Culling as sex selection

[Chicalina]

If any of you hatch sex linked chickens, or become aware any are roosters that you don't want to keep, do you cull them as chicks?

I've been musing on this because it's such a pain raising them up and getting attached to them, and then keeping them too long while trying to rehome them.

I don't think I could kill a healthy chick, it's just not in me. But perhaps I should toughen up and make hard decisions. I don't eat my chickens, they are pets so I've got no experience in culling. I get a family member to dispatch sick chickens but I know that's a mercy to them.

I'm not squeamish, I just would feel like a monster killing a baby chick. But thinking about how easy things would be if I only had pullets out of a hatch. I only raise a handful each year to add colour and variety to my flock and replace older hens.

Do you cull? How do you do it (practically and emotionally?)

I wish I had a snake or raptor keeper nearby, as I could give any unwanted chicks to them, so I wouldn't have to see it happen .

Am I being a nancy over this?

 

[Crazychickengirl2]

You should make a post on Facebook marketplace and see if anyone wants them

 

[NatJ]

I've been musing on this because it's such a pain raising them up and getting attached to them, and then keeping them too long while trying to rehome them.

Can you sell them as very young chicks? You might get more interest while they are fluffy and cute. (Yes, of course state that they are cockerels, and maybe even point out that means they are male and will grow into roosters, just so no newbie will mistaken about what they are buying.)

I wish I had a snake or raptor keeper nearby, as I could give any unwanted chicks to them, so I wouldn't have to see it happen .

Some people feed raw meat to dogs or cats, too.

If any of you hatch sex linked chickens, or become aware any are roosters that you don't want to keep, do you cull them as chicks?

I've done it on a breeding project where I wanted specific traits I could identify at hatch.

Do you cull? How do you do it (practically and emotionally?)

How I've done it (practical): Behead chick with a sharp hatchet. Give chick to dog, who eats it whole.

When beheading a large chicken, I hold the feet & wingtips in one hand, lay the neck on a chopping block, wait until the chicken holds still, and use one good hard chop to remove the head.

For a young chick, I wrap one hand around the chick (back half), lay the neck on the chopping block, and very carefully make a chop that gets the neck without getting my fingers. For a small chick, you don't have to chop as hard, but your fingers are so much closer to the blade that you need to be very careful!

 

[Chicalina]

You've got balls of steel @NatJ !!

Isn't it messy and bloody?

I researched the 'plastic bag, kitchen scissors' method and the CO2 one when I had a wry neck chick last year that I was going to cull after treatment failed. It died naturally before I could do it.

I guess my dogs would wolf down any sort of meat. They already chase the chickens given half a chance, I don't want them seeing chicks as food.

I went to a raptor place the other week where they breed all sorts of owls and eagles and train them for displays. The floor was littered with dead day old chicken chicks as that is their staple food. Made me a tiny bit sad but also I know, circle of life and all that. Predators gotta eat.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I don't cull baby chicks, unless there's a clear issue with it, that I'm not equipped to take care of.

I wait until cockerel chicks, are of butcher age, before culling so it adds food to the table.

 

[MysteryChicken]

For baby chick culling, I quickly pull the head off. It's fast, painless, but alittle messy though. Had to put down a day old chick the other day.

 

[3KillerBs]

I don't cull baby chicks, unless there's a clear issue with it, that I'm not equipped to take care of.

I wait until cockerel chicks, are of butcher age, before culling so it adds food to the table.

This.

I like to eat chicken so why waste it?

 

[swamphiker]

I consider the time spent raising cockerels as part of the process since I'm not in this as a money-making enterprise. I prefer to butcher and eat cockerels when the time comes.

 

[NatJ]

Isn't it messy and bloody?

It usually splatters a bit of blood, but the next rain washes the blood into the grass. With a chick, it's not too hard to hold it pointing away from me, and I wash my hands afterward. With a bigger chicken, it's more likely to get some blood on me as well. But when any blood does get on my clothes, the washing machine can take it out with cold water, extra soap, and some extra time spent soaking and washing.

I guess my dogs would wolf down any sort of meat. They already chase the chickens given half a chance, I don't want them seeing chicks as food.

That is definitely a point to consider.
My rule is that only people are allowed to catch, grab, or kill chickens (not dogs.)
Dogs are only allowed to eat chickens after the person does the killing and gives the dog permission.
I know some dogs can learn this rule, but I do not know whether all dogs can.

I went to a raptor place the other week where they breed all sorts of owls and eagles and train them for displays. The floor was littered with dead day old chicken chicks as that is their staple food. Made me a tiny bit sad but also I know, circle of life and all that. Predators gotta eat.

Would that raptor place be interested in your cockerels? That could be a good solution.

 

[Chicalina]

The raptor place has their own chicken flock that supply the raptors. I did think of that though!