Excess birds

[forgetful]

I hope this is in the right area. It's technically about flock management.

This is directed towards anyone with a breeding program. What do you do with your excess birds? Say one has blue legs instead of black, or the lacing isnt uniform. If you aren't using the birds as part of the breeding program, what do you do? Do you cull them? That's a lot of birds to cull for small issues. Keep them? That will build up over time. Sell them? As imperfect merchandise? And if you sell them, do they go at full price or at a discount? ( or does it depend on the issue?) I'm interested in starting a breeding program, but I have to wonder where the ones that aren't poster children go. I hypothesize that people simply sell them to non serious backyard owners for non show or breeding purposes, but that's why I decided to ask. What do YOU do?

 

[hotrodflash]

I would keep the pullets for my laying flock and grow out the cockerels and butcher them. You could also sell them or give them to friends and family. These are decisions that you have to make for what is right for you and your set up.

 

[Fred's Hens]

We sell a majority of the birds we hatch. We do need some hens for the laying house and cockerels for the freezer but we only keep a choice cockerel or two and our best three or four hens. That's quite enough to put 40-50 chicks on the ground the following spring. The cycle repeats.

I wouldn't say the birds sold are scrubs or "bad", it is just that we are very selective. The genes are the same, but we may need something specific, like a lowered tail, to fix an issue we are working on.

Breeding tends to require the very best starting stock you can possibly afford. Start with the best and go forth. This is hard enough. Hatch as many as you can, sell the rest. We, at least, simply cannot carry a whole bunch of birds through the long winter. Feed is far too expensive. Go slow, go straight down the middle. Start with the best birds you can find. It's a fun hobby.

 

[forgetful]

Thank you guys for the advice.

I like the idea of keeping hens strictly for a laying flock. Especially since I'm looking at a few breeds who focus on egg color. It would be nice to have two seperate flocks with one for fertilized hatching eggs and the other for unfertilized eggs for consumption. I hadn't thought of that, even though it's an easy concept.

I wouldn't say the birds sold are scrubs or "bad", it is just that we are very selective.  The genes are the same, but we may need something specific, like a lowered tail, to fix an issue we are working on.

I agree. When first beginning, and this is assuming the starting flock is average at best, do you sell those? Or do you wait a few generations so that the problems aren't so major?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Why would you breed "average at best"? That would be my question.

If your breeding goals is top notch quality, starting with less than great birds often leads to years and years of wasting time, in my view.

 

[forgetful]

The availability in my area. That would be a worst case scenario. I plan on shipping in good quality birds, but if I can't then I'm stuck with 'average.' The postal service in my are is notorious for being horrible with poultry, but I'm going to try it. And if I can't then I'll simply have to waste a few years.