Culling Your Flock

[230gr]

 
   I wanted my original title to be “Feeling up Amish Chicks” but my wife failed to appreciate the humor in that. I was able to get some excellent Rhode Island chicks from Amish breeding stock and they were so healthy and vigorous that I ended up with considerably more chickens than I care to winter over and I needed to do some culling. Choose to retain only the best birds for your flock requires knowing what to look or feel for.

Culling Your Flock
   This is a side by side comparison that applies best to the same age, breed and sex of chickens. You need to feel the body under the feathers for:
•   heart girth (rib cage width just behind the wings) where wider means more lung and heart space and the best meat potential.
•   width of the back along it’s length- indicates means more digestive organ space so the wider the more meat especially if wide between the thighs
•   width behind the thighs- single best indicator of egg producing potential; it should be wide and not taper
•   fleshing on the breast- indicates amount of meat potential; also general condition and heartiness
•   pelvic bone spread- for a laying hen and varies somewhat with the size egg they lay; 3 or four figures width indicate a good daily layer
•   her vent should also be large and moist
•   pelvic to keel distance- for a laying hen 3 fingers or less are not good layers while 4 fingers or more are good layers
•   the abdomen should be expanded, large, soft and pliable
•   observation of laying time- the very best laying hens tend to lay before 10 am; these are your best breeders so gather their eggs for hatching.
 
Note: I recommend that you refrain from remarks about choosing a wife this way too as women fail to see the humor in it (take my word for it!).

[TWP]

Thanks for the chicken tips and nothing more will be said.