chicken gone bad

[auroaSfarm]

Chicken n dumplings.. Mmmm but. They're family that's like cannibalism XD

 

[cacknballs]

eat it.

let the food it's consuming go to a bird that will produce for you.

if you have any young kids or grandkids around make sure they help with the process. it will teach them very valuable lessons about life, how food doesn't grow on styrofoam trays at the supermarket, and it will be a great bonding experience for you.

letting "nature take its course" is a rough way for any animal to go. if you have respect for the animal take it out quickly and painlessly, otherwise it will suffer greatly towards the end.

good luck.

 

[auroaSfarm]

eat it.

let the food it's consuming go to a bird that will produce for you.

if you have any young kids or grandkids around make sure they help with the process. it will teach them very valuable lessons about life and how food doesn't grow on styrofoam trays at the supermarket, and it will be a great bonding experience for you.

good luck.

Great idea let the kids watch while u chop its head off and boil it (thumbs up) but I get your reasoning for killing it and cooking up a nice tasty meal.

 

[Chaerie]

My chickens are not pets. They have their job at our farm, and that is to produce food. If they're not performing their job, then they go in the pot. That's how we're doing it, but to each their own.

 

[cacknballs]

sorry but i hate when people cull chickens

it's okay, i hate when people let their animals suffer.

 

[chickenonice]

.... I am the kids....

 

[cacknballs]

Great idea let the kids watch while u chop its head off and boil it (thumbs up) but I get your reasoning for killing it and cooking up a nice tasty meal.

if they are old enough and coordinated enough let them do the chopping, skinning, gutting, and cooking. my nine yr. old daughter does it around here.

the experience and sense of accomplishment and pride they will get from providing a meal for their family and proud parents (really make a big deal about how proud you are) will stick with them for the rest of their lives.

 

[Abriana]

Hens can still make great pets after laying! They (in my opinion) deserve a happy long life after laying is over. That's what I am going to do for my hens I told them "I don't care If you lay eggs. You bring me enough joy by yourselves!"

 

[cacknballs]

Hens can still make great pets after laying! They (in my opinion) deserve a happy long life after laying is over. That's what I am going to do for my hens I told them "I don't care If you lay eggs. You bring me enough joy by yourselves!"

you'll get that same joy plus eggs if you replace them.

win, win...and they won't know any different.

; )

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Some really aggressive responses here... :/
tl;dr: Your birds are probably going to stop laying right around the same time they start developing painful and costly health issues. So you should probably cull if you don't want to run a costly and trying retirement home for hens.

This is how it goes down for me.
First, I try to avoid production breeds. They burn out faster. Heritage breeds lay nearly as well at 4 years old as they did at 2 years old. So there's not a solid reason for me to cull before they start hitting 5 years old or so...
When the really light egg layers slow down they don't exactly take a lot of feed to keep around anyhow.
The local predators have taken out far more chickens than I have ever had live to old age. Everything eats chickens.

Lastly, there's a BIG difference between natural lifespans for animals and captive lifespans. An example of this; rabbits live around 3-4 years in the wild and up to 12 years in captivity. Yet female rabbits between 6-9 years old have a 100% genetic chance of developing reproductive cancers and dying from it because there's NO genetic reason for them to have ANY inborn disease resistance or survivability beyond that point. A 5-year-old wild rabbit is unheard of. By design, rabbits live short lives and it's only our severe intervention that keeps them around longer.
Chickens are very similar. In captivity, their health starts to decline soon after they would have been eaten in the wild. That's somewhere around 4-6 years old, they start getting health problems more regularly, and their egg production falls significantly. They CAN live to be 10-12, but if they SHOULD is another question.
Dramatic egg decline isn't just because they're running out of eggs. It's also because they're not very healthy. When I find a bird that's only laying once a week they're almost guaranteed to pick up some sort of major problem soon after.


So I cull when I see the first signs of significant decline. A reduced egg rate but still getting 3 eggs a week isn't justification, like, that still covers the feed costs even. But when they start to drop below that I cull them. Every time I haven't done so I have regretted it. I have had bird keel over the next month or start developing parasites, or they suddenly move to the most picked on bird in the flock and are ostracized.... Something almost always goes wrong.

So ultimately, it's up to you if you want to cull your birds or not. But honestly, I would do so. Not only because it's good for your bottom line or because of soup or something... Which are all perfectly rational reasons for culling. But also because it's often the best thing you can do for their wellbeing as well.
If you're willing to resign yourself to costly vet bills you can probably keep them around to 10 years old. Some might even live that long in relatively good health. But if you're not, you're not going to have a lot of options on hand, and at least one of your birds is going to get sick or injured and force the issue. So it's best to make up your mind now.