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I grew up in a rural setting too.
Anywhere from 25 to 75 chickens at a time and we didn't kill the male birds until they grew up.
Best chicken I've ever eaten.
We had eggs EVERYWHERE.
Hey, I'm with you guys on the waste......We had about the same number of chickens on our spread, Kwik......
We did a lot of pressure canning with the older birds.....Made the meat nice and tender and went great into the soups and stews.....
I suppose with the huge 'layer' operations when they're dealing with thousands of birds....Messing around with letting the males grow up just isn't practical....and would be counter-productive and time-consuming.....