To cull or not?

[andreanar]

For me, it will be a choice by individual birds. I don't keep a lot of birds in my flock, so I would keep the ones I'm attached to and cull the ones that are more "wild and unfriendly", to make room for new.

 

[Erin80]

I’m not sure yet. We have 6 pullets that are only 10 and 11 months old, so we have a while. And we have 6 more day old pullets coming next month. I think I will figure it out when we get there.

 

[maihem]

I appreciate everyone posting on this topic and respect everyone's decisions on how they manage their flocks. I had not previously sought out this topic on BYC because part of me just didn't want to know and another part of me didn't want to be made to feel guilty for the culling we've done on occasion for flock cohesion and illness. My wife and I had the conversation of how we were going to manage things but struggled with how to handle dispatching, calling in a vet friend that taught us the broomstick method helped alleviate our issues with the how. We have also given away a few over the years when we could find someone that needed a constant broody or a good layer that was just too aggressive in our flock. Today, the why is what I looked up this topic for, because we have decided it is time to cull 3 of our older girls to make room for laying hens. We limit our flock to around 12-14 hens, never exceeding 14. We have 2 hens that are pets, and my wife made that clear for one within its first 6 months and the other earned pet status with personality over time. I plan to dispatch them and take them to a neighbor who will eat them. We are not ready to eat them ourselves yet.
So, since my reasons for culling were different than in the past I looked up this topic and I appreciate this thread for being honest and fair about flock management.
Thank you everyone.

 

[CoturnixComplex]

I appreciate everyone posting on this topic and respect everyone's decisions on how they manage their flocks. I had not previously sought out this topic on BYC because part of me just didn't want to know and another part of me didn't want to be made to feel guilty for the culling we've done on occasion for flock cohesion and illness. My wife and I had the conversation of how we were going to manage things but struggled with how to handle dispatching, calling in a vet friend that taught us the broomstick method helped alleviate our issues with the how. We have also given away a few over the years when we could find someone that needed a constant broody or a good layer that was just too aggressive in our flock. Today, the why is what I looked up this topic for, because we have decided it is time to cull 3 of our older girls to make room for laying hens. We limit our flock to around 12-14 hens, never exceeding 14. We have 2 hens that are pets, and my wife made that clear for one within its first 6 months and the other earned pet status with personality over time. I plan to dispatch them and take them to a neighbor who will eat them. We are not ready to eat them ourselves yet.
So, since my reasons for culling were different than in the past I looked up this topic and I appreciate this thread for being honest and fair about flock management.
Thank you everyone.

Oh, no one here would give you flak for taking care of your flock humanely! There are kind of two big sects on here - the pet bird-ers (some of whom are even vegetarian) and the livestock-ers - but everyone is very respectful of everyone else's choices from everything I have seen (with the caveat that if your plan is to dump extra roosters at a shelter/rescue, which I have seen encouraged in certain corners, you have no business hatching anything imo).