Musing on the Fall Culling

[3KillerBs]

If you put them no more than 4 to a cage and bring them to your nearest sale barn, they are sure to sell, especially if you take a little care, like making sure they are easy to see and have some bedding. Lots of people would rather buy pretty layers than fuss with chicks and feed young birds for months

I know nothing about sale barns or flock swaps and have no suitable quarantine facilities for isolating birds if I ended up bringing any home from a sale.

 

[3KillerBs]

For the super friendly ones, perhaps see if any 4H or families are looking for girls for their flock.

None of my girls are cuddle pets, but none of them freak out about people either.

 

[RiverOtter]

That is another complication.

Just FYI, that's an issue at swaps. Everything sells at an auction. And you're probably not more than an hour from one. I've lived in a lot of places, and there are more of them around than you think. Finding them can be a little hard, but asking around feed stores is usually the trick. Maybe not chains, but the local ones. At my closest TSC, most of the employees have no idea about the sale barn, but L___ is there nearly every week, so do ask more than one person.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

None of my girls are cuddle pets, but none of them freak out about people either.

Okay, I must have misunderstood the Dominique's friendliness level

 

[RubelliteRose]

The birds go to the auction site in my cages, and then I transfer them to cages at the auction. none of my cages touch anything there! And it's a one way trip, no birds come home with me. I get home and put everything I wore, shoes and all, right into the washer.

The farm auctions sound interesting. I had no idea such places existed for chickens. Unfortunately, the closest appear to be around 4 hours away from me. I would need to sell a lot more chickens than I could raise to make the trip worthwhile. Perhaps 3KillerBs has some closer though.

I know nothing about sale barns or flock swaps and have no suitable quarantine facilities for isolating birds if I ended up bringing any home from a sale.

We do have quite a few swaps in our area and this has always been my concern with buying or selling there as well.

 

[Morrigan]

I'm also in the process of making my cull selections. I never have the numbers where it is worth the effort to sell from home or make the hour plus drive to an auction site. Plus, those older hens are truly fantastic eating, when pressure canned. That and the chicken fat, make eating them a better choice for us than selling.

But, butchering them does make the culling decision harder for me. Personalities and favorites, either mine or my husbands, tend to get passed over longer than they should. Broody hens, too, always get a pass. I focus on unproductive hens, bullies, and suspected health issues. I find it's easier to make the decisions after their first year, before I start getting attached.

My oldest hen is over 9, and she was the one and only chicken when I first got into chicken keeping, that I allowed myself to name and designate as a pet. She was still giving me 3 eggs a week this spring and early summer. I very much regret that I did not breed her more when she was younger and thus missed the opportunity to get more of her genetics in the flock.

@3KillerBs -- you have a beautiful flock. Good luck with your breeding program. It's good that you have a good set of criteria in place for making your culling decisions.

 

[3KillerBs]

Okay, I must have misunderstood the Dominique's friendliness level

She's bold, but not cuddly.

My issue with swap meets is having to bring unsold critters home, after they have been at the site.

Yes. I don't have the facilities to bring an unsold bird home.

@3KillerBs -- you have a beautiful flock. Good luck with your breeding program. It's good that you have a good set of criteria in place for making your culling decisions.

Thank you. I've been thinking hard about how best to do things.

 

[Sally PB]

I don't have the facilities to bring an unsold bird home.

That would be my problem too.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

For the super friendly ones, perhaps see if any 4H or families are looking for girls for their flock.

 

[Morrigan]

That would be my problem too.

That is another complication.