Keeping Chickens for Their Entire Lifespan

[Juise]

Kaitie09 - Hahaha I love the idea of a chicken "retirement village"!

With their own kiddie pool and mealworm bar, perhaps? LOL

And to Kaitie09 and allpeepedout - I also love that I am not alone in wanting to do this.

so lucky - Very true! Doesn't quite cover their bills as much, but still!

HEChicken - Smaller bird that don't eat as much also lay smaller eggs, do they not?

Mule Chick - I would love to have a rooster, but, sadly, we cannot have one here.

We spent 6 months trying to find a good home that didn't just want to eat him for the accidental roo we got with our first batch!

On the plus side, we made a new friend out of the deal, the kids can visit him once in awhile, and she provides us with periodic updates and pictures of him on Facebook.

That made the whole thing so much easier on my, then, 3 year old, who was ever so sad to see him go. I am hoping like hell that we do not end up with another rooster, or, *gasp*, more than one in our new batch, which is why we are getting 8 - 10 week olds. I would love to have one of our hens raise some chicks, and definitely the kids would, too, would a broody hen take foreign day olds?

 

[Plottner]

Layer breeds are smaller birds that produce large eggs. Leghorns are a good example.

 

[mkeawsh]

Yeah, I am thinking that's what we'll be doing., maybe 5 every 2 or 3 years, depending on how many are laying at the time. I am not sure how many chickens is our limit, we have plenty of space and can build more coops and such if we need to, financially speaking is really where the limit will come in, I'm sure. There are just only so many "pets" we can keep when they are not adding anything to the household aside from companionship, kwim?

Good luck on your plan of every 2 or 3 years.

That WAS my plan but chickens are addicting. I am in my seventh year of incubating and - in a couple weeks - brooding in my house. It started with four the first year and currently have 34 bantams and 2 S Sussex. Trying to take a year off from hatching more seems to not happen.

Of those 36 chickens, 5 are roosters and the rest are hens. All are very very tame, have names and are pets. Since mine are out free-ranging every day, I have had at least a couple dozen in my span of having chickens taken by coyotes, raccoons, owls and mostly hawks but they are miserable if I don't let them out and I appreciate and love them while they are here and miss them if they disappear but know that they had a good life. I currently have 51 eggs in two separate bators that are due to hatch next week. I always say that next year, I'm not hatching any, but this is one strong, fun addiction.

I still have my Mops - the only one of the original four and once in a while she will lay but most of the time she just hangs out in the chicken house or tractors. My little matriarch Silver-Laced Cochin.

And yes, I give away and sell eggs. LOL There is nothing like eating FRESH eggs.

 

[mkeawsh]

My broody hens took anything that was in the nest box. I just did not let them keep them. I let my Mops hatch her own and found them to be very untame. Mama is the only one that they wanted and could not get close to them. If you are looking for pets, that is not the best way unless you plan on taking them away from her once she lays them, which would be kind of cruel.

 

[mkeawsh]

Once she hatches them - not lays them.

 

[mkeawsh]

Mealworm farm is next endeavor for this Spring. Now to find Wheat Bran.

 

[Juise]

mkeawsh - I know! It is so hard to resist buying chickens, it is ludicrous!

I try to tell myself that about free ranging them, and that it why I do it, even though I know we will eventually lose some and it will be hard, I believe it is still the way they should have lived.

I guess we'll just stick to buying 8 - 10 week old chicks, then. I do want them to be friendly with us.

I think it is wonderful that you still have one of your original chickens!

 

[Juise]

Oh, and Plottner - I guess I had just completely assumed that about the smaller breeds, I was thinking they were all similar to banties - smaller bird, smaller egg. Just goes to show what a noob I am still!

 

[tinydancer87]

My mother has an EE hen that is going on 7 years old, and lays 3-4 green eggs weekly. We keep all of our chickens as long as they live (and are behaving themselves, lol). The hen used to lay a little in the winter but doesn't anymore. Now she is more seasonal, but I think she's doing great considering her age.

My mother also had a black australorp hen that was at least 12 years old when she died. She was so old that she got arthritis and could barely hobble when it was cold outside. My mom moved her around, making sure she had shade and her own personal food and water dish. That old hen just loved to lay in the sun and relax. Now she had totally stopped laying eggs.

 

[Juise]

tinydancer87 - Thanks so much for sharing! It is lovely to hear of others successfully keeping their birds for life without drowning in chickens.

May I ask how long you have been doing this, how many chickens you currently have, and how many of them still lay?