you may have another member in the vegetarian community to commiserate with.
We have only been doing this since spring, so there is a lot to learn and experience. My family loves meat. I am the odd duckling in the bunch. I feel good about being responsible for feeding and caring for the animals, and also I expect the experience of having them butchered and processed (we have not faced this yet) will be humbling and life changing for us – in a hard but good way. Knowing what we are putting into our bodies is my goal. Around here there is a farm that seems very focused on humane, grass fed approach and they process birds for a reasonable fee. I have not looked into it for myself yet but you might have similar options where you are.