Hatching eggs.... squeamish pls don't read...

Soubrette

lostinrates wrote: »

I keep an autosexing breed too....but its an egg-y purebred...not a dual purpose or meat bird. I do''make my own'' hybrids with that cockeral though...and of course...the autosexing isn't reliable when another breed becomes involved got but my other birds are dual purpose birds. We only got two males this year....an kept them until very recently when they went in the freezer they'd ben crowing for a while but stayed friends...it as only hen they realised they were meat to not like each other that they had to go. (I had been considering keep one for breeding). The have great legs and thighs but are a bit light n breast meat. They had great flavour and I was very please with my own hybrid.

If you are going to hatch and it is wonderful, then you are right, there is a responsibility,but IMHO, eating unwanted males ...rather than breeding purely for meat....is a nautural and most ethical method of meat farming. My boys are familiar with me and are use to being held and fusse with, right up until the very last moment they are happy safe individuals who run up to me with joy. I'd rather eat things that have lived like that than any alternative!

I do it quickly, by hand but want a humane dispatcher....which so long as you do not lose conviction, would be a suitable method too.

To me, this is the very best, ideal way of eating meat. Happy life, quick death and is imo more ethical than even being vegan.

As an aside to Penny - everyone has ties to the meat industry, even vegans (unless they source/grow all their own foods ethically from growers who have absolutely no ties to anyone involved in meat production) as the meat industry is also involved in many other industries, some of us are veggie because we want to cut down on the suffering of animals but accept that we cannot do everything. I admire vegans who do more than me but I also admire meat eaters who have a veggie day etc. Each to their own

Gigervamp

lostinrates wrote: »

If you are going to hatch and it is wonderful, then you are right, there is a responsibility,but IMHO, eating unwanted males ...rather than breeding purely for meat....is a nautural and most ethical method of meat farming. My boys are familiar with me and are use to being held and fusse with, right up until the very last moment they are happy safe individuals who run up to me with joy. I'd rather eat things that have lived like that than any alternative!

I do it quickly, by hand but want a humane dispatcher....which so long as you do not lose conviction, would be a suitable method too.

I quite agree, but it's that bit I've highlighted in bold that is the reason why I wouldn't be able to eat them!

I've read on various forums that the humane dispatchers aren't that great. You've got to get it just right and it's easy to mess up with them which is why a lot of people prefer doing it by hand.

emiff6

Frugal wrote: »

I have kept hens before, and am thinking of getting an incubator and hatching some eggs in the spring... IF I do, I will get an autosexing breed so I can tell which are male/female when they are just a day old.

Problem is.... (i'm cringing even writing this) that I can only keep hens here, not cockerels so... what would one do with the male chicks?

If you want the hens for laying, then spending money on an incubator and feeding/rearing the birds for 12 months before they come into lay, plus the fact that you will have no guarantee as to how many females you will end up with, seems an expensive way of going about it.
Better to choose a breed you like, and buy POL birds or older - you can see what you are getting, and no waiting for egg-laying to start.
If you are really set on chicks, cheaper to buy a broody hen and put the eggs under her.

As to disposing of male chicks, if there is anyone near you who keeps birds of prey, they would probably be glad to take them off your hands, since their birds are often fed on dead male chicks from battery farming.

lostinrates

Gigervamp wrote: »

I've read on various forums that the humane dispatchers aren't that great. You've got to get it just right and it's easy to mess up with them which is why a lot of people prefer doing it by hand.

Ahh. not so good then. Shame. I'd much prefer it if it were fail safe.