how long do you keep your flock before you replace them

[Chicken.Lytle]

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My little flock of food security layers has become my little flock of individually named friends . I know I would be better off eating them this fall, but that seems unlikely at this point. My wonderful rooster is a good individual, but not a purebred critter worth breeding.

So, if I want to raise Ameraucanas or Meaties, then it is chicken math for me.

 

[SunnyCalifornia]

My chickens are dual purpose: Egg layers, and Garden Pest Control. They will always be useful.

 

[mons02035]

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And compost makers....

 

[Illia]

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By "non-hatcher stock" I'm guess those are birds you hatched on your own? I bought two of my girls as chicks from the hatchery & 2 as hens from the hatchery. Do you think they'll be a difference between the two like what you're talking about? Why do your hatchery hens go earlier? Just stress, or do you think they've got poorer genetics?

What I mean by non-hatchery are birds that are not related at all to hatchery stock. As said by another, even if you buy hatchery chicks, then breed them and hatch your own, they're still hatchery stock.

They have poorer genetics. Hatcheries breed primarily for high production, which means a maximum amount of eggs, then naturally an early "burn out" which means the hens taper almost to a stop by 3-5 years of age. Plus, with only production in mind - defects, inbreeding, nutrition deficiency from the environment the breeding hens live in, and even a neglection to genetic behaviors comes into play. Hatcheries are a business, and breed their chickens in the same manner your store bought eggs' original laying hens are bred. They're for production and profit, not much more. They're still good hens and great pets, but they don't generally last long as a layer, and often will even come across egg laying issues later on in life. Some strains even have defects at birth, such as crooked toes, crooked beaks, or weak immune systems.

Not meaning to scare you away from hatchery stock though, as a lot of it out there is still perfectly fine for pet use.

 

[spartacus_63]

How you manage your flock is dependent on your goals. If you are in for the eggs, you should add new chicks at 18 months as the outside limit. If it is meat, it depends on the birds, if you are raising chickens for a hobby or just for personal egg benefit, you could go longer on replacing the hens. As far as Roosters go, if you are not planning to hatch any of your own eggs, you can keep him til the girls get tired of him and chase him away. He will be the watch bird and alarm clock till his last breath.

My flock goals are for self sustainment. I want enough eggs to provide for my family with extra enough to pay for the feed. I started with laying pullets and chicks, I bred the pullets in the first year and have bred for flock replacement every year. It is fun and the girls are more than paying for their feed, even through the winter. We also send all our cockerals to freezer camp when their time is right.

 

[Carols Clucks]

Our rooster is a good 10 years old. He is good for calling hens, alerting for hawks, being the boss and eating grain. He does not wear out hens and I doubt any eggs are fertile. But he is a good old boy so he stays. I think he has a girlfriend his age, I doubt she lays. She is so fat I doubt she would even make good soup stock

The next 2 are probably 6 years old. One is her favorite, Blacky, she is smart and sneaky and can get in to everything. Our 4 year old hen just started laying again the past 2 days. The rest are under a year.

 

[spartacus_63]

You will also find many opinions here that are not based in fact. Most hatcheries do well by their customers. If you are looking for a bird to enter into the show ring, then you would be well served to find a breeder of show birds. Otherwise, a hatchery is a good source. If you can find a local who has chickens and is willing to sell you some, that would be a good source too.

Chickens of any source can be victims of poor breeding or inbreeding. If you deal with a reputable hatchery, you are likely to get good healthy birds. Non show quality birds are not of lower genetic quality. All chickens have virtually the same DNA. What differentiates a show bird from a non show bird is a book of standards, not quality of genes. All modern chickens are cross breeds.

The only breeds that you really have to worry about "burning out" are the high production hybrid breeds, such as Red Star, Golden Comets etc. Hybrids are not good for breeding stock since they will not breed true and will lose their production prowess with each generation. If you purchase any of the standard breeds you will get an average for that breed. Typically, show bird production qualities are not as high as some of the non show quality birds production rate. Some believe this is due to breeding for appearance which has diminished some of the genetic traits linked to production. I am not the expert in genetics and it really isn't relative other than as a counter opinion.

 

[greekbioguy]

i am happy i can info from people that know so much about chicken,it would probably take years for me to acquire, just by experience, the knowledge i can find in a week by asking the right people.

i intend to keep 3 hens and a rooster,maybe a 4Th hen in the future.i liked gold Brahmas
i would say that looks are most important to me but i would expect to get at least an egg a day out of 3 hens (don't really need more eggs). as long as my hens lay 2-3 eggs each a week i would not mind keeping them, i would prefer to keep my rooster for as long as i can but once his fertility is gone he will be of no use (i would like to see babies each spring)
i have also been told that chicken breeds like brahmas do not burn out as fast as the more production orientated breeds like the leghorns ,but they produce less

 

[RainbowBirds_of_a_Feather]

Aloha,

It is funny that you ask that question. Because I have had my Hens & Roosters over the time that they are expected to produce eggs and virility. But with my roos, I keep the ones that I feel have the qualities/uniqueness past their prime. I often give the boys a resting period, separation from the gals, to regain stamina and virility. Or do that in a combination with change of the guard, rotate boys, to make them reawaken. But you can tell when a male is just not able to make the cut in my flock. They get lazy, but often times when they see another male to pep once more. But the longest I have kept a roo was I believe close to ten years. But he was the Granddaddy of the roos and he keeps the newbies in line prior and will be passive to the roo that will take his place as the top dawg. (As my students would say it

) Which in turn that roo will follow suit and allow another to be allowed to breed with out much more than a glance. With age comes experience, right. Here is one of my boys I had (Picture Below) showed past his prime because he looked withered and degenerated. So I know that he was done with his contributions.


Blindy RIP (older pic but the last one I had)

My hens 8-9 years, I would keep them. I allowed majority of them to live it out till the end, if there was space. But others would be great broodies and or second fosters, taking feathered out chicks that are still peeping and raise them to almost laying age. BTW a hand full of the gals laid till almost 8 Years. I had one that laid till she was 8 & 1/2 but I could be wrong cause she was in the nest and do the motion of lay. I usually just leave them to do the business of laying so she may not have laid the eggs i thought she laid. I consider these old timers the Grandmas of the group. Here is one of my Grandmas bought her in 2003 as a chick but this is a younger pic of her. I need to get updated ones. But it rained like crazy so i need to clean the stank out the cages.

Witchie

But it is up to you what you decide cause you are the one to decide, ultimately, it will be your choice. Good luck!


ETA: I see you have reached your choice, I should have read through the whole thread

. My apologies to you and I think I went a little over board on your original question too

 

[Delmar]

I'm going to share some of my goals with you, but I may need some correction as my livestock breeding experience is with Holstein dairy cattle, not with chickens.

I got my first birds in October and I want to start breeding and hatching chickens in the spring. My interest is breeding dual purpose "mutts" that are genetically rich! I think we have identified the girls I have to be 3 Plymouth Rocks, 1 Rhode Island Red, and 1 Easter Egger. We picked up a Rooster yesterday that we were told is a Leghorn Easter Egger mix. My thinking is that I will get a new rooster each year, to avoid my current rooster being the daddy and the grandpa of the new chicks being introduced into the flock. I will be looking for a different breed of rooster each year, for as long as it's practical, to add genetic diversity, and to just plain make things interesting.

Sound right?