Torn over possibly culling whole flock

[tickens33]

My chickens are on a property that is about a half hour drive away in good weather. It is seeming like we might not have the resources (primarily, that means free time during daylight hours, but money too) to keep them this upcoming winter.

We kept them alive this entire past winter by utilizing a heating plate under the insulated water bucket, hooked up to batteries, which charged from solar panels. The heater stopped the water from freezing, but I still needed to top the bucket up with hot water about every 2-3 days to give the batteries a break. Additionally, when it got into single digit temps (Fahrenheit) the nipples on the outside of the bucket froze solid even if the water inside stayed warm, which also required dealing with it hands-on.

I expect to be working much more this upcoming winter than I was last year, so I wouldn't be able to go check on the water as often. It seems like it might not be viable to keep the chickens this winter but I am feeling very negative about it emotionally. These are the first animals I've ever had so I'm pretty attached to some of them— they have the status of somewhere between livestock and pets. I don't like the idea of giving them away to someone else, because I don't know how they'd be treated.

I am hoping to eventually transition to the homesteading life, and I understand it is full of tough decisions about resources like this. But I don't want to cull them all and then end up regretting it.

I was just hoping for some perspective from people with more experience, especially people who grew up with livestock and have had to make tough decisions about them before.

Alternatively, if anyone has better waterer ideas that might only need to be checked on 2-3 times per week, I'd happily hear about that too. All the solar infrastructure is still there, it would just be plug and play at this point. The nipple waterer was perfect until we reached single digits.

Thank you in advance BYC community

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I have sold and given away (to friends) whole flocks before. It can be rough not knowing where they will go or what their new life will be like but if you sell them through the classifieds or marketplace you can set a price that discourages chicken hoarders, people who want to eat them or whatever kind of owner you don’t want them to go to. I sold my last flock to a couple who was just getting started with their own chickens but he had grown up on a farm so they knew enough that I didn’t think they would die of neglect or anything like that. I was in a hurry to sell them but not enough of a hurry to list them for free. I definitely think selling them is better than culling them-it gives them a chance to eat somewhere new

 

[tickens33]

I have sold and given away (to friends) whole flocks before. It can be rough not knowing where they will go or what their new life will be like but if you sell them through the classifieds or marketplace you can set a price that discourages chicken hoarders, people who want to eat them or whatever kind of owner you don’t want them to go to. I sold my last flock to a couple who was just getting started with their own chickens but he had grown up on a farm so they knew enough that I didn’t think they would die of neglect or anything like that. I was in a hurry to sell them but not enough of a hurry to list them for free. I definitely think selling them is better than culling them-it gives them a chance to eat somewhere new

I appreciate the ideas...I think giving them away is out of the question on my partner's end, because of the insane amount of money we've invested into the whole remote chicken experiment, he would want a return of either eggs or meat. He does love our animals, but not at the level of attachment that I have, and thinks about the whole thing differently.

What I might be able to do is convince him to cull 4 out of 5 of the flock, but then give away our favorite to a good home. It helps that all of them, except our favorite one, really don't like us and aren't friendly at all.

I'm going to keep your comment in mind for possibly rehoming our favorite..thank you for taking the time to reply

 

[nuthatched]

Is winter the only concern? What else might you have concerns about?
Switch from a nipple waterer to a standard heated waterer for one. Heat plates are not necessary

 

[tickens33]

Is winter the only concern? What else might you have concerns about?
Switch from a nipple waterer to a standard heated waterer for one. Heat plates are not necessary

The winter is the primary concern... I can explain a little about our setup if that's helpful.

We have kept 5 of our original 7 chickens healthy, happy, and alive (1 culled and 1 died on its own, both due to issues that did not seem related to husbandry) for 15 months now. I check on them multiple times daily with cameras, and we visit every 3-4 days to collect eggs, do health checks, change the water (in the winter, this means changing it out with hot water to give the batteries time to charge), and let them out to free range. They have 24/7 access to an adequately-sized predator proof run when we're not there with hot wire surrounding it. This whole system has worked great for us so far.

However, I wasn't working as much this past winter, and this upcoming winter I'll be leaving for work before the sun comes up and getting home after it goes down on some days. We only have the one car so my partner wouldn't be able to go while I'm at work.

The reason we use the nipple waterer is because it prevents the water from getting dirty or spilling when we're not there. When we were using a regular waterer, it got dirty quickly and I originally went through a phase of driving over to change their water every single day. I would need to find a heated waterer that is reliable enough, as long as the solar panels provide sufficient power, to allow me to leave it unattended for at least 3 days at a time without any part of it freezing or getting dirty. If you know of one that might fit the bill, I'd love a link!!

The other thing is we got very lucky last year with no major blizzards, but enough snow that they could have a snow pile in the run as a backup. If we get any extreme weather events this year, and/or don't get a lot of snow otherwise, that will make things much harder too.

We also want to start over with a new breed in the spring anyways, because our buff orpingtons didn't fare very well in the single digits with their large single combs, and we want a breed that doesn't go broody as frequently....

So, yeah, lots of considerations. I'd be grateful for any thoughts you have to offer!

Edit to add- I realize a lot of this sounds insane. But we want to become homesteaders and right now this is the best avenue for us to gain the skills and knowledge. We plan to live on the same property as the chicken coop eventually. It might also just be nice to take a break from spending the gas money for a few months...

 

[Mrs. K]

Definitely let them go. The money and time that far apart, can be a real strain. Know, that in the future, you can have chickens again. And while you made it work, you did get lucky. It could be with the weather, you could have a disaster. That you would feel guilty about.

Mrs K

 

[Slothinc]

I would consider selling your favorite hen and one more together (does she have a bestie in the flock??) if your husband is set on culling for meat, then cull the other 3. Just because I don’t like sending a single hen to a new environment. I feel like they do much better with one buddy going along with them.

Also keep in mind that in all honesty, you can usually sell laying hens for more money than their meat is worth if you are processing. Some markets may be different though. If you do end up having to cull the entire flock, try not to feel too bad about it. It is part of life for many chickens.

 

[SnackMeat]

Ugh, the sunk cost fallacy of your husband is annoying because I know a lot of people like that.


Because you have time, what I would suggest is using this summer to start making connections to other Chicken Tenders in your area.

You might be able to find someone with space to overwinter your flock in trade for....perhaps you have material goods or skills to trade. This would be more appealing if whoever it is uses grow lights during the winter to keep up on egg laying.

More likely, if you find locals who have certain pure breeds that match your's, you can ask for them to take your hens or roosters in exchange for x amount of fertilized eggs starting in whatever early spring month works for you. Then you can incubate and have some of the grandbabies running around and either next winter you're closer to being able to homestead, or you cull for meat and repeat the process with 1-2 of the best ones.

I could even conceivably see it being easier to strike a deal for overwintering pure bred roosters because of the quarantine period, and then the period it takes to introduce and get comfortable and still have time to have fertilized eggs. Then either get the rooster back, or the eggs.


I have done trades where I traded a rooster with good genetics, for an asshole who needs to be culled and I still was able to get eggs at a later date. So you could save the genetics, get a rooster (or hen) to eat, and either have rights to buy back, or have eggs at a later date. Framing it from a diversifying genetics standpoint it comes down to if other people close by either have the same breeds, or are interested in the breeds you have.

Conceivably, you could look into heating water with a compost pile but that's a big undertaking that you might not be ready for. But it is doable.

 

[MROO]

The winter is the primary concern... I can explain a little about our setup if that's helpful.

We have kept 5 of our original 7 chickens healthy, happy, and alive (1 culled and 1 died on its own, both due to issues that did not seem related to husbandry) for 15 months now. I check on them multiple times daily with cameras, and we visit every 3-4 days to collect eggs, do health checks, change the water (in the winter, this means changing it out with hot water to give the batteries time to charge), and let them out to free range. They have 24/7 access to an adequately-sized predator proof run when we're not there with hot wire surrounding it. This whole system has worked great for us so far.

However, I wasn't working as much this past winter, and this upcoming winter I'll be leaving for work before the sun comes up and getting home after it goes down on some days. We only have the one car so my partner wouldn't be able to go while I'm at work.

The reason we use the nipple waterer is because it prevents the water from getting dirty or spilling when we're not there. When we were using a regular waterer, it got dirty quickly and I originally went through a phase of driving over to change their water every single day. I would need to find a heated waterer that is reliable enough, as long as the solar panels provide sufficient power, to allow me to leave it unattended for at least 3 days at a time without any part of it freezing or getting dirty. If you know of one that might fit the bill, I'd love a link!!

The other thing is we got very lucky last year with no major blizzards, but enough snow that they could have a snow pile in the run as a backup. If we get any extreme weather events this year, and/or don't get a lot of snow otherwise, that will make things much harder too.

We also want to start over with a new breed in the spring anyways, because our buff orpingtons didn't fare very well in the single digits with their large single combs, and we want a breed that doesn't go broody as frequently....

So, yeah, lots of considerations. I'd be grateful for any thoughts you have to offer!

Edit to add- I realize a lot of this sounds insane. But we want to become homesteaders and right now this is the best avenue for us to gain the skills and knowledge. We plan to live on the same property as the chicken coop eventually. It might also just be nice to take a break from spending the gas money for a few months...

Contact your local 4H chapter, or whatever Ag youth group is in your area. That might be a good way to find them a good home.

 

[GodLovesU]

If you would like to look into the rehoming more, please check out this article.