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Does anybody know if unwanted cockerels always have to be culled or is it possible to give them to farmers who rear them on for the table.Also has anybody had chicks who have actually recovered from Mareks disease?
Many thanks,
Jojo

Hi,
We raise all our unwanted cockerals for our own meat, we give away as many as poss but its differcult to find homes for alot of them. Im not sure about farmers taking them, i wouldnt think so as farmers would use commercial fast growing breeds ie Cobbs, not Cockerals as these would never make correct table weight unless caponised but that is now illegal to do chemically in UK, so has to be done medically which is exspensive and time consuming. I would suggest keeping all your unwanted cokerals together and feed corn, porridge etc to fatten them up. They will live happily together as long as they have all been raised together from day one.
As for the Mareks, im not sure as our birds are all vaccinated agaisnt this. I havent heard of birds recovering from it, but i guess some may.
Hope this helps
Angie

If a bird reaches laying stage it rarely dies of Mareks and is then immune to the disease, but will become a carrier. It is spread by feather dust which is inhaled by the other birds. It is a stress disease and caused by a herpes virus. Chick and growers are especially at risk and should be vaccinated at one day old (if you have Mareks) and isolated for at least 5 weeks.
A Mareks carrier is OK with older birds but death to unvaccinated youngstock.