Does anyone raise chickens to be both egg layers and butchers? Let them lay for a couple years, then let them reproduce, then butcher the 2 year olds, and is it even possible to do this? How old do chickens live to be and how long will they continue to lay for? Thank you.
They are called "Dual purpose breeds". If you keep a hen for a couple of years and then butcher, that's going to be some mighty chewy meat. Good for chicken and dumplings, not good for frying. Normally, you'd hatch your chicks and butcher the roosters at a young age and keep the hens for laying. Once the hens stop laying in a couple of years, you can butcher them for stewing hens or dog food.
I raise Dual purpose breeds (RIR,Barred Rocks, Welsummers, Delawares, and large fowl Araucanas. I hatch and sell the chicks. When I grow my own chick for more layers, I butcher the roos at 16 weeks or so. Then keep the hens. I also raise Cornish X meat birds. These make great fryers at about 8-10 weeks. These can be found at many hatcherys. They do not lay eggs. (They can but they eat a lot of food for eggs.) Oregon Blues is right, at 2 years old they are very chewy. Nate
