Hard Questions For Me

[EggSighted4Life]

In California and a couple other states necropsies are free

It is not free in Ca anymore... I believe the current cost is $20/2 birds... just the necropsy, not the euthanasia.

Here are some links that show how to send them off if shipping is needed and a list of the labs here in the US..
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-send-a-bird-for-a-necropsy-pictures.799747/

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf

@Homestead Woodwright adding your general location to your profile can help others make the most relevant suggestions at a glance.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

This enterprise, may not pay any of the homestead's bills. I tell people to teach their kids to raise chickens to prevent them from using drugs, because they'll never be able to afford them.
Egg sales may pay a bit but not a significant amount unless one has enough birds to be able to buy feed in bulk. More money may be in the offing if one has high quality birds of a heritage breed in demand. But again, that will require hatching a lot and culling a lot or your birds won't end up being in demand.

 

[CindyinSD]

The way I see it is this: I’m not going to stop eating meat or eggs. Either I cull and/or slaughter, or someone else does it for me—on my behalf and out of my sight where I don’t have to think about it. Often this means the process might not be done with kindness and indeed the animal’s life might have been miserable as well. It *always* means that I’m insulated from the cost, in the life and death of an animal, of my own nourishment.

If we keep birds for their eggs, we have to keep the flock healthy. That’s part of the cost in life that accrues to keeping laying hens. That will often (and eventually in nearly all cases but those taken by predators) mean the culling of some birds. If we purchase all females from a hatchery, we are, by that act, depriving many male chicks of their lives (as they will have to be killed since the hatchery cannot keep numberless male birds.)

OTOH, if we humans suddenly all decided to become strict vegetarians, who would keep chickens or cows or pigs, sheep, goats, etc. at all? They would become a rarity to be seen only at zoos (unless we decided that zoos are cruel—in which case they would die out, with possibly a few rare exceptions kept as pets—unless that’s cruel, too.)

So, while it’s a sober and unloved task, culling and/or slaughter is an essential part of animal husbandry. You can get someone else to do it for you and that’s fine. I just feel that they’re my responsibility, especially at the end. They’re my animals; it’s my job.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

I’ll go a few steps further and say even birds with wry neck type problems shouldn’t be bred.

As far as I'm concerned... it is a genetic weakness, as is splay leg in hatchlings. All birds here are provided the same equal start with good nutrition NOT diminished by excessive treats. I do not save them because if they do recover, it's too easy to lose track of who it was and they might get into the breeding stock by accident.

I also do NOT rehome them to "pet" homes, like I did my first "bent toe" hatch caused by a power outage during incubation that I didn't have the heart or experience to confidently make a decision about at the time. They get worse with age and weight and I DON'T want my community overloaded and possibly allowing their own breeding of special needs birds.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Very well said @CindyinSD.
That's the bottom line, isn't it.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

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.

Sounds like you are awesome and trying to help!

Please start another thread regarding financing and such so you can get a good sense of that reality as well. Also, knowing YOUR market is key to sell-ability. Rare breed doesn't always equal popular. Silkies out sell my other breeds ALL day long EVERY day... alas Silkies weren't MY favorite and I would have enjoyed them a lot more as pets.

Breeding has changed the face of chickens as pets for me... Pets are by far superior at bringing feelings of contentment. But breeding can be a lot of fun and a fantastic very rewarding adventure. It simply isn't worth it unless you LOVE the breeds you raise.

Fear of the smell and horror stories regarding processing was MUCH worse than the actual experience, which wasn't pleasant but WAS doable.

Best wishes!

 

[WindingRoad]

I know there is risks with leaving a sick chicken in with the rest of the flock. After about the second year some of our chickens start to get sick, it was never more than one at a time. But I always paid attention to a chicken that was not acting normally. I go down to the coop about every 3 hours or so. They would be let out about 7 in the morning, checked on at around 10 in the mourning to gather the eggs, visited again at 1 in the afternoon to refill the water bowl (or make sure that it was not frozen in the winter) and feeder, around 4 pm my dad would check on the chickens after he got home from work, and finally he would put them to bed for the night around 7 to 8 at night. Any time a chicken was noticed not acting the same we took note and the moment they started to stay away from the rest of the flock or just lay on their side and not move we would block a section of the run to keep the sick chicken in. We would also lay the sick chicken in a corner of the coop blocked off from the rest of the chickens. After a bit they would usually get better and then get integrated back into the flock. If we thought that one of the chickens was passing on we would check on them about every hour, and as soon as it was confirmed that the chicken had pass on I would immediately remove it from the coop and buried the chicken out on the back side of the property far from the rest o the flock.

When the time comes and you see how sick your chicken is and she is suffering badly you may change your thought process and help her to a pain free place. Good luck

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Egg sales may pay a bit but not a significant amount unless one has enough birds to be able to buy feed in bulk. More money may be in the offing if one has high quality birds of a heritage breed in demand. But again, that will require hatching a lot and culling a lot or your birds won't end up being in demand.

Eating eggs are a dime a dozen where I live... $4 if your lucky as a seller.

My hatching eggs sell for $65/dozen and chicks for $10 each straight run... by word of mouth BECAUSE people know I cull faults out of my birds. It's hard to compete with hatcheries that sell sexed chicks for $3 each or eating eggs for under $2 a dozen... it cost me $2.50 just to produce a dozen not including housing, just feed... get mold or rats in your feed... up goes your cost.

Even at that high of selling point... lucky to break even... or cover my cost of keeping birds. All this has given me a new found appreciation for farmers AND the cost I pay at the super market!

 

[Homestead Woodwright]

WindingRoad you are not wrong. One of our chickens did cause me some pain. It was our third or fourth one to pass if I recall correctly. She acted just like all the other chickens that had gotten sick. I tended to her like I had for any of the other sick chickens, separating her from the rest of the chickens, making sure she had clean water and food at all times, so forth and so on. One day she would look like she was doing good and starting to recover. The next day back to looking and acting ill. This went on for about a week I think before I just told her it was ok for her to pass on. The next day she was gone. I do feel bad about that instance, but at the time it was not my call to make and to be perfectly honest me and my family didn't have that much of a clue what we were doing as for 2 years prior our chickens were in perfect health and showed no signs of ill health.

 

[Homestead Woodwright]

Well EggSighted4Life sell the eggs came as a second idea for the family. We got the chickens in the first place because the eggs in the grocery stores were so disgusting we could not eat them. So my dad did some research into good egg laying chickens and found the red sexlinks. Well little did we know just how good of a layer they are or the fact (or at least for our chickens) that after 2 years of laying they start getting sick and pass on fast. We tried to sell of the excess eggs to people that my sister and dad worked with. I never personal got involved in that part so I'm not sure if we made enough to cover the chickens cost or at the very least their feed.