We have way too many chickens and roosters! Need help! FREE!

Oxnard CA

Description

Hello. My girlfriend's kept pastured (wild backyard) hens and roosters for a long time. At first there wasn't that many of them and I thought it was cool that they were free and had the whole backyard to themselves. They roost in the trees at night, and, when I was able to keep up with them, I knew where they'd lay their eggs and round them up. Long story short is we are in way too deep. My gf deals with psoriatic arthritis, her elderly dad works nights as a security guard, and I can only manage to make sure the flock has enough food and water while trying to hold down a full time job. In a perfect world I'd butcher and eat them all myself. I've had to cull a handful of roosters and it always hurts that I am not consuming them. We've thought and talked about posting for help and offering up the flock for a better cause; like feeding the hungry. As the flock has grown I'm surprised there hasn't been any direct complaints from our neighbors. When I reached out to VC animal services I was told it would cost $25 for every rooster and/or hen that they had to euthanize. Obviously, we can't do that. I'm sorry for this long post, but I want the situation, both dire and hopeful, to be understood. Which is: 1. Like it or not, I am responsible for how HUGE the flock has gotten and I am unable to get my family to consume them. 2. I can cull a rooster here or there, hate that I don't consume it, but also barely make a dent in their population. 3. Even if and when I cull all the roosters, i dont have a plan for the hens. 4. I have A LOT OF CHICKENS AND ROOSTERS, and it is basically their backyard at this point. And though they are surviving, thriving, and multiplying like crazy, I know the hens deserve better conditions. Does anybody have any ideas? Can I give them to a charitable organization that might be willing to help collect and either re-house or distribute the meat? If so, does anyone have connections with such organization. Maybe a restaurant? Does anyone want a huge pastured raised flock? Lol. You can pick and choose which you want to keep if I can get the help rounding them up!!! The pictures will show the beauty of them being free, but also how much they need to be re-housed/processed. This post was almost 8 years in the making.