Keeping The Best, Culling The Rest

[Egghead_Jr]

Absolutely birds on the bottom of pecking order should be considered for cull. Not criteria of multi breed flock but certainly in a single breed flock. If comparing all same breed then yes, the weakest and smallest will be at the bottom rung. These are not traits you want to breed forward. The same would apply in multi generation of a mixed flock. The weakest and smallest will be on bottom rung. Absolutely something to cull for. Strong alert birds is the goal and that should not be confused with aggression. I cull over aggression too.

All sorts of reasons to cull birds, or at least not breed them forward. Longevity of laying life is a great trait to breed from, early point of lay (not too early though) is another. Even if a person breeds to the SOP they should be keeping an eye on these positive traits too. Breed from the best not just the best in show. I breed from faster maturing males too. A lanky bird can overcome the final weight of fast maturing bird by year old but that does nothing for me. We cull and eat cockerels so a meatier carcass on 14 week olds is the goal and will be a better portioned carcass at 7 month roasting age too. What do I care if the lankier males weigh .5-1 lbs more after year old. In life nothing is good to extreme. Really pushed the faster maturing males and earlier point of lay will result in health issues. My flock is so far from those extremes it's never a worry but perhaps my son will carry on.

 

[lazy gardener]

I remove older birds. Hatch my best eggs. This year's chicks are about twice as big as same age chicks that were shipped to me 2 weeks ago. The ones that stay have the heaviest bodies, best feathers, smallest combs. Biddies that are argumentative get culled.

 

[mizjones]

Think I'm gonna copy and save some of this for future reference as sort of a motivational thing. Too often I get attached to one sweet bird or another but the need is for eggs and meat, some breeding. Keeping pet chickens is not affordable for us at this point in our lives. (Of course I say that every year).

 

[Mrs. K]

I cull for the flock. I don't want either a bully or a victim. They both upset the flock too much. I don't keep aggressive roosters, again it upsets the flock too much. I don't treat any sick birds. I only have had one, and I culled it.

Mrs K

 

[Lelilamom]

I find it hard to cull. Period. I'm a sucker and I admit it. That being said, I had two bottom rung birds, an Amber Rock and a Buff Orpington that had the snot kicked out of them on a daily basis. The AR used to be a daily layer and I left her in the coop since she was tough and usually gave it as much as she took it. She's now high up on the pecking order after 4 years. The Buff is 5 years old and is still bottom chicken. She spends most days outside the coop/run roaming around my neighbor's garden and I pick her up each evening and put her in for the night.

I have three Amber Rocks total who have vent issues at this point, including the one mentioned above. I've considered culling all of them, but could never bring myself to do it. However, none of them are picked on. Half my GLWs are missing all their tail feathers. After spending hours observing them one day, I found that they were doing it to themselves. No matter how much protein I put out, they pick at their back ends for hours at a time. Just the GLWs. And since they are just a year old, and my dominate layers, I can't see culling them either. So, on we go...

 

[lazy gardener]

I find it hard to cull. Period. I'm a sucker and I admit it. That being said, I had two bottom rung birds, an Amber Rock and a Buff Orpington that had the snot kicked out of them on a daily basis. The AR used to be a daily layer and I left her in the coop since she was tough and usually gave it as much as she took it. She's now high up on the pecking order after 4 years. The Buff is 5 years old and is still bottom chicken. She spends most days outside the coop/run roaming around my neighbor's garden and I pick her up each evening and put her in for the night.

I have three Amber Rocks total who have vent issues at this point, including the one mentioned above. I've considered culling all of them, but could never bring myself to do it. However, none of them are picked on. Half my GLWs are missing all their tail feathers. After spending hours observing them one day, I found that they were doing it to themselves. No matter how much protein I put out, they pick at their back ends for hours at a time. Just the GLWs. And since they are just a year old, and my dominate layers, I can't see culling them either. So, on we go...

How much coop space do they have? Crowding can cause self mutilation. There might also be an issue with some feather mites. I've heard that some of them are microscopic. Have you dusted them for mites/lice? Perhaps a good dusting or spraying with a permethrin product might fix the situation.

As for culling, I know not a single soul who finds it easy to do. But, IMO, better to cull than to allow a sick or problem bird to stay in the flock.

 

[WesleyBeal]

Great topic! I'd love to read up a lot more on this; hope people keep posting.

I've read that (depending on your goals) it's good to wait 2 years before culling, or determining which birds to allow to reproduce, to develop better health and longevity in the flock.

I certainly can't strictly follow that idea when it comes to culling - haven't got the space to keep every chicken through the winter. But it sounds like it makes sense to have another cull-cycle at 2 years, and hold off on breeding any birds that are under 2 years old, if more productive years per chicken is something you want. Someone mentioned they were raising for meat, so naturally that wouldn't fit with their goals.

Anyway I hope people keep commenting on this thread, as I'm hungry for all the information people have to pass on.

 

[ILuvMyFlock]

I don't cull, ever. Even if one gets sick or hurt, I do my best to separate it and nurse it to health the best I can. I am against culling, it's just not who I am. I have a hen I'm nursing now, she was on deaths door from a dog bite and now she's fine, soon she will be reintroduced with the rest, sadly many would have culled her thinking she was too far gone. Same with a young goose I have, I found him in my goose tractor seizing he couldn't hardly move and his head was limp like, he too was on deaths door. The goose couldn't eat or drink on his own, I had to feed him myself, now he's able to walk, make noises, and even eat / drink on his own. Sadly the hen and gosling would have been culled if they resided with another, as again most people think they would have been either too far gone or too much trouble to Doctor up. As for me, I find it a blessing to nurse them back to health, the will to survive is a beautiful thing that many just cannot grasp.

Even those on the bottom of the pecking order deserve a chance, sure they usually have less feathers but appearances are not everything, even a fully feathered healthy looking bird could be hiding an illness that's one thing birds do quite well.


Edited by Staff

 

[Petra Pancake]

So far, I've avoided thinking about culling, but that may have to change soon. I've got a broody hen now and most of the 11 eggs she's sitting on are probably fertilized by the rooster. On the one hand, I want to hatch chicks for the experience of it and for my kids. Also, my rooster has such a fancy crele color that I'm looking forward to colorful offspring. I also would like to have a self-sustaining flock so that I don't have to buy new birds in the future.
On the other hand, I really have a space problem. My coop is now already filled to capacity. If the hen manages to hatch chicks, I'll have to put her and them into a new coop or else find a way to enlarge the old one. Anyway I'll need a bigger run. Depending on how many chicks she hatches, even after the enlargement I'll have to "cull" part of the flock, either the young ones (especially cockerels) or the old hens or some of both.
There is no way I can reasonably keep 20 chickens or multiple roosters. I'll try to sell them or re-home them as a first choice. The ones I can't get rid of that way may have to be "invited for dinner". I don't like the thought, but on the other hand, no reason to be a hypocrite - we are not vegetarians. We eat commercial chickens regularly. Maybe, instead of eating unhappy commercially raised, neatly packaged and shop bought broilers, the time will come to eat some organic homegrown cockerels, after a short but hopefully relatively happy life... it feels cruel but maybe it's actually the more animal friendly way. (Though I still might dodge out and decide to give them to other people to eat - there are enough low income families here who would gladly accept a dinner donation).

 

[Lelilamom]

How much coop space do they have? Crowding can cause self mutilation. There might also be an issue with some feather mites. I've heard that some of them are microscopic. Have you dusted them for mites/lice? Perhaps a good dusting or spraying with a permethrin product might fix the situation.

As for culling, I know not a single soul who finds it easy to do. But, IMO, better to cull than to allow a sick or problem bird to stay in the flock.

I have a large coop and run as well as a large fenced in area. Coop is 6x6x8 with attached 25x8x6 run. The fenced in area is 40 x 100 x 40 x 100 feet right now. Their summer pasture is 150 x 100 x 150 x 100. I dust for mites/fleas/etc with every coop cleaning. Approx. 1x a month. I look for lice/mites every few days and have never seen them. Only my GLWs have missing tail feathers, and only a few of those at that. My other 17 birds are fine.

I nurse my injured and sick birds as other posters have stated, instead of culling. Only once or twice have I put a bird down when it was clear it was in pain. Actually, my husband did it. I was too chicken. Errr, human.