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post #3691 of 12595
6/22/12 at 5:04am
Maybe so, it is a word that can have more than one meaning, I suppose whenever something is implied it can be misunderstood. Maybe it's just fewer letters so its easier to say cull. You can also cull a group just to remove its testicles, then return it to the group.

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post #3692 of 12595
6/22/12 at 5:21am
This has nothing to do with chickens, but it has something to do with life. Before I retired I had to sometimes referee disagreements between people. Sometimes there are just basic differences, but a whole lot of problems were solved just by getting them to agree on what they were talking about. Somebody misunderstood what someone else said or meant and got their feelings hurt. Often they were arguing the same side of a question but just didn't realize it.

Cull is one of those words that means different things to different people. To some people it means to kill. To some it means to select or sort. If you know the person you are talking to and they know what you mean, fine. Use it as you wish. But if you throw it out ot the general population, don't be surprised if someone doesn't understand what you mean.

We can sit here arguing about what a word means to you as much as you want. Some people enjoy that kind of argument. It means this! No, it means that! He said! She said! Personally,I find that stuff a waste of time.

editted to add: To me, language is a tool designed to aid communication. If it is used correctly (and I consider Webster to define "correctly") it enables us to communicate clearly. But just like any tool, if it is not used correctly, it does not do a good job.
Edited by Ridgerunner - 6/22/12 at 6:33am
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought....Abraham Lincoln (Freedom carries responsibility)

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.....Judge Learned Hand  (The more sure your are that your way is the only right way, the more likely you are wrong.)
Freedom is not the right to do what we want, but what we ought....Abraham Lincoln (Freedom carries responsibility)

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right.....Judge Learned Hand  (The more sure your are that your way is the only right way, the more likely you are wrong.)
post #3693 of 12595
6/22/12 at 7:48am
Cull is used instead of Kill here often as an attempt not to say "freezer camp" or the like. I don't think it matters though. You are removing the chicken from the flock. How you do it might not be important, only that you do.

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I don't care why the chicken crossed the road, as long as mine don't!

== Easy incubator wiring chart: http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=65925 Installing a thermostat: http://cmfarm.us/WHTincubator.html
Love those Orps!

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post #3694 of 12595
6/22/12 at 8:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ridgerunner View Post

This has nothing to do with chickens, but it has something to do with life. Before I retired I had to sometimes referee disagreements between people. Sometimes there are just basic differences, but a whole lot of problems were solved just by getting them to agree on what they were talking about. Somebody misunderstood what someone else said or meant and got their feelings hurt. Often they were arguing the same side of a question but just didn't realize it.
Cull is one of those words that means different things to different people. To some people it means to kill. To some it means to select or sort. If you know the person you are talking to and they know what you mean, fine. Use it as you wish. But if you throw it out ot the general population, don't be surprised if someone doesn't understand what you mean.
We can sit here arguing about what a word means to you as much as you want. Some people enjoy that kind of argument. It means this! No, it means that! He said! She said! Personally,I find that stuff a waste of time.
editted to add: To me, language is a tool designed to aid communication. If it is used correctly (and I consider Webster to define "correctly") it enables us to communicate clearly. But just like any tool, if it is not used correctly, it does not do a good job.


thumbsup.gif

post #3695 of 12595
6/22/12 at 9:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ridgerunner View Post

Cull is one of those words that means different things to different people. To some people it means to kill. To some it means to select or sort. If you know the person you are talking to and they know what you mean, fine.

 

Finally caught up to the current argument on this thread! wee.gifWhooee, that was a lot of reading!

 

Technically, to cull ALWAYS means to select or sort - actually, it's even more specific than that wink.png. More precisely, it means to mark for removal from the breeding population, and technically only applies to livestock or managed herds, although it gets applied to other situations. It's just that with chickens, the implication of what happens to them AFTER they've been "culled" (selected for removal) has gotten added to the meaning of the word by habit, just as with sheep or cattle, the implication of what happens to them afterward (castrated) has gotten added to the generally-understood meaning (generally-understood, at least, if one is talking to ranchers, not chicken farmers!)

 

Oh, the joys of a useless English degree! gig.gif

Carpe diem -- and if you can't, grab a chicken!

 

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Carpe diem -- and if you can't, grab a chicken!

 

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post #3696 of 12595
6/22/12 at 10:09am

It seems like beyond the general usage and meaning of the word "cull," there is a deeper frustration underlying the argument for some folks with those people who are too squeamish to say, or even hear, that a chicken was "killed."  The words cull and freezer-camp and retired/removed may be striking some as a ridiculous avoidance of the idea that a chicken has been killed.  I share the frustration.  I have friends who cannot bear to hear me say that I killed/culled/removed/retired/sent to freezer camp even, my young cockerels.  Meanwhile, they go and dish up a big ol' helping of my shredded chicken tacos!  Well, ya know folks, that stuff you're eating came from killed chickens, right?  Another word comes to mind for me at that point - "hypocritical."

 

So call it whatever you want, and I have been saying "cull" with my friends and even with my spouse when it's time to do the deed.  Honestly, I think the term "cull" has a more respectful connotation than "kill," which seems closer to the idea of "murder," and there's no reason to be mean about the whole thing, but that's just me.  And I'm not using the word "cull" to avoid the idea that we are ending the life of a chicken, for goodness sake. 

Central Washington State with a few hens, pullets and chicks living in the city limits. Born and raised on an Illinois farm, and I can't get that farming out of my veins now!
Central Washington State with a few hens, pullets and chicks living in the city limits. Born and raised on an Illinois farm, and I can't get that farming out of my veins now!
post #3697 of 12595
6/22/12 at 10:54am

Does cut its head off still mean to separate its head from its shoulders with a sharp implement?

 

Does plucking still mean pull its feathers out?

 

I wonder about the word butcher..... To me it means to really mess something up.... Like when I butcher the English language..... I suppose you could butcher a butcher job if you were a really bad butcher....

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

 

Chicken- God's perpetual food source.

 

Producer of Heritage Tamwork Pork, the Bacon Pig, and Freedom Ranger Poultry

Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime.

 

Chicken- God's perpetual food source.

 

Producer of Heritage Tamwork Pork, the Bacon Pig, and Freedom Ranger Poultry

post #3698 of 12595
6/22/12 at 11:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by loanwizard View Post

Does cut its head off still mean to separate its head from its shoulders with a sharp implement?

 

Does plucking still mean pull its feathers out?

 

I wonder about the word butcher..... To me it means to really mess something up.... Like when I butcher the English language..... I suppose you could butcher a butcher job if you were a really bad butcher....


"Technical or hobby specific" terms are not always the same as what one would find in the dictionary. While they are fighting about it can you find me a Nissan GT-R for around $50K?  lol

 

Walt

http://www.rosecomb.com/fowlman/
http://www.rosecomb.com/fowlman/
post #3699 of 12595
6/22/12 at 11:25am
Thread Starter 

big_smile.png  What y'all been up to whilst I was away?  Still culling the English language, I see.....

 

I don't normally use the word cull unless I'm on this forum, as it seems to be the euphemistic term for killing and a lot of folks really shudder when you say you actually kill the chicken, even if they kill theirs also. 

 

At my place, cull and kill are synonymous~when I cull a bird it generally follows that I immediately kill it for food, so six of one, half dozen of the other at the end of the day. 

 

I assume that serious breeders do the same as they wouldn't want a cull running around in the community claiming ties to their prestigious bloodlines, would they?  I know I wouldn't if I were a breeder and my bloodlines were the result of years of hard work and dedication.  Every bird with a foot on the ground is an advertisement for your work and judgement of good stock, so leaving a cull around to showcase that could be a bad call, IMO.

 

As for the rest of the less serious chicken owners, I'd say that cull isn't really in their vocabulary...probably more apt to say "re-home" or plain ol' kill as they probably aren't breeding or trying to develop certain traits in their flock. 

 

I could very well be wrong on that but that's how I see it from this neck of the woods. 

 

Carry on!  big_smile.png
 

If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?  Please think about it. 

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If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?  Please think about it. 

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post #3700 of 12595
6/22/12 at 11:37am

I keep hearing about the deep litter system. What is it exactly?

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