Help - I have half a dozen 3 Year Old Red Cross Hens - great shape but obviously past their prme as

[Doctor Jimmy]

Help - I have half a dozen 3 Year Old Red Cross Hens - great shape but obviously past their prme as layers.

These girls are in Monroe, CT (06468) and are just about three years old. They are in perfect shape and can be housed with me for a couple of months yet, but I have some day old chicks scheduled to arrive at the end of February - and need to find something to do with them,

They are free to anyone who is interested to keep them as pets, or using them for food.

Like all red cross, they have very sweet dispositions. They are used to both being enclosed and having the run of my yard. Between the six they are laying one egg a day. If you want them for the stew pot that is fine as well, and they are free for the taking for that as well.

I will deliver within half an hour of Monroe for free as well.

Keeping them isn't an option, neither is butchering them for my family. We routinely process clean and eat wild game, but they have a mental issue about eating our own flock.

I would love for someone to have them for pets or food. I just don't want them to go to waste,

e-mail me at [email protected] for details.

 

[SteveBaz]

Sorry to hear about your girls. I would think at 3 they still would be way more productive. Have you played with the proteins and tried to inspire more egg production?

 

[Doctor Jimmy]

They have always been fed high quality blue seal layer pellets, supplemented with everything you can imagine from the garden and the kitchen, as well as crushed oyster shells for calcium - but production has tailed off - and it's not just the winter months. They also spend a good part of most days in the woods foraging - so nutrition hopefully isn't an issue. Red cross production, I'm told, drops dramatically at 3.

 

[ChickenPrnces]

Not really how it works will chickens Steve! Laying decreases with age starting as early as 2.5 years old!

Sorry to hear about your girls. I would think at 3 they still would be way more productive. Have you played with the proteins and tried to inspire more egg production?

 

[Doctor Jimmy]

Anyone with any ideas?

 

[crankster76]

personally , at 3 they would be in the freezer if it was me.. I would rotate mine out every three.

 

[chickenzoo]

Post theM on the for sale section on here. Also your local feedstore and Craigslist. I have six year olds that run the property and spread horse poo and the like..... So I'm sure someone will want them

 

[donrae]

I posted my older hens on my local craigslist and had multiple responses. I offered them for free, just didn't want to carry them through another winter. They were gone the next night.

 

[mlm Mike]

I understand your family not wanting to eat them, but what about butchering them for you dogs?

 

[Doctor Jimmy]

Yes, the dogs would love to eat them, and that may eventually be what happens - and they are used to having a share of the game they bring to my gun already - but it just seems like a waste when they could be put to better use,