This is for Avas who wrote:
Guys - I have a problem. Regarding aging chickens. I won't eat them, I don't eat meat BUT my husband does and he wants to "retire" them when they stop laying. I take care of our chickens and I don't want to lose them, especially by human hands. My husband says he wont support chickens that are not producing. This makes me sick. I have argued and argued. My 9 chickens are going on 2 years old and laying great but I dread the day they stop. Aside from going to the store and planting eggs in the coop for the next 15 - 20 years (which is what I had planned, LOL), is there such thing as a real sancuary for chickens to go? I have no problem keeping mine but I'm worried about what my husband might do.
Don't look to make your dilemma someone else's problem. There are not enough 'sanctuaries' to take in people's chickens because they have husbands who want to kill them. You took on a responsibility to care for them until the end when you either purchased or adopted your girls in the first place. It is no different than having any other pet. Leave the sanctuaries and rescues to take in animals from the truly cruel people such as the factory farms, etc.
Tell your husband he will not have to support them and YOU make sure to care for them until they pass on their own or become ill and need to be euthanized. I am vegetarian and my husband is not. If my husband ever threatened to kill any of my pets (chickens, dogs, cats, etc.) I would report him to the authorities and I would divorce him in a heartbeat. I could never live with or be associated with someone like that. But before anything I would take my pets to safety first.
If you are really "worried about what my husband might do." you better rethink your marriage. I would never trust any person who threatens to kill any living creature simply because it is of no use to them personally. These are your chickens, your babies, not his to kill.
