Chickens only good for 2 years?

[cnlanier]

Thanks, I'm not sure what to make of it. My fiance is being very stubborn about this and not much you can do to calm down a ticked off vegetarian. They just don't want to hear about all the "something has to die" thing.
I think she is on the verge of going back the vegan route, which means two of everything in the fridge, and all kinds of craziness.
Need some way to convince her that these animals aren't being exploited just for the eggs.
Offering them a good life might not be enough.
Might be screwed on the chicken thing.


C

 

[bock]

Don't be discouraged. As I said in the post above yours, you certainly do not have to kill your hens. I have never killed a chicken in the 7 years I have owned them.

 

[jerseygirl1]

So why not you just raise them until they die? Use them for insect control?

 

[Illia]

Some advise. . . Buy some chicks, let them grow up, keep a rooster around, and when the hens are done with laying in the future - Let them die of old age or sell them, and raise up some new chicks from them. Get an incubator or a breed that is really broody so the hen will do the work for you.

That way, you don't have to order chicks again when your hens are done, and you don't have to worry about killing your chickens.

I know that when my hatchery girls are done, they won't be eaten. If anything, they'll be given away to a good friend/neighbor.

 

[justbugged]

Quote:
You can get chickens from other people that are raising chickens. This is often done when looking for show birds. The large hatcheries are fairly lax with the standards for heritage birds. There are people that are breeding for the best qualities in a specific breed of chicken. I have hatchery birds, most that I have bought from feed stores. I am happy with them. I also bought a large batch of chicks from Murray McMurray nearly 11 years ago. My sister now owns a Golden Lace Polish Crested that is still laying reliably after all these years.

You could re-home your older birds after they stop laying, but then you would have to not think of why someone else would want an older laying hen. There are people that prefer stewing hens. At some point you will need to figure out what you both can live with.

 

[Bleenie]

My bantam cochins are killer layers, including the Sizzle hen I got for free from a Show breeder of Cochins (she was the product of a Winter fling!

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[cnlanier]

Thank you Illia, so it seems like getting eggs from someone other than a hatchery and incubating them is the way to go.
Any suggestions on what breeds I should get that will be with us for a long time and lay most of their lives?

C

 

[Illia]

Heritage breeds. Although it is tricky to spot non-hatchery types, some good examples are Delawares, Rhode Island Reds, Plymouth Rocks, Jersey Giants, Orpingtons, Sussex, and Wyandottes.

Course, if it seems to hard to spot the difference, then I'd say go with Orpingtons, Jersey Giants, or Delawares. They haven't been as severely "production bred" as the other breeds, and are more likely to be of the proper weight and size from hatchery stock.

If you do want to find out, to key things are to look up or ask about the breed standards for a particular breed, then compare those standards with what people are selling here on BYC. There's a lot of really good heritage breeders, and even a thread strictly for heritage breeds.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Just an idea; check out the "Breeds" page here on BYC to get an idea about the different kinds. Once you narrow it down you can start looking for breeders to give you further info and pricing.

 

[Kittymomma]

Quote:
You could check into the "where am I, where are you" thread for your area and see if anyone there is close and is willing to let you come out and see their birds. She might feel better if she saw how most of us raise our birds--lots of variations, but TONS better then what she's probably seen on youtube if she was checking out battery hens.