How long to keep dual-purpose hens?

[Gibs]

Hi folks,

Just wondering, if anybody else has experience raising dual-purpose breeds and using the hens first as layers, then as stew: when do you make that transition?

To be clear, I'm not in a hurry to get rid of my girls - I have plenty of space and no big problems. They're currently a year old, and the breeds are Sussex, Delaware, Black Australorp, and Silver Wyandotte. (Sidenote, if anyone else wants to do the dual-purpose thing: I was most impressed by the Delawares, meat-wise; I might just keep the ones I have and breed more. Australorps were a close second, but the black feathers on these ones make their carcasses a little less clean-looking.)

At the moment, I'm thinking I will keep these hens around for another year, and plan the big slaughter when they start molting (and stop laying) toward the end of their second year. Thoughts? I think I've heard that the big egg-machine farms only keep their hens for one year, but I'm not that impatient - I don't mind if they slow down a tiny bit in their second year. I just need to find that sweet spot in age where they're not still laying faithfully, but they're not so old and tough that it would be like eating gravel.

Then again, I have a five-year-old Ameraucana who is still laying almost an egg a day during the spring and summer months. Maybe it's just hard to predict!

 

[Poultry Chick]

Most people using for dual purpose usually keep them 3 years.

 

[chickens really]

A friend of mine keeps hers one year...Hatches out Chicks and then butchers the year old birds every fall....She calls them her winter soup....lol...
Totally up to you....

 

[aart]

Maybe it's just hard to predict!

Welcome to BYC!
It is hard to predict!
Older birds are not necessarily going to be like "eating gravel"(haha!)
That is more down to 'resting' the cleaned carcass properly before cooking/freezing,
and how you cook it.
Slaughtering during a molt will likely make for tough plucking(pin feathers),
you could always skin them instead tho that's not always easy with an older bird.

So far(4yrs) I hatch out new layers every spring, slaughter extra cockerels at 13-16 weeks, and thin out (sell or slaughter) the flock of older layers (2-3yrs) between the new pullets laying and before winter hits hard. Winter coop space is my parameter, eggs all year round is my goal, but I have yet to find a 'perfect balance'.
Best of cLuck!

 

[song of joy]

I've kept dual-purpose hens for the past six years. I determine who and when to cull based on their production, which I'm able to track by individual hen. With 10 to 15 hens it's fairly easy to determine who is laying which eggs, especially as I keep a variety of breeds.

I keep most hens until at least the fall of their second year (approx. 2 1/2 years old), as most tend to lay fairly well their first two laying seasons. It just does not seem efficient or necessary to cull them after their first laying season, considering it takes 5 to 6 months to get them into production in the first place (when starting with chicks). I cull in the fall so I don't have to overwinter and feed them for the 3 to 5 months they're not laying. I keep my best layers until they're 3 1/2 or 4 1/2 years old, but again, this is based on daily record-keeping to track production (which I enjoy as part of the hobby).

I've only been keeping detailed records for the past 3 years, but based on this limited data set, I'm seeing a 28 to 46% (average 30%) drop in production between the 1st and 2nd laying seasons, and another 15 to 25% drop in production between the 2nd and 3rd laying seasons.

The culled laying hens are skinned rather than plucked, put in a brine solution for a couple of days in the fridge, and then simmered at low heat for 5 to 6 hours until the meat is tender and falls off the bones. Makes GREAT soup and broth!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I like to keep them through the second laying cycled