“So lucky, you get free eggs”

[gtaus]

As far as I can tell, most here do not cull at all and keep their hens as pets as they get older. That is fine, but I consider my chickens as livestock. I do cull at their 4th winter as I've observed chickens having a small decline in egg production in their 3rd year and a very noticeable decline in their 4th. I've seen older chickens suffer with various maladies and I'd rather give them a good life and quickly harvest while they are still healthy.

I have come to learn that my chickens do not lay enough eggs their third winter to justify keeping them. My plan is to now harvest them before their third winter. Which means I am getting new chicks every other year.

I think where you live makes a big difference as well. I live in northern Minnesota and for the next week we will have temps down to -24F at night. That's just hard on all the hens. I don't use artificial lights to encourage laying. With our cold temps, I don't want to stress them out. I still get enough eggs in the winter without lights.

Also, I have a number of production hens that only lay good for the first 2 years. Then they really slow down on laying eggs, get sick, and sometimes die. I won't butcher a chicken that has died from some unknown malady. I just toss them into the tall grass out back. Better that I harvest them when still healthy, so the meat does not go to waste.

Like you, I don't treat my chickens as pets. If you want cheaper eggs, feeding old hens will not work for you. If your chickens are pets, then I guess it does not really matter.

 

[gtaus]

Green grass adds nitrogen and is contra productive to break down the nitrogens in chicken poop.

It's just not an issue for me. I have so many paper shreds and leaves in the compost litter that I have never worried about the nitrogens in the chicken poop breaking down. Also, as I previously mentioned, I only harvest about 10% of my available compost per year. So, in theory, that chicken poo has years to break down before I harvest it.

All our months are non-snow months. We often have just one week with snow. But besides the grass there isn’t much food in winter.

Yes, location matters. I have up to 6 snow months per year.

 

[BDutch]

Sorry, but I'll respectfully disagree with this. People will happily jump from one store to another if eggs are on sale there. Stores here offer various classes of eggs, some more expensive and some less. The cheapest eggs are always the largest group stocked and sold.

IMHO, Its mainly the supermarkets that compete to attract ignorant customers.
If you ask consumers what they want to pay for eggs and tell how the chickens live , people make other choices.

If you say the consumers in the US choose solemnly the cheapest eggs regardless how the chickens live, you people are really different from the people in my country. Supermarkets here made an agreement in 2005 not to sell fresh eggs from caged chickens after consumers asked questions about the welfare of chickens .

We have */**/*** on the package in the supermarkets. 1* is minimum requirements for space (€4,60 /12 eggs). 2** is a little better with outside space, 3*** is even more space inside and outside. They all sell. And the more expensive organic and EKO (ecologic) with requirements for sustainability sell too. Demeter eggs are the highest standard but only sold in specialised organic shops (€8 /12 eggs).

 

[gtaus]

If you say the consumers in the US choose solemnly the cheapest eggs regardless how the chickens live, you people are really different from the people in my country. Supermarkets here made an agreement in 2005 not to sell fresh eggs from caged chickens after consumers asked questions about the welfare of chickens .

I don't think most consumers here in the US know, or even care, about the welfare of the chickens. It's never something I thought about when I went to the store to buy eggs. We have some labeling on our eggs, but there are no real standards and most of it just seems like marketing meant to fool us.

I think the people here on the BYC forums do know how to treat their chickens better, give them a better life, and maybe the "free" eggs we all get are better for it.

I still have a couple of commercial wire chicken cages from back in the 1970's. Each compartment was about 12X18 inches, for 2 chickens. That was their life. I think they were called battery cages. My dad bought some of those cages from a local commercial chicken farmer that went out of business. We used the wire to remake them into much larger hanging rabbit cages.

Although there is a movement to cage-free or free-range systems here in the states, the laws vary from state to state. I read the European Union banned battery cages in 1999. I guess that puts the Europeans at least 25 years ahead of most of us, in that respect. But, again, it varies from state to state.

My home state of Minnesota did not ban battery cages until 2020. And when I looked it up online, we still have 36 states in the USA that have not banned battery cages at all.

I think most people I know buy the cheapest eggs they can get. However, some people are willing to pay extra for free range, or cage free, eggs. I like to think my backyard eggs are more healthy because my girls have a variety in their diet, including insects, seeds, and plants. The yolks from my chickens are a much darker orange color compared to store bought eggs with pale yellow yolks. The people we sell our excess eggs to say that they prefer our backyard eggs for that reason.

 

[Daisy June]

I think that come mid to late summer there will be a lot of birds looking for homes.

I have thought the same thing and feel terrible about it. My chickens are my pets. They are sweet, funny little creatures that rely on my knowledge, understanding, and concern for their needs. It is a commitment to keep them safe and comfortable. It worries me that too many people will get chickens just for the sake of having eggs. Of course, those of us here know that does not come by magic.

 

[BDutch]

It worries me that too many people will get chickens just for the sake of having eggs. Of course, those of us here know that does not come by magic.

It worries me more that so many people only look for the cheapest eggs they can buy in the supermarket. And don’t consider the animal abuse that goes behind it.

The people with a backyard who get chickens just for the sake of eggs always (or almost always) give their chickens a better life than average in large scale factory farming.

 

[Sally PB]

As of a few weeks ago, Michigan only sells "cage free" eggs. The store had signs on the egg coolers, and I'm guessing a lot of people thought it was "just a reason to raise egg prices."

With AI, which has hit Michigan egg producers hard, the price of eggs has gone up a lot. I would bet that the local TSC will be selling a lot of chicks this year, as they did in 2020.

I have 3 chickens that will be 5 yo next month. One has laid a few eggs, but stopped (her eggs are distinctively small). Another might be laying 1-2 a week, and the third might not have laid yet this year, though she looks like she could; her comb and wattles are very red.

Two are going to be 4 yo in June, one of them is laying. Five will be 2 years old in May, and four of those are laying. I am maxed out on the number that I feel comfortable having in my set up.

Yes, they all have names and I consider them "petstock." Not livestock, but not just pets. If chickens did not lay eggs, I would not have gotten them in the first place. It was a self-sufficiency thing, and yes, I got them when everyone else was getting pandemic chickens.

I get enough eggs for our needs. I don't figure the cost, as I'm pretty sure store eggs are cheaper, even at the current prices.

 

[igorsMistress]

I feed my ducks and chickens an all flock pellet, about $25 per 40 lbs with tax. One bag lasts about three weeks, but that depends on time of year and how much the wild birds manage to get. My flock is mixed age, from just starting to lay to roughly 3 years old. Feed costs are about $2 a dozen right now when everyone is laying, but that doesn’t include OS, grit, bedding, treats or my time. So when people tell me I am lucky that I have free eggs, I explain it’s around $4 a dozen over a year and definitely not free. And that still doesn’t include my time, which I happily spend.

 

[EmmaDonovan]

Yes, they all have names and I consider them "petstock." Not livestock, but not just pets. If chickens did not lay eggs, I would not have gotten them in the first place.

"Petstock" is a great word. We're only allowed a small number of hens. The plan is to cull and replace hens when egg production drops below the minimum to meet our needs. Culling means feeding the meat to our dogs so they would still serve a purpose.

I'm not sure what we'll do when the time comes. I did cull our cockerel last year when he started crowing (we aren't allowed to have roosters). He was food for us and our dogs but we had only had him for a short time. It'll be much harder to cull hens we've had for years.

I'm also planning to move to a different state in a few years and I don't know if we'll take our flock with us or start a new flock when we get there.

 

[BDutch]

"Petstock" is a great word.

Yes, Petstock is a great word for people who keep their chickens as pets. With or without the benefits like eggs, thick control or manure.

Livestock is a good word for people who aim for eggs and kill their chickens when they get older and start to lay less (unproductive) or get sick.

Of course there is a grey area in between. But if your chickens are real pets, I assume you wont kill them to serve the carcasses to another pet.
:sad
Hard to imagine people who actually kill an old and unproductive dog to feed him to the petstock chickens.
However I do believe lots of people kill their (watch) dog if he gets very sick and actually needs vet attention.

We all have our own personal limits, goals and animal-empathy.