It happened to me, too many chickens

[BarredRockMom]

Whenever I have had a surplus of eggs, I have mentioned it at work and have always had people willing to buy my extras.

I used the money for more chicken treats instead of something like shoes because they are so sweet that it's more fun to hear their excitement at seeing a head of lettuce that they know is for them than knowing Mama gyped them.

Wait just a cotton picking minute...they are doing it again!!

 

[TropicalBabies]

So much more fun than baseball cards... and a much better crazy.

 

[Mimi13]

This is very strange that your thread was the very first thing I pulled up after coming back in from locking my birds up...with a very heavy heart...and it spoke directly to me. One of my OG’s, Original Gangsta hens, as I lovingly call them, my big bellied one (internal layer) did not get up on the roost tonight. I would like to think this is a one time thing for no reason whatsoever, but I know better. My BO, Butter, has been laying internally now for over a year and has been muddling on. I knew she would let me know when the time was drawing near.

Anyway, I am needing to cull some of my lesser productive hens this fall, kind of like in the next few weeks, but I’m finding this job to be more difficult than I was thinking it would be. I feel your pain, more than ever now. And I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do.

 

[Mrs. K]

The obvious is easy... it is the questionable, should I, or shouldn't I.

MrsK

 

[BarredRockMom]

This is very strange that your thread was the very first thing I pulled up after coming back in from locking my birds up...with a very heavy heart...and it spoke directly to me. One of my OG’s, Original Gangsta hens, as I lovingly call them, my big bellied one (internal layer) did not get up on the roost tonight. I would like to think this is a one time thing for no reason whatsoever, but I know better. My BO, Butter, has been laying internally now for over a year and has been muddling on. I knew she would let me know when the time was drawing near.

Anyway, I am needing to cull some of my lesser productive hens this fall, kind of like in the next few weeks, but I’m finding this job to be more difficult than I was thinking it would be. I feel your pain, more than ever now. And I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do.

If she's letting you know that it's time, and I've been there, it's time for chicken cuddles and preparing her to go back home. I tell mine what I think happens, where they're going, who they'll see & though we'll miss her, we will never forget her. I tell her thank you for letting me be her Chicken Mom & how she's made my heart Happy for her whole life. I let her know that I would give anything to be able to fix her up, but that I can't..so I am going to make sure that she knows how loved she is. If she wants me to hold her & be near me for comfort when she goes, I will be there. If she wants to be by herself, that's ok, too.

This is the crappy part of having a feathered family. I feel for you & hope your girl goes peacefully & fast.

 

[McBriec]

Being "soft" is being kind to animals.

 

[aart]

We can house them all but I panick when I think of all the eggs come spring.

Are you sure?
I kept too many one winter, 23 birds in 96sqft coop(but no weather protected run),
and the Chicken Cabin Fever was Ugly!

 

[cottontail farm]

Are you sure?
I kept too many one winter, 23 birds in 96sqft coop(but no weather protected run),
and the Chicken Cabin Fever was Ugly!

All 18 of them are insistent on cramming into the big coop together for the night but I have a second coop available to room some in... and a *cough* third *cough* coop (a small prefab) still in the box in our shed that can be assembled for a couple of the bantams.
3 cops. Good grief. That's not including the duck house or where the geese sleep.

I wonder, if I do keep everyone, if the food pantry in town will take eggs. That might work.

 

[Mrs. K]

What's a gal going to do?
You have been blessed to be able to support your addiction. Have you tried meat birds yet? Another aspect, oh so good!

 

[aart]

All 18 of them are insistent on cramming into the big coop together for the night but I have a second coop available to room some in... and a *cough* third *cough* coop (a small prefab) still in the box in our shed that can be assembled for a couple of the bantams.
3 cops. Good grief. That's not including the duck house or where the geese sleep.

I wonder, if I do keep everyone, if the food pantry in town will take eggs. That might work.

..and how big is that coop, in feet by feet?
So do you free range....in the middle of winter when there is 2-3 feet of snow on the ground?