A seasonal dilemma (From Smallholder)

A seasonal dilemma

7:40am Monday 5th December 2011 in Poultry

At this time of year, some chicken breeders will have birds ‘surplus’ to requirements as a result of their spring and early summer breeding programme.

Many of the more experienced will have created such a situation deliberately in order to give themselves an option to select only the best for next year’s breeding pens and, as a result, have either slightly less-than-perfect youngsters or older breeding stock to dispose of before winter.

Others though – and it must be said that they are often the newest and least experienced of poultry-keepers – may well end up with pens of unwanted chickens and bantams through a whimsical idea that it would be fun to get a cockerel, introduce it to their hens and hatch a few chicks.

Sadly, space is limited in the majority of urban or suburban gardens and, once the chicks have reached near adulthood, it will soon be found that existing poultry accommodation is not sufficient, and finances and garden availability will not stretch to homing what were once cuddly, fluffy chicks and are now fully feathered, food-consuming grown-ups.

For the full article and pictures see the December edition of Smallholder magazine.