ANYONE, ever sold or auctioned old hens that aren't laying anymore? ?

[silkieluver_07]

Quote:
I get better prices usually if they are sold individually. Most people are only looking for a lone rooster for there hens.

 

[Katy]

I agree you usually get more if you sell the roos individually, but that isn't always feasable to do with the cages I have to use. It depends on the time of year how much I get for roos that age. Sometimes only a couple bucks apiece....sometimes 5-7 apiece. I'm just glad I'm not feeding them anymore when I get them sold. Old hens vary in price too.

 

[rooster0209]

The farm up the road sells them as stewing chickens; already dressed for the pot.

Some others around here sell to the zoo for food

 

[9red2blk]

I took 7 hens to sale a couple of weeks ago and got 10.00 each that was high for them I thought.
Bob

 

[lashawnb]

WOW, BYC is the BEST!!!!!!!!Thank you all for so
much interesting info & feedback. I'll pass it on to
my girlfriend with the older birds plus 7 roosters!!

She didn't realize she had soooo many boys in
the house. (Not sure how you miss that many
roosters, but....she does have a toddler, another
business, etc., etc.

 

[silkiechicken]

If the hens I am selling are part of the non pet group, I don't let them get so old that they have stopped laying before I sell them. I sell them at 2 years old for about 10-15. A point of lay can bring 5-10 more than that each. Now if the hen really did stop, which many go on for 5 or more years, she'd be stew if she wasn't a pet. I have a few who want old hens and pay 3 a lb for them.

 

[lashawnb]

Quote:
Pretty much both but mostly that the little chickens stop having value as pets after the egg production falls off ;(

True, that would be kind of sad. The thing is for her, my friend that is, they were always production birds, not pets. She just has around 30 to 35 chickens altogether, but they aren't really
pets like their dogs and cats are. She raises chickens strictly for the eggs.

My bantam chickens, however, are spoiled rotten!LOL, My 9 little ones are around 4-10weeks old & fly up to sit on my lap or shoulder at any given opportunity for a neck scratch or a treat, or to keep another bird from getting too much of either!!!

My girlfriend doesn't see chickens as sweet or cuddly aaaattt all. But I think they are adorable and endearing little creatures.

 

[Katy]

I enjoy and care about my chickens but they are not pets like my dogs and cats are to me. Maybe it is because I've always lived on a farm and chickens just were not pets while I was growing up. As much as I'd like to be able to keep every chick I hatch until they die of old age that just isn't a feasible thing for me to do. I raise them to sell the eggs or sell the birds along the way to help pay for a small portion of their feed bill. I know when I take my older hens and the roos to the sale they are more than likely going to end up in the pot. I don't really like that thought, but that's the reality of it. There have always been a few special ones that get to stay till the end of their life, but not too many.

 

[Chickenaddict]

When i sell my chickens this year in particular due to the hatches having tooo many roosters, I sold them in pairs for $10 a piece but they were young and not laying yet. It was the only way to sell some roos. I keep bantams for pets as well as eggs and plan on keeping them until they pass with or without eggs. When i sell them i sell them as pets not that i know if they will go into the stew pot or not but i imagine not due to the fact that there is not much meat on them bones people will keep them as such. I would be one of those people to buy a non laying hen im such a softy!!

 

[jjthink]

Maybe someone can help her find a good retirement home where the hens will be treated as pets. Doesn't sound like something she would do of her own accord, but maybe she wouldn't mind a helping hand. One never knows what happens with birds sold at auction to a total stranger (and I don't mean death per se, I'm thinking of treatment before death). I am an admitted worrier - but it comes from seeing too much mistreatment and also from feeling responsible for any being that's been in my care - cradle to grave. Even if I were someone who sold birds (I'm not) I would want to know and see what they were in for with the people who bought them, as I do with all adoptions from rescue work. Including cases where they were to be dinner because I would want wonderful treatment right to the end, and the end would need to be as civilized as possible in this world.
JJ