Hard Questions For Me

[Skipper81]

I usually let nature take its course

 

[roosterhavoc]

Anyone who can’t cull a bird has no business raising chickens for anything other than pets. Someone would be out of their minds to buy a bird or eggs from someone who can’t or is unwilling to cull for not only sickness but generally weak and less than genetically strong birds.
Not culling/killing birds will get you nowhere fast. That’s why birds drop dead at a year old.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Anyone who can’t cull a bird has no business raising chickens for anything other than pets. Someone would be out of their minds to buy a bird or eggs from someone who can’t or is unwilling to cull for not only sickness but generally weak and less than genetically strong birds.
Not culling/killing birds will get you nowhere fast. That’s why birds drop dead at a year old.

X2
It is the most difficult part of my job - but it is part of the job.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

There are options rather than killing every sick bird. There is also diagnosis and treatment.

If one is planning on a heritage poultry breeding program and a bird gets sick, a good plan is to send the bird off to a state poultry lab for humane euthanasia and lab work to see why it was sick or died. Then they will know how to proceed with the rest of the flock. It could possibly be a disease that will kill every bird in the flock and require thorough disinfecting of the housing and leaving it vacant for a year.

 

[Homestead Woodwright]

Hum, I didn't think of that ChickenCanoe. That may save me some heartache. Out of curiosity how much would something along that line cost?

 

[roosterhavoc]

X2
It is the most difficult part of my job - but it is part of the job.

If anyone enjoyed culling birds there would be something wrong with them. It’s definitely necessary though. The harder you cull and the higher standards you have the further you will go imo. I’m sure there’s plenty of people that look back and think I shouldn’t have bred that bird for various reasons.
You can play doctor and treat every sick bird that comes along but it serves very little purpose aside from propping up birds that will continue to have weak immune systems and pass on every sickness that comes their way.
Culling for defects isn’t overly hard. Once you get into culling for behavior it starts to get real difficult.

 

[roosterhavoc]

I’ll go a few steps further and say even birds with wry neck type problems shouldn’t be bred. Sure some of it can be fixed because it’s a vitamin deficiency but why would you breed said bird over a bird that was perfectly fine without any intervention?
You don’t even really need medicine to raise and breed birds for anything other than injuries.

 

[DuckyBabies]

I don’t have chickens anymore, but I do have ducks. This year my hen had reproductive issues, I tried everything I could to save her and she ended up passing anyways. Looking back, I should have had my husband cull her sooner to end her suffering. She suffered for 2 straight days, because I thought she would get better. I won’t make that mistake again. It is a hard thing to think about, but I would have rather her pass quickly then the way that she lived for two days before she passed.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Hum, I didn't think of that ChickenCanoe. That may save me some heartache. Out of curiosity how much would something along that line cost?

It depends on your state. In California and a couple other states necropsies are free. Here in MO, it can range from $75-110.
But, because I raise an extremely rare heritage breed, it is imperative that I know exactly why a bird died so I know how to care for the rest of my birds and the price is just part of the cost of doing business.

There is a quote in Gail Damerow's 'Chicken Health Handbook' where she cites a retired professor of poultry science who advocates the "rigid culling of all snifflers, droopers, feather rufflers, poor eaters and pale headed birds so they don't reproduce their kind.
If that isn't one's frame of mind, they have no business breeding livestock. Otherwise, their lines of animals will continue to decline. In nature, it is survival of the fittest. Under our protection, we have to assume that role.
It only takes a couple generations of breeding inferior animals to ruin the whole operation.
Doing otherwise, makes one a chicken pet person, not a responsible breeder of heritage poultry.
The latter is what the OP stated was their goal in the second sentence of their first post.

 

[Homestead Woodwright]

Thanks for all the opinions and the help. A part of me figured that is what would have to happen if I took on this venture. I am still not convinced that I have the stomach to do it, especially when the entire idea has formed as a way to help pay some of the homesteads bills. I'll need to talk with the rest of the family and see what they think. You guys have been a lot of help today thank you.