How much are hens worth

[Kenzie22]

I have someone who is interested in buying my laying hens, but some of them are older and it is cold here right now so it is hard to tell which ones are for sure laying, but quite a few out of the 22 that I have still are definitely laying. How much do I charge her for them? Several of them are brown egg laying but some are blue egg layers.

 

[WingItRanch]

Try checking Facebook or Craiglist to see the going rate for your area. In East Texas, I see them priced from $20-40 but that's typically for grown pullets, not older hens. When you do sell them, I would just explain that egg production decreases with age and give them the age of the hen so it's full transparency. Good luck!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

How old are the "older" birds? For example are they headed for their second laying cycle, third, fourth? The value of a laying hen will decrease with each laying cycle after the second (second cycleis the most productive when considering both number and size, as her initial laying cycle is productive in number but not so much in size as it can take time for her to go from laying pullet eggs to regular sized eggs) that is one less period of production that the buyer can expect to get from the bird.

 

[Mrs. K]

$8-10, is where I would be asking, if over 2 years old. Under 6 months -$15-20.

 

[SourRoses]

I think it has to be a customized calculation.
I start with the value of the hen based on breed, color, productivity, egg prices, and location influences.
Then average the useful laying lifespan of the breed.
2 years for layer hybrids, up to 5 years for some heritage, and somewhere in between for others.
Calculate that into a percentage reduction for each lost year of laying life.

So say my homebred black EE's are worth $30 at POL (previous years). And they lay well for 4 years. So I'll take off 20-25% for each year of age, though I've never tried to sell older than 3 years.
I make a minimum of 3 because they will have bonded with friends and it's hard to change families with a quarter of your life gone by. If I have 5 to sell, they all have to go together since I wouldn't be able to make another group of 3.
That's my formula anyway.

Now, some people with a traditional farmer mindset might see older hens as without worth.
But I have found pretty receptive folks in my area to 2 year old hens with longer laying expectations... Most of them fairly new to chickens. Because it can seem daunting to raise from chicks, or they may have had bad experiences with chicks and losses before. Or the old "they were supposed to be pullets" headache.
A mature hen is not only going back into lay after she settles in (1-3 weeks in season) giving quick egg results, but she lays larger eggs of a known color. She also has a proven, developed immune system. And may be more likely to go broody.
That's one of the reasons I keep some older hens, they often make better broodies.