Winter culling of the laying flock

              NEi.f i&]ilCo COLLfiJ OF AGRICULTURE Ai\iD ildCHANIC ARTS
AND AGRICULTUI?AL F.{PERIIMI'{T STATION
Pr,rss Brrlictiri 983
ffI}ITER CULLIIfG OF THE LAYING FLOCK
Cu}ling of the layers must be a continuous process i.f the flock i-s to be kept
at a high point of efficiency. lhe culling which is done at the end of the laying
year is, ol'course, the easiest to do, as the birdst egg records for the year can
be esti.mated with the greatest degree of accuracy at that tirne. Hoi,;ever, it is not
econornical poultry managernent t,o carry a poor layer through a 10- to }2-month laying period. If practicable, she should be eU:ninated early in the season.
The poultrynan vrho observes the flock closely vril1 do more or less culling all
a'long, by catching up a bird for examination as soon as she shows indications of urtttlrlftiness, However, a1l of the culls cannot be located in this way. More ac-curate
culling can be done if each bird is caught and examined. A flock of pullets
should be handled ln this manner some ti"rne during the third month they are in the
}ilyiug house
fn general, any blrds which are laying at this season of the year should be
Itept.in the flock. 0f those birds which are not layi.ng, the slow-naturing indirid-u:
rls which have not even begun to lay should be eliminated. They are poor layers
v;hen they do cone into production and seldom lay sufficient eggs even to pay ior
their feed. They can be d.lstinguished by the fact that they will show a compara- tiveltr' large amount of ys11.n pigment in the skin, beak, and shanks. I{hat tl do with the other non-layers rvill depend upon their general condition. For example, a bird which shovrs some neck rnolt should not be culled merely on thj-s aecount. She
may be an excellent layer, and nolting because she began laying early. Other points
such as age of the pullets, the season of the year, environmental conditions, and
general physical condition must be taken into consideration in deciding what to do with hens i-n a neck mo1t.
Nextr any birds which shovl signs of not being in good health should be rernoved..
Thls wi]l include those vrhich are very thin in flesh as well as those vrhich are ac-tuall-
y sick. Some may have colds or roup; usually, they should be disposed of
rather than treated for thj.e condi-tion. Horvever, judgment niust be used in this nat- ter, as solds may be ciue to exposure. It has been-esilnated that avian leukosis (fowl paralysi-s) accounts for nearly half of the deaths in Neir Mexico flocks. Thera, fore, any bird nhich dhows indications that it may faII a victi,rn to this disease
can well be cu1Ied. Points to 1ook for are gray eyes in which the pupil J-s irregu- lar or ragged in outline, AIso, tny in-co-ordination in vralking i-s a-vrarning sign.
ilj-rds, the general appearence of which lrould indlcate that they are laying, but
which upon close exanination a.re found to have coarse, beefy heads, wiltr hird abdo-rilers
€Iod thiek bones and skin, should be culled at this time, as they, a1so, are
pocr producersi 0n the other hand, those with excessively soft, flabby, and dis-bended
abdornens should be regerded vrith suspicion. Such hens may not be laylng be-c&
use of internal tumors or other internal abnormalities. They shoul-d be placea in
a pen by theinselves rvhere tlte;1 c,a"n be checked for egg production for a fe'r- days
before a final docj-sion is made.
Lastlli, in culling at this season as at any other tine, tt is vrell to remember that an accurate decision cennot be made on one point alone, but that aII indica-'
tions shoulti be lreighed before passing final juclgment and that even then, mistakes riill occur in some cases.
L. N. Berry
.]:,:.rtuary 25 , 1944 Poultry Husbandman