Dixie Chicks

[Amberjem]

Culling, when do you Cull or decide not to Cull


Culling can be one of the least favorite aspects of chicken keeping for many ppl. Everyone has a different reason to cull or decision as to why they will not cull. What direction do you want your flock to go? Why would you decide to cull an animal in your flock? When you decide to make the decision to cull how do you go about it? If your culling for temperament what do you look for in an animal that you feel needs to be culled? What is a cullable behavior offense for you?
Are you breeding to Standard? Do you have a personal objective in mind for your flock that you specifically cull for? Besides genetic issues what other reasons would you cull for in your standards of birds you want to keep for breeders?
Are you culling your birds for weakness either in body type or to do with health? What about the misfits in your flock do you keep them or do you decide to cull them for your flock? Do you cull for not just your idea of standard but also how they may or may not integrate into your flock? Whatever your reason for culling ot not culling I'm interested in hearing what your thoughts are over the matter please share

 

[vehve]

I would cull if the bird has a need for antibiotics, a wound that would require a considerable amount of care or would cause it a lot of unnecessary pain with little hope for full recovery, or if the bird is showing signs of something very contagious.

I will also kill a roo that isn't a fit in our flock or acts aggressively towards people.

 

[vehve]

And of course excess roosters too.

 

[Beer can]

I had three Welsummer cockerels and three pullets. Only one of each sex looked like they were supposed to. The roos colors were off, and the pullets neck feathers were not the same color as my brown leghorns like they are suppose to be. They might not be showbirds but I kept the nicest roo and the pullets were culled naturally, one was killed by a predator the other by an injury, leaving the pullet with the correct colors.
When I get the giant chickens I will be culling for size, largest ones will be the breeders.

 

[perchie.girl]

Culling, when do you Cull or decide not to Cull


Culling can be one of the least favorite aspects of chicken keeping for many ppl. Everyone has a different reason to cull or decision as to why they will not cull. What direction do you want your flock to go? Why would you decide to cull an animal in your flock? When you decide to make the decision to cull how do you go about it? If your culling for temperament what do you look for in an animal that you feel needs to be culled? What is a cullable behavior offense for you?
Are you breeding to Standard? Do you have a personal objective in mind for your flock that you specifically cull for? Besides genetic issues what other reasons would you cull for in your standards of birds you want to keep for breeders?
Are you culling your birds for weakness either in body type or to do with health? What about the misfits in your flock do you keep them or do you decide to cull them for your flock? Do you cull for not just your idea of standard but also how they may or may not integrate into your flock? Whatever your reason for culling ot not culling I'm interested in hearing what your thoughts are over the matter please share

I wouldnt really cull. Breeding program you can just remove an individual from a breeding program. Then put them in with the mutt flock. That is what I would do with a healty but not falling into the SOP for a breeding program. That to me is what I consider culling.

If a bird was eventually edible I would choose a bird from the mutt group. Or from some Meaties I raised up for the job of feeding me and my family.

A sick or infirm bird if it were suffering, I would dispatch and dispose of it with bio-security in mind. Here there is no Avian Vet so I have to make the call. So far I have never had a sick bird. I had one guinea loose a leg to raccoons... pulled it off right at the hip. I did isolate her in a cage within her flock pen. Gave her exclusive food and water. She survived and was able to go back into her flock with minimal pestering on their part.

To be honest I wouldn't take a chicken to the vet any way because I cant afford the vet fees. The nearest possibility for a vet is a 60 mile drive. My go to place would be here for info.

For dispatching a sick bird I would use the broom stick method. Its a simple humane process.

If I knew how to do it with a knife I still wouldn't do it that way for a sick bird.

deb

 

[Amberjem]

anyways I got a cheapo bag of grass seed the weathers been so crazy and it's darn near feb now I thought I would try to get the grass started if I could......hoping it might get a lil boost with the rainy season too longer i can grow stuff here the better including lawn lol

 

[Amberjem]

I wouldnt really cull. Breeding program you can just remove an individual from a breeding program. Then put them in with the mutt flock. That is what I would do with a healty but not falling into the SOP for a breeding program. That to me is what I consider culling.

If a bird was eventually edible I would choose a bird from the mutt group. Or from some Meaties I raised up for the job of feeding me and my family.

A sick or infirm bird if it were suffering, I would dispatch and dispose of it with bio-security in mind. Here there is no Avian Vet so I have to make the call. So far I have never had a sick bird. I had one guinea loose a leg to raccoons... pulled it off right at the hip. I did isolate her in a cage within her flock pen. Gave her exclusive food and water. She survived and was able to go back into her flock with minimal pestering on their part.

To be honest I wouldn't take a chicken to the vet any way because I cant afford the vet fees. The nearest possibility for a vet is a 60 mile drive. My go to place would be here for info.

For dispatching a sick bird I would use the broom stick method. Its a simple humane process.

If I knew how to do it with a knife I still wouldn't do it that way for a sick bird.

deb

broom stick method?

 

[Outpost JWB]

Culling....wow. I hate that job. DH procrastinates and the longer, the harder. I cull depending on the circumstances. Example: Bad eye was born with a gimped up eye. If she were a cockrell, the second I figured it out, she would have been dinner.

I have tried to raise a scissor beak chick. Babied it, made provisions for it to thrive, spent countless hours researching and implementing whatever had worked for someone else. It never thrived and ended suffering. It had to be culled. If I ever get another scissor beak, it will be culled immediately.

I agree with @vehve on the rest of the reasons. Contagious diseases, any form of injury that does not show progress but shows suffering instead.

Well, Hubby and daughter are off to their father/ daughter dance

. It's getting very dark, very quick. I gotta get out there and feed those critters.

 

[vehve]

I sort of see the chickens as production animals first, pets second. That's why I'd limit medical options even with free vet service. I don't want med traces in my food.

 

[vehve]

Jwb, I'm with you, birth defects I would cull too, same with any animal. I did once try to nurse a runt dachshund puppy, learned my lesson that one time. It died three days old, weighing 60 grams, or half of it's siblings.