How often do you get new birds?

[Ol Grey Mare]

I cycle birds in-and-out of my flock each year. I replace at least 1/2, if not more, of my hens with new pullets. I keep no birds longer than their end of the 2nd laying cycle which is about 30 months of age. By doing this, I have a steady supply of eggs year round, take advantage of the 1st 2 laying cycles of any bird's life, and have birds that still have enough production left in them to be of value and pose no issue in finding people who want to purchase them when I want to cycle them out of my own flock.

 

[Morrigan]

I'm wondering if they are too old to even eat if it's better to do it by 18 months.

I wanted to add that the fat off an older hens makes the best schmaltz if you render it down. Toss it with some potatoes and roast in oven. So good.

I don't mind the smell of "all day cooking", so I tend to make bone broth by dumping everything in the slow cooker for 24 hours. One day I will try it in the pressure cooker.

 

[Hufflefluff]

I wanted to add that the fat off an older hens makes the best schmaltz if you render it down. Toss it with some potatoes and roast in oven. So good.

I don't mind the smell of "all day cooking", so I tend to make bone broth by dumping everything in the slow cooker for 24 hours. One day I will try it in the pressure cooker.

Ooh, you're making processing some of my layers sound more and more tempting. This sounds delicious.

 

[Morrigan]

As for the question at hand. I've added chicks every year -- almost always as the result of broody hens. I was starting to go a little sidewise on chicken math, but a bobcat removed 9 hens for me one dreadful morning. That being said, I do cull extra cockerels and hens for poor health or behavior problems, and have promised myself to keep my flock to no more than a dozen hens at a time. It just works better for my space.

 

[Spartan22]

What about cooking on low in the Crock-Pot all day? Yeah, I'm a bit worried about the fact that my husband is the only one who has actually had fresh chicken, and I have no idea if I or my kids will like it.

My wife cooks them in Instant Pot for 40-45 min, they turn out great.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm a vegetarian, but my husband does the same with chicken (not my chickens, of course) and our instant pot.

INSTANT POT = AWESOME

I use it almost every day. Totally off topic, but it needed to be said.

 

[Spartan22]

The first time I butcher a rooster and cook them in Italian sauce, wife and kids love them w/ steamed rice. I couldn’t eat chicken for a month I went for Tuna and veggies.

 

[crazy4ChickensNducks]

I get birds every spring to replace my 2 year old chickens that get given away.
I always have a cycle of two different age birds.
I bond with one chick each year and they stay with me until they get killed, heavily bullied, die or I need more room in the coop.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

My plan for the future is to keep about 30 hens for laying. I would cull any birds took too long to molt or were poor layers. I would hatch chicks and raise the cockerels up for food and then add the pullets to the main flock. Every 4 years I would cull the hens that didn’t lay well and then hatch chicks from the hens still laying.

 

[chander]

If you want some breed variety and whatnot there are several hatcheries that will sell you pre-sexed or straight run chicks. Murray McMurray is the largest, but there are tons of others out there. I picked some up locally yesterday from a place called the Urban Chicken in Raleigh, NC - but they don't hatch them, they are just a middleman apparently.

The nice thing about mail order, vs local, is that you can choose from a wide range of breeds and ages of bird; albeit for a slightly higher cost (the birds seem to be cheaper, the shipping will get you though...)