3yr old flock laying few eggs - keep / eat / sell?

[2ndTink]

I did the same thing during that time. So funny, I'll bet a lot of us did.

We did too! It was partially coincidence, we'd been talking about getting chickens for a couple years, but at the start of the shutdown we had gone to the feedstock and they happened to have chicks, so we finally got some!

 

[2ndTink]

I have no judgement to make on people culling their chooks - l'm a country girl, well used to helping out with the chicken "harvest" as a child, but we chose to start our own flock a couple of years ago because we wanted to see if they'd make an impact on our fruit fly problem, so eggs were going to be a bonus for us, especially as neighbours on both sides had plenty to spare. So, we're happy to let them live out their full lives, as they are still doing 2/3 of their jobs - insect control and fertilising. And we had no idea of the mental health benefits they would come to provide us. Working from home during Covid, at a very stressful job, I had no colleagues to vent with when things were particularly trying. So I'd make a coffee and go sit with the chickens for a bit. It turns out that not only is chicken soup good for the soul, so are live chickens.

Oh they are AMAZING for mental health and stress relief! I worked from home for 10 weeks during the shutdown, I had no idea how crazy stressed out I had been, I was having headaches and stomach aches every day and thought I had developed a food sensitivity. Nope, just crazy stress! The chicks would hang out with me while I worked, I truly believe the shutdown was a life saver for me, I know it was a terrible time also for many people so I feel a little bad that it was such a relief for me. I changed careers a year later, but in 7 months got a promotion right back into a high stress position, I guess I can't help myself.

The doc has noticed the impact of chickens on my stress level, I call them my therapists and asked the doc for a Rx prescribing required time with them that I can give my boss

We haven't processed any yet, I need to get everything ready first including buying a vacuum sealer, and I need to figure out a way to hang them. We have a cone already.