I didn't hatch as many chicks as usually. Only 59... and I started culling really early. I was lucky that my feed guy wanted all my culled roosters for a breeding project. He got 17 first and last week another 3. I didn't have to butcher much this year. The culled hens I sold. They all got so much room and it works out even better this way. They have more room and less dirt, less work, less feed!
This morning though I had to cull my old rooster, the babysitter for the young roosters. I noticed him not being himself in the last two days. This morning he was just laying in the coop and he didn't get up. I took him outside and watched him just laying there. There was a bad stench about him that I never smelled before. I just couldn't figure it out. Well, eventually I did. He had fly strike and was full of maggots underneath his feathers. I culled him immediately. First I thought rinse him off... a friend later told me it would have been no good. The maggots are eating their way inside and you can't clean them off properly.
So my boys are without a babysitter now. Hopefully they don't fight too much. I got 8 left... 2 I will cull tomorrow.