- May 7, 2012
- 9
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So true about the chickens being a hobby. I think regardless of how long you have been raising chickens your reason for getting chickens in the first place may be very different. Some of that may be generational as well. Someone with chickens for 20 years may just be more likely to have raised them for meat or have been raised to know how to process a chicken from a young age. Because that practice is becoming less common in new chicken owners I think it's only fair to state what your purpose for having chickens is. If you have them for eggs or pets and not for meat then you can't really say you NEED to know how and when to cull. I would never cull any of mine and I am a total newbie, but the amount of joy I get from sitting with my chickens and feeding them and changing their water and having a silly coop is part of why I got into it. I have some breeds that are high producers and some that are horrible producers. I mean...no one gets a silkie thinking "yea i'm going to get so many eggs out of this thing". So just because someones motives for raising chickens are different than yours doesn't mean it's wrong. In the end it comes down to caring for animals. Clean water, food, shelter and if you want them to have a pretty house and treats then whatever, as long as they are cared for who cares if some people have unproductive chickens in their flock.