Culling decisions

[IdyllwildAcres]

I am still working on my cull list, I need room for the spring chicks. I did cull one bully and mostly decided to give the old girls amnesty, that group will be 6 in April. So the plan is the 2020 girls have to go by the fall since now at least they are paying some rent.

However... Someone is clearly sleeping in a nest box and as hard as it sounds I say she has to go. In my experience, every single hen that starts hiding out in the nest box at night I ended up culling eventually anyway. Something is wrong, it always seems to be the first step in their decline. No idea who it is, but I am tired of cleaning the poop out and the dirty eggs.

Does anyone else cull for this reason? Does it seem unreasonable?

 

[Sally PB]

Is that hen being bullied, perhaps? Or molting late in the season? I let hens sleep in the nest box when they're molting. I figure they really don't want to snuggle up to anyone with all those quills sticking out, and they can stay a little warmer in the nest box.

 

[Mrs. K]

Cull for any reason you want or need too. Culling is not something you need to fill guilty for. It is a time honored animal husbandry and very useful in keeping a flock young and healthy.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Does anyone else cull for this reason? Does it seem unreasonable?

I have never eaten a hen for that specific reason but it sounds reasonable. That's one way I manage the behavior and health of my flock.

I had a pullet that laid from the roost when she started laying. That's not unheard of when a pullet just starts to lay but she kept doing that for over a month. I finally figured out which one it was so I ate her.

When I first got my flock two out of eight of the pullets developed a bare back. I ate them and none of the others developed a bare back. How could I blame that on the cockerel? None of the pullets I hatched from the survivors developed a bare back. I think it was genetic.

I had a hen with a neck problem. I'm not sure if it was wry neck or she injured it. I nursed her back to health but never hatched any of her eggs. When I reduced my flock numbers for winter she was the first to go.

I had a nest hog. She would take three hours to lay an egg every time and would not let any other hen in that nest with her. Her eggs were more medium sized than large anyway. That fall she was on the top of my list for I'm not keeping that one over the winter.

I had a hen that became an egg eater. She would open eggs to eat them. She did not last out the day once I figured out which one it was.

If a hen is disturbing the peace and tranquility of my flock or has characteristics I don't want the chicks I hatch to have I will remove them from the flock. I consider my flock pretty healthy and with good behaviors.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Is that hen being bullied, perhaps? Or molting late in the season? I let hens sleep in the nest box when they're molting. I figure they really don't want to snuggle up to anyone with all those quills sticking out, and they can stay a little warmer in the nest box.

Not molting, probably getting picked on. I’m going to cull her.

 

[sdm111]

I am still working on my cull list, I need room for the spring chicks. I did cull one bully and mostly decided to give the old girls amnesty, that group will be 6 in April. So the plan is the 2020 girls have to go by the fall since now at least they are paying some rent.

However... Someone is clearly sleeping in a nest box and as hard as it sounds I say she has to go. In my experience, every single hen that starts hiding out in the nest box at night I ended up culling eventually anyway. Something is wrong, it always seems to be the first step in their decline. No idea who it is, but I am tired of cleaning the poop out and the dirty eggs.

Does anyone else cull for this reason? Does it seem unreasonable?

Not unreasonable at all. People cull for all kinds of reasons. You don't want her in the box and history suggests she's off for whatever reason.

 

[Sally PB]

Cull for any reason you want or need to.

Yes, this exactly.

 

[alwaystj9]

Most of my culls are hens that won't stay on their side of the fence...some I can break the habit on but the ones who persist in getting in my yard as opposed to the pen or pasture? They either get eaten or sold.

 

[Brooks_]

the ones who persist in getting in my yard as opposed to the pen or pasture? They either get eaten or sold.

On the other side, I plan on hatching from my little escape artist. But then again the fencing will be done before that. She probably won't be able to escape then and I won't know her eggs.

 

[Mrs. K]

Thing is, you have to let some go if you are doing this right, and it may as well be the birds that are not making you happy.