I'm new to raising chickens. What is culling a chicken?
Joyce

Hi,
Culling is killing or eliminating a chicken or chickens that are sick, inferior, or non-productive.

As you raise your layers, you will notice that some hens aren't as healthy and don't lay as much as others, or don't even lay at all! When you feed hens that aren't producing a single egg you will find yourself paying a lot for nothing. Here's a few other reasons why you should "cull" (definition: culling is the process of removing inferior, sick, or injured hens from the flock whenever you spot them)...

1. Culling removes the risk of your other hens catching a disease from the sick or injured one.
2. It increases food and water space for the productive hens.
3. Increases the flock's overall egg-per-hen ratio.
4. Finally, culling inferior hens increases the living space for the producing chickens.


The first time to cull heavily is when your flock is laying at its maximum. How can you tell which hens are not laying? Read on...

Things to look for in a non-producing hen:


Feathers. The feathers of a laying hen should be dirty, worn, and ragged looking, since they are concentrating their energy on producing eggs and not on preening and replacing their dirty feathers.
Combs and wattles. A non-producing hen will have scaly, pale, and shriveled combs and wattles, while a good layer will have waxy, full, bright red ones.
Pubic bones. Pubic bones should be flexible and you should be able to fit two or three fingers between them. A non-layer will have tight pubic bones that are quite rigid.
Vent. Pull back the hen's tail feathers and inspect the vent. It should be large, oval, and moist if she's laying well. A non-layer's vent will be dry, tight, and round.
Carriage. A good layer will be alert to her surroundings and not be listless and lazy. Her eyes should be bright and she should be relatively active (such as scratching in the litter, running around with her companions, etc.).
Skin. Depending on when you check, a hen's skin should be bleached, while non-layers will have dark-pigmented skin.


Of all the indicators of good and non-layers, the pubic bones and the vent are the most reliable. Other indicators are the rate of molting and the bleaching sequence, but this is sorta complicated for a beginner. Perhaps I will go into further detail later.

In my case, I go by egg color. I have various breeds and I can tell who is pulling their weight by the eggs I'm finding (or not finding, for that matter). For example, I haven't had a green egg in a few months so I think my americanas' egg-laying days are over.

I really enjoy and like my hens, but I just can't see myself keeping hens around for years and years when they are not laying. (They can live to be 10-ish but will usually only lay for 2-3 years.) I'm not looking forward to culling, but I think it will be inevitable.

When I am forced to cull, I'll probably just let them go around my house and forage for food in my garden. I can't bring myself to cull my oldest hens since I've become too close to them and they have served me for soooo many years. I kind of think of it as chicken Social Security...if they lay well for over 5 years then I keep them forever!

Thanks,
I had to cull my sick rooster a few days ago. It was the 1st time I did that. I don't like doing that. If I feel that some chickens are non-productive, I'd rather send them to the stock yard. My mom usually does this for me when chickens are very ill. I guess it's inevitable that I'll have to do this now and then. I could probably butcher ones that I just bought and don't know but, I'd rather not. My mom remembers her childhood and says they are great to eat when they are fresh chickens. But, culling chickens is not much fun.
Joyce

Josh, are you saying that you will no longer keep them in your coop? Just let them fend for themselves?

Well...yes. Please note that the younger ones (the ones that aren't really pets) I'll release. The old girls I'll keep till death do us part! :)

Even if it gets expensive, I'll keep those hens since they've layed for eons!

Hi Josh, you just release the older ones that no longer produce to their own devices? No shelter or food from you any longer?

NO NO NO!

Okay, so maybe I didn't explain myself well...I can't imagine my poor hens all alone with tigers and lions and bears....oh my! :)

I'll give them water and some food, but there is more than enough stuff around my house that will keep them thriving (hey, my garden is open to them anytime...all you can eat buffet!). They know when to go back into their cage, so I'll leave it open for them and lock it once they're all inside. That way they're safe and snug from the dogs that roam around looking for a midnight snack. Then, in the morning, I'll let them out to forage for bugs and other goodies.

Don't worry, my chickens are pets and I hope they live longer than me!

Hi Josh, you are a trip! I worry about lions and tigers and bears... Oh my! also. Here it's more like foxes, racoons and bobcats, oh my. Opossums too. All these critters can be a problem.

But so far I've been lucky. My aprox 3/4 acre backyard, fenced in with chain-link and fronted on 3 sides by woods, has been critter proof. Ok, one of my dogs did kill a young possum in July.

Did have a very weird incident here just a few weeks ago. Went into my den and one of my dogs was looking at me like she'd been bad. Had her paw on what I thought was one of my chickens (just a piece.) Turned out to be a half a rabbit!

This rabbit had been completely cut in half, just the front legs, head, and about half the rib cage left. I mean cleanly cut in half too, no obvious half moon shaped bite marks. The chest cavity was completely clean (looked like it'd been washed) except for the heart, which was still intact. Also half the face had been chewed off, whole muzzle, half the lower jaw and one eye, gone. Pretty gruesome, let me tell ya.

Thinking my dogs had somehow done the horrible deed, I went looking for evidence of the "kill." Neither one of the dogs had a drop of blood on them, no fur between the teeth, nothing. No blood on my den carpet. Just found some fur in one small spot in the yard.

When the one dog killed the possum (different dog) she barked her head off before killing it. I was just too engrossed in the last 5 minutes of "Gladiator" on HBO to see what all the fuss was about.

My dogs have a doggy door, open at all times. Even the squirrels in my yard know not to venture out of the trees unless they see the chickens out. That is no joke.

I would love to know what killed that poor rabbit and how it's body found it's way into my fenced in yard. I wondered if possibly an owl or some other bird of prey somehow dropped it there. I did find the fur under a group of pines. I attribute my good luck with my chickens to the fine guarding ability of two of my mutts.

I recommend anyone with critter problems, fence in your yard and get a dog, or two!

when culling a layer here is some things to look for....good layer= large, moist, bright combs, pubic bones 2 or 3 fingers apart and flexible, skin is bleached, vent large and moist, abdomen large and soft, and plumage is usually a very dull color becuase the hen uses all she has for eggs instead of feathers. if the things and oppisite like the pubic bones only being 1 finger apart and stiff then the hen probably isn't laying. hope that helps alittle. you should cull you chickens every month some people do it more some people don't. when u cull you are taking out all your chickens that is no longer of any use (example not laying) or just taking out your worse chickens and getting rid of them. i always sell mine. culling saves u alot of money becuase your not feeding a useless chicken. when u sell your culled ones u can take the money and put towards a younger or just better hen. if u sell 10 birds u might only be able to buy 6 more but your still on the up side becuase you chickens that you bought will bring money not use it. anyhow i hope that will help u alittle.