I don't know if I'm cut out to breed quality lines of chickens...

[Chellester]

I have been thinking about breeding a couple lines of high-quality chickens, but I don't know if I have it in me, because in order to do so, I will have to cull the ones with obvious faults to keep my flock of high quality. (When I say "cull" I don't mean kill, I mean sell or give away.)

The thing is, it's hard for me to hatch them, get attached, and then have to let them go at some point. And even if I sell them or give them away, I can't guarantee they'll all go to good homes no matter how hard I try to make sure that they do.

If you do this, how to you handle it? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[speckledhen]

I feel your pain! Much as I realize I can't keep absolutely everybody, I sure want to. The ones I know I can't keep, I just try to keep some distance in my mind; which is hard because I handle ALL my chicks so their new owners will be amazed at how tame they are and have an easy time.

 

[Napalongtail]

It's not easy for any of us. Especially when you are looking for that 1 in a 100 bird. I do all of my own culling. I try to sell obvious culls as early on as possible, those that start out then don't make the grade I always try to place those next and my final cut I seperate out as soon as I see the flaw and pen it seperately from the more potential birds. Thus defining the lines as soon as possible. If I am finished with a particular bird I'll hold on to it till I can sell it or give it away. My last option is the soup pot and yes I put them their too

But it was a decision I new I'd have to do getting into the birds.

 

[hollyclyff]

That's one of the reasons I quit breeding dogs. I had nightmares when it came time to sell puppies.