are they good or too old?? hatchery experts help...

[Majd]

Hi backyardchickeners...
There is a small truck that passes by my hoise tha sells chickens.... they are white lodhorns... and obviously from hatcheries and egg production farms..... they are all mature hens... I want to get some as they are good layers and a new addition to my flock.... I know that here the birds that they sell for people are over the best laying age.... so do someone know when do hatcheries get rid of hens.... I mean at what age... because I don't want a chicken that is old just like mine and that won't lay... and do they get rid of sick ones... as I see some very sleepy ones with him... I also want to save a chicken that spent most of her life in cages and let it explore the real life my chickens are blessed to have..... so what do you think about that?? Do hatcheries change their chickens when they are tow years perhaps.... but still can produce but not as much as when they were young??? Or do they send them too old?? Any help will be appreciated.... and by the way it's hard to get a pure breed like a leghorn here.... as most chickens are mutts and everyone have their own flocks... noone cares about breed... so I'd like to add a real breed to my flock... help is so much appreciated. ... as here you can't get all the answers you wish to hear. ... so I'm counting on you guys to help me out!!!

 

[ChickenZombies]

Personally I wouldn't buy one. birds kept in hatchery or egg production conditions can often have issues.
They usually have quota's for the chickens and if the chicken isn't meeting that quota they will sell it for meat or small farms.
They will probably still lay for you, but don't expect anywhere near the usual. and they may not lay for a few weeks until they are adjusted to you're farm/backyard

The best thing you can do is ask the person selling, about if the hens are still actually laying or not.

Worst case scenario you buy one, it doesn't lay, or barely lays and you can use it for chicken soup.

 

[chooks4life]

Lebanon's pretty far from Australia but some things seem to hold true so maybe my opinion may be helpful.

Generally in most countries I know of layer chooks are culled at about 2 years old. Most books tell people chooks stop laying after that age but in fact tests show commercial layers often just produce as little as one egg less per year; nowadays though that's increased and some breeds actually do cut down production sharply. I have known of hens over a decade old who still reliably lay, but these were bantam mixes, not production layers. In my experience, kelp is the solution; it will get a non layer laying and prevent egg binding and keep old girls laying well. I assume people know but sometimes they don't, so just in case, I will elaborate that kelp is a seaweed that contains all the vitamins and minerals in the correct balance, and it's a powerful endocrine regulator which will restart layers who have stopped.

An issue is that if the hen was raised on layer pellets, since they're not an optimum natural feed the hen's body will react to kelp by slowing production as she replaces old cells built from lower grade food with new cells made from a full spectrum of balanced non-synthetic vitamins and minerals which are easier for the body to process. After this period she should lay well for years to come. I had trouble with production reds, a terrible strain of that breed they have over here, but my leghorns were only eradicated from the flock due to aggression, flightiness, and for carrying leucosis; the hens were good layers even though over two years old.

I got two purebred leghorn hens in, white, over 2 years old. After being on feed containing kelp for a year, they were no longer pure white; they developed yellow legs, beaks, orange eyes, etc, with black and red spots on their bodies and one got dirty off white in color and the other had a black stripe grow on her beak. Purebred animals do not show their true colors unless being fed kelp. This color changing issue has happened to me before; kelp causes the phenotype to truly show the genotype. So if you feed kelp it'll improve their health and basically guarantee eggs, but you will see some gradual changes, and it will accelerate over generations as you raise more fowl on kelp.

Anyway, I think you're doing a kind thing to let the hens experience a real life, and I wish you all the best with that. They will likely sell you some sick birds because in intensive farming parlance, 'healthy' just tends to mean the animal is on its feet. Since it's cheaper to cull and replace than to treat illnesses, their don't have the same standards that we do. Basically nobody I know of has gotten truly healthy birds from any commercial hatchery. So I would treat them as sick birds and give them an overall tonic and health treatment even if I can't see specific symptoms. Personally I like the challenge of taking in condemned rejects and giving them another chance at life; often with a little TLC they live and have good productive lives. It's education I value, and it's great to spare some that would needlessly die otherwise. All the best.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Usually hatcheries or people who keep a laying flock, around here move their hens out on a set schedule, generally starting when they are about 2.5 years old and past their prime laying age. They can still be decent layers for a few years, but usually about half or less of what they did in their prime. The older hatchery birds also will have more health problems because of their breeding to lay a lot of eggs fast rather than for life span.
It sounds like you do not know where they are actually getting these birds, and it is probable they are getting them from multiple places, some of those sources are not going to be good ones, so yes, I would worry about getting sick or spent birds. I would most certainly be very careful to quarantine any birds you get for a long time away from your flock.
It is kind of you to consider taking a bird like this that has probably never had the chance to just be a "chicken" and let it run around and eat bugs and grass, so yes, most people would consider that to be a good deed
Can you find roosters of the breeds you want, and can you hatch eggs? If you know they have breeds you want, you might consider getting some even if they are older and if you can find a rooster of that breed, breed your own.

 

[Majd]

Personally I wouldn't buy one. birds kept in hatchery or egg production conditions can often have issues.

They usually have quota's for the chickens and if the chicken isn't meeting that quota they will sell it for meat or small farms.

They will probably still lay for you, but don't expect anywhere near the usual. and they may not lay for a few weeks until they are adjusted to you're farm/backyard


The best thing you can do is ask the person selling, about if the hens are still actually laying or not.


Worst case scenario you buy one, it doesn't lay, or barely lays and you can use it for chicken soup.

Ok.... hahaha... I don't think of chicken soups from hatcheries..... thanks a lot for your reply.... I think I'll reconsider....

 

[Majd]

Lebanon's pretty far from Australia but some things seem to hold true so maybe my opinion may be helpful.

Generally in most countries I know of layer chooks are culled at about 2 years old. Most books tell people chooks stop laying after that age but in fact tests show commercial layers often just produce as little as one egg less per year; nowadays though that's increased and some breeds actually do cut down production sharply. I have known of hens over a decade old who still reliably lay, but these were bantam mixes, not production layers. In my experience, kelp is the solution; it will get a non layer laying and prevent egg binding and keep old girls laying well. I assume people know but sometimes they don't, so just in case, I will elaborate that kelp is a seaweed that contains all the vitamins and minerals in the correct balance, and it's a powerful endocrine regulator which will restart layers who have stopped.

An issue is that if the hen was raised on layer pellets, since they're not an optimum natural feed the hen's body will react to kelp by slowing production as she replaces old cells built from lower grade food with new cells made from a full spectrum of balanced non-synthetic vitamins and minerals which are easier for the body to process. After this period she should lay well for years to come. I had trouble with production reds, a terrible strain of that breed they have over here, but my leghorns were only eradicated from the flock due to aggression, flightiness, and for carrying leucosis; the hens were good layers even though over two years old.

I got two purebred leghorn hens in, white, over 2 years old. After being on feed containing kelp for a year, they were no longer pure white; they developed yellow legs, beaks, orange eyes, etc, with black and red spots on their bodies and one got dirty off white in color and the other had a black stripe grow on her beak. Purebred animals do not show their true colors unless being fed kelp. This color changing issue has happened to me before; kelp causes the phenotype to truly show the genotype. So if you feed kelp it'll improve their health and basically guarantee eggs, but you will see some gradual changes, and it will accelerate over generations as you raise more fowl on kelp.

Anyway, I think you're doing a kind thing to let the hens experience a real life, and I wish you all the best with that. They will likely sell you some sick birds because in intensive farming parlance, 'healthy' just tends to mean the animal is on its feet. Since it's cheaper to cull and replace than to treat illnesses, their don't have the same standards that we do. Basically nobody I know of has gotten truly healthy birds from any commercial hatchery. So I would treat them as sick birds and give them an overall tonic and health treatment even if I can't see specific symptoms. Personally I like the challenge of taking in condemned rejects and giving them another chance at life; often with a little TLC they live and have good productive lives. It's education I value, and it's great to spare some that would needlessly die otherwise. All the best.

Hii... I have lots of siblings in Australia and my dad visits yearly..... we like it there.... thanks a lot for your kind reply.... I think that I should reconsider bying.... but I'm a bit confident because of a story that happened with us once....I'll write in minutes....

 

[Majd]

Usually hatcheries or people who keep a laying flock, around here move their hens out on a set schedule, generally starting when they are about 2.5 years old and past their prime laying age. They can still be decent layers for a few years, but usually about half or less of what they did in their prime. The older hatchery birds also will have more health problems because of their breeding to lay a lot of eggs fast rather than for life span.
It sounds like you do not know where they are actually getting these birds, and it is probable they are getting them from multiple places, some of those sources are not going to be good ones, so yes, I would worry about getting sick or spent birds. I would most certainly be very careful to quarantine any birds you get for a long time away from your flock.
It is kind of you to consider taking a bird like this that has probably never had the chance to just be a "chicken" and let it run around and eat bugs and grass, so yes, most people would consider that to be a good deed
Can you find roosters of the breeds you want, and can you hatch eggs? If you know they have breeds you want, you might consider getting some even if they are older and if you can find a rooster of that breed, breed your own.

Hii... yeah you're all right... I stopped him omce but their general shape wasn't that much so I didn't get any..... I think I'll keep hatching organic clicks hopefully we will get a pullet... as this year's five chicks all turned out to be cockerels....

 

[Majd]

Ok... so here's my story.....
2 years ago.. my cousin found a big bag that has something in thrown on the front yard... he checked on it... and what a surprise.... it's a chicken... he gave it to me as they didn't have chickens yet.... the poor thing.... how cruel some people can be... it was a red sex link.... a hen... she was limping.... I immediately checked on it for any wounds or anything but it was a natal deformation.... as she had aleg that is a bit shorter than the other.... she had a clipped beak so I knew she's from a hatchery. ... I offered food and water and she took it right away... she didn't know how to run with chickens and live their life and go to the coop or nothing... just act foolish.... I always had to take her to the pem and find her from where she's hiding... etc... after a while she knew where food and water were... and my roo loved her the most and she wasn't hiding as much and went to the coop with little encouragement.... After a month.... she became accustomed and happy and she began dust bathing and sunbathing and doing chicken stuff.... I was so happy to see her living a chicken life.... and a week later I was wandering around in the garden and foundher sitting I a whole between the wood piles.... I removed her and what a surprise. ... I found 8 eggs... brown and huge... I was extremely happy and excited. ... her eggs were the biggest amd yummiest... I even hatched out some of her eggs under a broody... she was then on a good rank on the peckimg order and the roo won't leave her a second. .. and mount only her.. and she always obayed... she was soo sweet and friendly... she never missed a day without laying... even in cold rainy winters she would lay every single day.... she puffed her feathers for a while and clucked like broodies but kept laying and never went broody properly... after a year... the best year of her life.... she died.... we were so sad to lost her.... we were checking on her for the death reason andbdiscovered that HUGE egg was stuck in her and couldn't get out.... she was the fastest tiptoe walker in the flock.... she was fed all organic. .. plis leftovers and a big garden of orange trees to free range all day... the eggs was probably a triple yolker or more... we didn't crack it but buried it with her... she still have a big place in my heart.... we didn't think that a battery chicken walking on one legs' tip toes would ever lay and have such a happy life... that's why I want to rescue these chickens... they might be stressed and over fed by these layer food and exhausted by it... but if they had a chicken life like star (the name of the red sex link) they might restart laying.... as 2 years is still young for a chicken... I have 6 old hens and a roo... plus 5 chicks... the youngest hen is 5 years old and laying frequently. ... the others are 8 years 10 years and9 years... and still lay each apring few dozens each... and one of the lays evwryday till now... and one of them is raising 3 chicks... so my dream is to make a farm.... and sell eggs.. but all organic.... free ranged chickens.... organic chickens.... so what can you say about that?? :/

 

[secret chicken]

Try a college around you. We use to buy LSUs chickens at the end of the spring section. It was to teach the vets how a laying place should run. They were all scared to death use to tiny cages but they lived out their life at our house and we never went without eggs

 

[secret chicken]

Excuse the spelling cell phone