The word 'humane' means different things to different people.
To me it makes more sense to harvest the old girls and eat them than put them in an environment (large flock of free rangers)
where they might end up being eaten by a predator, tho it certainly won't be easier.
I got chickens for 'real food'-not for pets or fad, sale of their eggs needs to pay for their food(and it does), if they are not producing eggs to pay for their food they feed me with their meat. I too harvest my old girls, it's harder than doing the extra cockerels...both emotionally and literally, those old girls are have tough viscera and are filled with fat.
Tho my birds are not 'pets', I am not totally immune to having some affection for them and being moved by their physical beauty.
The reason I harvest my non-egg-producing birds is because:
-the responsibility of keeping livestock includes managing their deaths as well as their lives.
-and the 'no waste' aspect of growing your own food.
-of the money spent on growing them up.
I have given away or sold some cockerels/roosters to those who needed one...but old hens are for stew.
To me it makes more sense to harvest the old girls and eat them than put them in an environment (large flock of free rangers)
where they might end up being eaten by a predator, tho it certainly won't be easier.
I got chickens for 'real food'-not for pets or fad, sale of their eggs needs to pay for their food(and it does), if they are not producing eggs to pay for their food they feed me with their meat. I too harvest my old girls, it's harder than doing the extra cockerels...both emotionally and literally, those old girls are have tough viscera and are filled with fat.
Tho my birds are not 'pets', I am not totally immune to having some affection for them and being moved by their physical beauty.
The reason I harvest my non-egg-producing birds is because:
-the responsibility of keeping livestock includes managing their deaths as well as their lives.
-and the 'no waste' aspect of growing your own food.
-of the money spent on growing them up.
I have given away or sold some cockerels/roosters to those who needed one...but old hens are for stew.
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