what do all u breeders with hundreds of birds do to the culled ones?

I know there are many out there who will actually euthanize the cull chicks with defects or major DQs you can see at a young age. This way they don't have to deal with feeding a definite pet quality bird, also defects such as crossbeak etc a big breeder can't take the time to care for a handicapped bird that could never be put into a breeding program. Older birds many will sell the hens for PQ layers, or they sell any and all cull birds for meat (if they don't process them for themselves) I know of quite a few fellow silkie breeders who take advantage of Asian populations near them to sell their cull males to for meat.

Some just give away or sell very very cheap PQ chicks, and PQ teenage birds. Others take them to auction, etc. It all depends on the individual breeder and what they are willing to do.

 

If I can't find homes for them , mostly Roos, I donate them to the local zoo for feed. Im not a huge breeder really not a breeder at all, I just like to hatch eggs sometimes and always get more Roos than I need or seem to find homes for. I feel bad sometimes but if ya can't find homes them at least I'm helping to support a local business and they are not wasted.

 

I agree with above posts. Have a friend that send hundreds of his culls to the butcher shop, to make chicken sausages or ground chicken. He does not want to pass down the flaws and faults particuarly if you have a small gene pool.

 

We have 5 kids....and they all love Dumplins. We try to sell the culls as layers. But all cull males are butchered here and we eat them.

 

My freezer is full of culls.

 

Almost all of mine go into the freezer. Depending upon size - they maybe dog food or human food. I do sell some pullets and laying hens, but mostly it is easier for me just to put them in the freezer.

 

Simple. I don't breed enough to have hundreds of culls. Culls go into the freezer for both people and dogs. We eat 365 days out of every year and can eat a lot of poultry. Show quality birds that are excess to my needs tend to go out to show homes. Just because I don't have room for all the good ducklings doesn't mean they can't be valuable to another breeder, or to a serious 4-H exhibitor.

People who are breeding hundreds of culls to get one show chick need to take a closer look at their breeding stock.

I know my limits on what I can afford to feed and house and take good care of. I consider myself to be an extremely serious breeder. Serious breeders don't have to have multiple hundreds of eggs hatched every year. If someone wants to, or has a market for all those chicks, I have no quarrel with it, but it is not necessary to hatch hundreds of chicks in order to be a serious breeder.

 

We don't breed hundreds of birds either, so we have very few culls. Those we do have, we sell or give away. Neither my husband or myself, or our dogs have eaten a one of my own birds, and never will except under dire circumstances.

 

My culls have been going to a family friend who has a farm. He has a lot of free range poultry (ducks, chickens, guineas, and turkeys), and he's always losing birds to predators, so he usually doesn't mind taking in extras. He also butchers some for himself, as well as for others. I actually took 4 cull cockerels to him yesterday, and he offered to give us one for the freezer next time he fixes a batch, so I'm happy about that. I'd like to work up the nerve to butcher, or at least help with the preparation of my own birds eventually because I love the taste of the homegrown birds over the store bought ones, but I'm not there yet.