Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Although free-range egg growers tend to see a slightly lower production rate than commercial
confinement operations, they can also have fewer inputs and lower overhead. In addition, the
value of the eggs is so much higher it tends to make up for lower production. Still, an organic
producer cannot afford to feed and manage a hen that is not producing. Selective culling
throughout the season helps maintain production but requires the producer to know her flock
through time spent observing the birds. Some smaller producers tend to keep hens for years
without monitoring their production and this can be economically unviable.
Aside from replacing the entire flock after the first or sometimes second cycle, producers
should also cull during production. No matter what production system is being used, it is advis-
able to cull during the night when birds are least active or prone to being disturbed. Handle
birds gently, starting on hens with obviously shrunken or pale combs. Use a headlamp to keep
hands free to check birds for:
• Comb color: Pale, dry, shrunken combs are bad. Birds in production have plump,
red, waxy combs (sometimes drier in winter).
• Leg color: Yellow is not good. Birds in production have pale legs.
• Weight: The ones that startle you with their lightness or heaviness should be culled.
• Distance between the pubic bones: Three fingers' width is good.
The Author's Experience:Thoughts on Culling the Flock
3
As fall draws near, when the weather grows cold and the grass stops growing, it's
time to think about culling the flock, to decide who will make the transition to winter
housing to lay another six months. The eighteen-month-old hens have been laying
now for twelve months. They are molting and not likely to be as productive next
year. The six-month-old hens that began laying this spring will continue through the
winter and be culled next spring, after twelve months of production. Thus, every six
months part of the flock is culled and a new set of pullets comes in to take its place.
Consequently, in fall I remove approximately 150 eighteen-month-old hens and
move the remaining 150 twelve-month-old hens to winter housing where 150 six-
month-old pullets are waiting and just starting to lay. The following spring we repeat
the process sending them out to summer housing with a new batch of newly laying
pullets we have raised up over the winter. This system gives us consistent production
from a vital flock of 300 young, healthy layers, half of which are newly laying and
