Culling... what really goes on?

[Barred Rocker]

I've got several roosters that have to go. I tried craigslist and I tried here but no luck. I'm not eager to process them but it's becoming more inevitable. I used to help my grandmother do it when I was a kid and I hated it then too, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I like the ax method, short and quick, but they bruise too much when they flail around. I'll probably have to use the killing cone. I wish someone would invent a easier way of getting it done without all the distress.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

When it is little chicks I have my DH do it when he is around....seems so much sadder to cull a baby but what we do is whack them really hard with a shovel for the small chicks. One good wam and they are dead, instantly. Then dig a hole and bury it WITH a flower!

For larger ones we use an axe and chopping block...I would never use a 'gassed' method....

 

[TheChickenShrink]

I know this may seem a bit harsh, but believe me, decapitation is one of the best methods for euthanizing small animals. The "right" method to process chicken is considered to be cutting their throat and letting them bleed to death, but THAT I find too cruel. A quick swing of the ax, on the other hand, garantees an instantaneous death.

Personally, I wait until my cockerels crow and I don't give them a name unless I intend to keep them. I don't like the culling thing and it is VERY HARD each time, but I tell myself that I gave them a happy free range, although brief, life (better than any hatchery or, even worse, chicken factory would offer them) and that it's better that I do it to make sure that they don't suffer. We also eat them, and we see the fact of not wasting their meat as paying an ultimate respect to them. It has been a few times now for me, and I'm getting a little more comfortable now with the process. But still...

I hope these words may help you find the right path for you!

Regards,

Pierre

 

[sparkles2307]

why not just sell the roos or burther them? I was raised in a house where we did not even kill a sparrow because you never kill something youre not going to eat or use in some productive way. IMHO its a terrible waste to cull roos just because you dont want them. I do understand not having the resources for them! Its amazing how much it takes to maintain a sizable flock

. But, I just dont see how it wouldnt be easier to rehome or sell them for meat to others? Less emotional stress for you too!

 

[GreenGoddess]

Quote:
I am sorry but if you put an animal into a small container to euthanize them, be it by gassing, freezing, or whatever, they do not just "go to sleep".. Please read this post that was posted yesterday.. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2747559#p2747559 It is one thing to do it this way for a sick and dying chick if that is your choice but it's different if you are culling for sexing control... I watch craigslist everyday and there are always people who want roos.. One just posted yesterday infact.. I don't think it would be very difficult to find them homes.. Just my opinion... Of course, it didn't help that I watched a video a while back on how they use gas chambers in animal shelters..

Goddess

 

[Barred Rocker]

Quote:
Oh I wouldn't kill a rooster if I wasn't going to eat it. I would like nothing more than to give my roosters away simply to avoid the unpleasant task of dispatching them but everyone else is in the same boat I am and they don't really want extra roosters either. I agree it would be a shame to just kill the roo and then bury it. As for chicks I just don't have the heart. I've got a 5 week old BR rooster that only has the use of one leg. I could have culled it early on but I would have felt like a monster for doing it. It still hops around on one leg but he gets where he wants to go and he won't let the other chicks push him around so we're keeping him because he's special. Btw, we named him Pogo.

 

[chicknjane]

I was in the same position, too many roos. I found several links online devoted to showing the newbie how to "process" chickens. I realized that I did not have the stomach for the initial slaughter and evisceration. The butchering after the other things were done was acceptable. Probably because at that point, it wasn't so much an animal as it was meat. (Something I was used to seeing at the store, not in my backyard). Strange sort of logic, but that's how my pea-brain viewed it. I finally asked the local ag center where I purchased my first batch of chicks if they knew of anyone who processed poultry on a small scale. They were able to provide me with the name and number of a local couple who processes chickens for $1.50 per bird. At that price, I was able to justify not doing it myself. I could never be that efficient. Try asking around your local ag center or cooperative extension office, you might be surprized. If anything, you might be able to find someone who would assist you for your first time.

Good Luck

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

For getting rid of the extra unwanted roos, you can post a paper in your local feed store - I have gotten rid of several birds this way.

 

[ajplmama]

I bought 30 chicks this spring and just decreased my flock size this week. I actually did try to give some of the roos away but had no takers. We're meat eaters and for us nothing is better than meat you've raised yourself and know what it has been eating. I was putting off killing and cleaning them myself when I found out a neighbor does them for $2 a piece. I checked out his place, like the clean operation and did it. It's not fun but we have much less stressed and calm hens now, 2 very happy roosters and a freezer full of free range meat.

 

[BroomFarm]

Lovemychickies,

Is your question really about culling chicks (best described as the killing of ill-formed or otherwise undesirable birds, shortly after hatching) or are you really asking about processing meat birds for the freezer? These are two distinctly different things and both terms, frankly, are too kind for the brutal realities involved.

Culling is absolutely essential to the overall health and conformity to breed standard, if that is what your aim is. To me, it is far more difficult to do because of the age of the bird being killed. I wish it was more like line-breeding with dogs, where you can just spay or neuter the dog, then sell or give them away.

Processing meat birds, butchering chickens, is not a fun process either, but it's also nowhere near difficult or challenging. It's incredibly easy, truth be told. The struggle most people have with butchering any animal is the emotional turmoil they feel when killing something they have spent months, or years, nurturing. It seems like a contradiction to care for the well-being of your birds, then be the cause of their demise.

I would argue that this is not true: Chickens have been bred to do one, possibly two things, well. They are intended to provide a large volume of eggs, a large volume of meat, or a significant amount of both. To assign a different value to a chicken is like asking your dog to purr or your cow to run the Kentucky Derby.

I'm sure I will be thought of, by some, as heartless or even cruel, but the most accurate term would be "pragmatic". Enjoy your

for all that they are and all that they offer.