hi i am planning on raising some meat birds i have layers but never had meat birds i have a few questions
1.can you cull and eat birds that you have been feeding layers pellets can you eat laying hens
Yes, you can pretty much cull and eat any chicken that eats any type of feed. Laying hens can be eaten. The only difference between a meat bird and a laying bird is that you may find that there is less meat on a laying bird as opposed to a meat bird.
2.do i need speacial feed
Not really. You can feed them whatever type of feed you want. I would suggest a higher protein food, if possible. I've tried working it out so that I could feed all of my chickens (both meat and laying birds) flock raiser because it would be easier for me, but since my feed store doesn't carry a bulk flock raiser, I just stick to layer mash.. They all seem to be just fine on it. Some people will ferment the feed for both layers and meat birds. It tastes better to them and it adds a probiotic to the food, which is GOOD for all living things. I've seen that chickens absorb the nutrients better and in general, look better.
3.what if i eat a bird dat has a disease that hasnt shown sympthems yet
I haven't died yet.. So I think it's OK. I wouldn't eat a chicken that dies on it's own or that does show symptoms, just as a precaution.
4.is there anything else i should no
Depending on your method of butchering, make sure you have a sharp knife and cleaver. Help from another person is greatly helpful and you'll appreciate it. It goes a lot more smoothly, in my experience. You might do a little research on the best way to disembowel the chicken after culling. I've found that this is the hardest part of the whole thing, but once you find your niche, it's easy. The method I use, allows me to clean a chicken out in about 3 minutes (this doesn't include plucking/skinning, just the disemboweling).
5.can you kill and eat roostersn (are thy nice)
I have butchered a few roosters. I don't really notice much difference. As far as how nice they may be varies with each rooster. If you have a mean rooster that you are planning to cull, you will probably have a little difficulty as far as resistance goes, and you should always be mindful of the spurs on any chicken. With any chicken, rooster or not, I always calm the chicken down and then move on with the culling as quickly as possible. Good luck!
