"culls?" What to do with them?

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
I agree 100%. If you don't want them or need them, then get rid of them the best way you can, or ANY way you can. Then, concentrate on what you have kept, and move on. It seems to me too much thought is going into, "but what if ...." So, what if someone else ends up with a SQ? If you don't have the room, get rid of the excess ..... ANY way you can. The obvious options being: sell it, eat it, or bury it.

 

[thecochincoop]

my problem is going to be with the blue, black, and splashes that should be going for a premium price are to bred to breed standards, I just dont' have the room for them and I only want to keep the mottleds. I don't have the space to keep these too or I would and then sell them later. I hope this is making sense. I am not talking about birds with defects here. I am talking about show worthy specimins (sorry spelling) that I don't have the facilities to keep.

 

[Funky Feathers]

Quote:
I'd buy some Splash SQ ones from you if you are NPIP Certified. Willing to pay for great quality. PM me.

 

[TK Poultry]

well you could grow them and sell them at a show then you could sell them for a decent price and people will apprieciate the bird and not turn it over for a profit but that would require keeping them for a bit longer

 

[thunderwagn]

Do you have a local Raptor type center. Its a great place to take birds and roo's. Prolapsed hens and the like. They are fed to Eagles, Hawks, etc. that are injured. Its a great program.

 

[ninny]

What do you do with bantys? The tiny little things are so cute.

 

[TACEYPERKINS]

Well, I think since your space and time are at a premium your options are going to be slim. You say, You cant grow them out , and then reap the reward of the better sales price. But, you should keep in mind that you are not going to be feeding them either. The longer you keep them the more they will cost you!
You have to keep your goals in mind. If you are breeding for mottled, you cant be spending so much time and $ on the "extra Colors" that are going to be coming. To get rid of them quick, easy and inexpensive is the way to go. To get some $ for them is better then none at all, right? Plus you wont have the added expence of feeding/housing them for 6mths+. Also, whos to say they are all going to be great? You never know. But sure you will get some. I wouldnt worry about the "what if great ones". It takes away from your goal.

And when you do decide to get rid of them. Get creative. There are alot of avenues to do it. Killing is not the only way. I am not apposed to that meathod by the way, I just am giving other options. Take them to a local feed/pet store you might be able to sell them on a regular bases there. Also, BYC, CRAIGSLIST, FREECYCLE, OR A LOCAL BARGIN CIRCULAR ( PENNYSAVER). People will come out of the woodworks if you advertise. Posting signs up on community bullitin boards works too. Getting ahold of local 4-H or FFA clubs. Kids love to use small chickins like batums for showing.Also selling your extra eggs before you hatch them is another option for reducing future #'s. Ebay and Eggbid, and BYC are good to do that.

Bottom line you have to decide what is more important to you? Is it the space and getting to work soley on your mottleds? Or worry about the other colors and price and not have enough space for the mottled project?Just food for thought! Good luck!

 

[thecochincoop]

Well in order to show them 4h'ers would have to buy them basically grown unless they were planning for the next year, but kids are so "now" that they might not even be showing chickens in a year. I can't really give them chicks to show since it will be a good 6 months or more before they can be shown and this year I started getting chicks in march and anything hatched after that would'nt be ready in time to show. I would really like to get them to kids to show, but not sure where to go about doing that. I guess maybe the best way to go would be to sell the "other colors" and cull the extra males? I can't sell eggs because there is no guranteed way to tell color. I just hate killing, but males are so hard to sell. I had so split up most of my pairs this year and then give away the males just so I didn't have to feed them through the winter. There should be a pretty good market for the black and blue females though. I actually have 2 blue females now that I need to sell. I guess it's just a gamble for someone to spend money on a chick though. I would think that $20 for a chick that should technically, but not guranteed, grow up to be a sq bird is a pretty good price though. I would be willing to take that chance as long as I saw the parents though, but that's just me and not the craigslist people that think everything is next to free whether it be chickens or cars.

 

[Junkmanme]

I'm afraid that I don't understand the so-called "logic" of this foregoing statement:

I would absolutely hate to give away a winner to the wrong hands and they go on just to make some money off of it.

WHERE is the "difficulty" here?

It's "my toy" and YOU can't have one like mine.

Childish, I think.

-Junkmanme-

 

[thunderwagn]

Quote:
Kids that are dedicated and into showing would be a great place to start. Rite now is the perfect time to be getting birds for next yrs showings. Most chix produced in March is generally enough time to have them ready to show. At least here, they dont show till the end of July. My daughter showed about 6 young pullets and a roo that we got in March.