To cull or not to cull?

[emvickrey]

Well, there is the right answer actually. It's what you choose to do. If you can't cull but get too many chickens then sell or give them away. Find them homes. They still may end up on somebodys dinner table but you contributed to the welfare of another family. You helped them provide the meat for a meal. After all, if you bought chicken at the grocery store and made fried chicken for dinner, do you think about that chicken's life or how good it taste and your family has been fed?

I personally can't kill a chicken. I can't even watch. I can't stand to see them flopping about. But I can process it and cook it for supper and eat it. It's just the killing part that bothers me. It's odd that I can kill and process quail with no problems.

 

[cochunk]

Our chickens are pets/family, and will be with us till they die a natural death, the eggs just happen to be a bonus.

 

[BairleaFarm]

Quote:
Great idea in theory. If ive got a bird i want to get rid of I give it a week at what i consider a normal price. If it doesn't sale I cut that price in half. The third week it goes for free. If still no interest They are culled. Theres no market for someone trying to give away 20 roosters.

 

[al6517]

Quote:
Great idea in theory. If ive got a bird i want to get rid of I give it a week at what i consider a normal price. If it doesn't sale I cut that price in half. The third week it goes for free. If still no interest They are culled. Theres no market for someone trying to give away 20 roosters.

X2 That's why I cull early and often............. I don't have the time, nor the inclination to have to hassle with this in the future knowing full well that I had to feed 20 worthless roosters for weeks on end for no good reason except to burden me with yet another chore of trying to get rid of them................ why for what ??. being diligent with livestock is being responsible and is just how things are done on a real farm not somebody with 3 acres and a hobby. That's a different deal and the two should not be mixed or lumped into the same group.

if there is a consious movement to NOT cull for whatever reason then what will happen to those who can no longer care or don't want to care for the chickens is a shelter and an over population and diposal of them, just as in the case of many shelters now with other pet's such as dog's and cats. I am not saying it will happen but it sure isn't that far fetched of a scenerio.

 

[bobbi-j]

My friend and I have a nice arrangement. She can't bear to butcher her own laying hens so she gives them to me to butcher when I do my own. She has another friend who gives her non-productive hens to my friend.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
Great idea in theory. If ive got a bird i want to get rid of I give it a week at what i consider a normal price. If it doesn't sale I cut that price in half. The third week it goes for free. If still no interest They are culled. Theres no market for someone trying to give away 20 roosters.

X2 That's why I cull early and often............. I don't have the time, nor the inclination to have to hassle with this in the future knowing full well that I had to feed 20 worthless roosters for weeks on end for no good reason except to burden me with yet another chore of trying to get rid of them................ why for what ??. being diligent with livestock is being responsible and is just how things are done on a real farm not somebody with 3 acres and a hobby. That's a different deal and the two should not be mixed or lumped into the same group.

if there is a consious movement to NOT cull for whatever reason then what will happen to those who can no longer care or don't want to care for the chickens is a shelter and an over population and diposal of them, just as in the case of many shelters now with other pet's such as dog's and cats. I am not saying it will happen but it sure isn't that far fetched of a scenerio.

That is what works for you and i'm sure many many more. Those of us with 3 acres and have chickens as a hobby and do have time on our hands have other options. Personally, I'm a member of a local poultry club and in the warmer months there are swap meets where we get together at a TSC and sell our extras and non members are welcomed to join us to sell what they need to find homes for or just raise them to sell. Whatever the reason we're all there to sell. But we have the time to do so. So thats why whatever works for each individual is what should be done.

Your belief in culling is like my belief in spaying and neutering cats and dogs. There are enough out there that need homes now, why let our pets produce more that need homes. Some do it for profit some are just irresponsible owners. Either way, it's what our preferences are and what works for us.

I couldn't imagine having a large farm. I used to have nothing but time on my hands till we moved and the MIL moved in with us. Now I have a larger house, another person to take care of and more land to take care of and my chickens that already took up alot of my time.

 

[CMV]

I cull for a healthy, productive flock. I don't cull just because a bird isn't laying anymore, but I will if that bird is also eating eggs. I don't cull young, productive birds, but I will if those birds are also aggressive feather pickers. I just try to maintain an integrated and happy flock. That is my goal. I am not trying to breed and I am not trying to maintain the absolute peak of egg production. I am trying to have a pretty, varied flock that gets along and lays a good amount of multi-colored eggs. If I occasionally have to cull, then I also get the benefit of a good meal out of the deal. The birds I have get a good life. Those birds that appreciate that get to live that life for as long as they can.

To all the folks that say "I will never cull my birds..." I say "Never say never." You may change your tune after you've been doing this a few years. There was once a time I thought I would not be able to cull birds, but now that is definitely not the case.

Good luck everyone.

 

[chicmom]

I do cull. I don't like doing it. I've culled a few roosters that turned mean. I don't regret it.

 

[Oregon Blues]

I cull and I cull hard. I am very fond of my birds and they are extremely well cared for. Don't try to make it sound like people who cull don't care about their birds.

People who never cull are going to either live a long time without eggs or they are going to end up with a gigantic flock in order to get a few eggs every day. Hens live for a very long time and only lay eggs for the first couple of years.

People who "rehome their birds to good homes" are generally fooling themselves. They don't personally do the killing, so I suppose that is all that matters to them. If you can't provide a forever home for your birds, don't expect to pass the responsibility off on someone else and expect someone else to provide a forever home for your unwanted and non-productive birds. That's not going to happen very often.

I sure hope that people who can't cull aren't doing any hatching.

 

[StarLover21]

Quote:
Please cool it a bit guys. The OP just wanted oppinions.

My chickens are pets. I understand that some people don't think of it that way that and I respect that. But I love my chickens, and they are pets, eggs or not, mean or nice.

Besides, my 8 year old hens still lay sometimes.