I realize that everybody has different birds and focuses on different breeding goals, but for those who have hatched many thousands, I would like to hear some of the things you cull for early in chicks and juveniles that you have determined not worth feeding for 6 months.
Genetic defects such as crooked toes, crossed beaks, slow growth and development. I don't worry about coloring defects early on, as I have Asians who buy young birds to raise for meat, especially the bantams.
Quote from: Steve Neumann on April 06, 2017, 10:43:14 AM
I realize that everybody has different birds and focuses on different breeding goals, but for those who have hatched many thousands, I would like to hear some of the things you cull for early in chicks and juveniles that you have determined not worth feeding for 6 months.
Study the Chick Phenotype (http://ameraucanaalliance.org/forum/index.php?topic=559.0) topic. I've posted a lot of photos there of day-old chicks and text about what I look for. My rejects/culls today would have been keepers 30 years ago, so a lot depends on how close your breeders are to the Standard when judging which chicks to grow for show and/or breeding. Chick down can tell you an awful lot about how a bird will feather out, but some of the other very important traits you are after can only be determined when a bird is mature. Just as all the top show winners, of a particular variety, should look like twins so should all the day-old chicks. Once you know the chick down color and pattern to look for, select for it...chick uniformity.
Not for nothing, I have never found cross-beaks out of the gate. That usually takes several weeks about 6 to develop. i wish I could tell if that was going to happen earlier.