- Thread starter
- #11
The weight off my shoulders now is immense. I strongly believe the birds I have remaining now are hens, behaviorally, visually, could not produce any foam from them, I am happy with what colors I have remaining. I chose to not keep a rooster, with being in a high risk category for today's politics I decided I want to streamline things, and now my quail I can easily pick up and breed & hatch again with an unrelated rooster if the time and life events align better than the next few months might be.
Thank you guys for your words of assurance, it was extremely helpful. In the end I did not butcher any, 3 of the 5 were honestly young & lean and it wouldn't have been worth it I think for the effort needed. I thanked each of them and dispatch was immediate (used a pipe-cutter, dislocated & cut but did not decapitate, it cupped them actually very nicely). This I think was a really good first cull, it was all peaceful for them and a little bizarre but successful for me. I did feel around at how easy manual dislocation would be, these birds really are held together with scotch tape and a prayer! I have learned a few lessons without sacrificing the wellbeing of the birds and I am at peace with all of this, and the ladies will appreciate the quiet and no overbreeding. Next time I do this I will plan ahead with a better set up (and not at 8pm!) to better set myself up for success with butchering the birds. Thank you all.
Thank you guys for your words of assurance, it was extremely helpful. In the end I did not butcher any, 3 of the 5 were honestly young & lean and it wouldn't have been worth it I think for the effort needed. I thanked each of them and dispatch was immediate (used a pipe-cutter, dislocated & cut but did not decapitate, it cupped them actually very nicely). This I think was a really good first cull, it was all peaceful for them and a little bizarre but successful for me. I did feel around at how easy manual dislocation would be, these birds really are held together with scotch tape and a prayer! I have learned a few lessons without sacrificing the wellbeing of the birds and I am at peace with all of this, and the ladies will appreciate the quiet and no overbreeding. Next time I do this I will plan ahead with a better set up (and not at 8pm!) to better set myself up for success with butchering the birds. Thank you all.
I was extremely confident going into this, but now that it's time to buy a nice pair of shears and sit down and do it, I'm second guessing myself. What if I don't have the stomach to eat them? What if I feel sick gutting them? I wanted to start with quail since they're smaller and easier than say a rabbit or chicken but now that it's time I'm feeling guilty and icky. If I feel sick and unable to eat them, it's a life wasted. I'm not sure if someone would buy cockbirds, I'm doing a final sexing today. I wanted to do this, but now I'm just I guess geeked out. Anyone been in a similar boat? Easier once you've done it? Advice? Do I just need to man up?
