To Cull or Not to Cull?

That is the question.

The chicks have been enjoying their time outside.  This little guy, though, seems to be having a problem.

He spends most of his day like this, squatted on the ground.  When he's frightened, he will try to move around.

It's a pretty awkward walk, but he can get around.  You can see here how his legs are splayed as he attempts to walk away from me.

Another look at his odd walk.

For now, though, he does seem to be growing.  He must be able to get at the food and water okay or he wouldn't still be kickin'. 

The bird is definitely a prime candidate for culling.  But, we've never made a conscious decision to end the life of any of our little farm critters, so we're not quite ready to make that call.  We'll keep an eye on him over the next couple of days.  John did do the research on how to do it easily and quickly if it comes to that.  He mimicked the motion, showing me how it's done, and I just shuddered.  It's hard to imagine choosing to end the life of one of these cute little chickadees! 

Any serious farmer would've done it at the first sign of a problem.  But, since our feed-to-slaughter-weight ratio is not our only consideration, we're going to play the waiting game on this one for a few days.  I'll let you know how it works out for the little guy.