I think one of the problems is that you basically can’t keep many roosters together (I’m not even sure you can keep two roosters together). That means that for a sanctuary you need huge space so that the roosters don’t kill each other. So while I also buy eggs that guarantee that the male chicks will be raised, I wonder how this is supposed to work if I pay only like 50 cents per egg and half of the hatched eggs are male.
(Note that my knowledge on rooster farming comes from a German or possibly German-French documentary on that, so I might be talking out of my ass here.)
(I think I just remember that 2€/egg was the price calculated in the documentary for ethical farming without losses for the farmers. This was some years ago. To be fair - I’d totally pay that for an egg. Egg as an ingredient can be easily substituted and as a standalone dish it can be something special that I’m willing to pay for. )
I saw this German documentary about the egg industry.
They ship the males out of country where they are raised in sheds, then sold to Africa.
I think the best solution is to not buy eggs. A good replacement is mung bean flour. It has similar nutrition and flavor, can be obtained cheaply, and spares chickens from being exploited by humans.
You need about 5 hens per rooster, unless you only have a single one, then you can get away with less. More than 5 of course doesn’t hurt, but usually 5 hens per rooster is enough to prevent them from killing each other.
Source: I keep chickens
So they can theoretically be held together? Like, 3 roosters 15 chicken in one group?
Also, and I am sorry if this sounds dumb, but is there any kind of birth control for chicken? Or do you just eat fresh eggs with 1 day old embryos inside all the time? Can you castrate a rooster?
(Wait isn’t there even a dish with a castrated rooster? I think it was in a play by Bertold Brecht)
So they can theoretically be held together? Like, 3 roosters 15 chicken in one group?
Yes
Also, and I am sorry if this sounds dumb, but is there any kind of birth control for chicken?
No, hens don’t immediately start hatching their eggs when they lay them, they try to collect about 8 before they do so. There are no embryos inside the fertilized eggs when you eat them
Can you castrate a rooster?
No, because their scrotum is not outside of their body
