Keeping Older Hens

[gimmie birdies]

My friend gave back Marilyn because she had to move, she is 10 yrs old now.

She also gave me back Mazie whom she got as a chick, this one I hatched...

She is the 1/2 sister to my avatar...
She also gave me 2 SFH

and this EE.

 

[AnotherKim]

I purposely have received a friend's older layers sine I wasn't interested in their egg production. I seek insect control mainly grasshoppers. If only they would eat fire ants they would be perfect. But now I can use minimal insecticides on my place. My shrubs and fruit trees are protected by chickens. They race the cottontails to get at the fallen fruit and try to knock peaches off low limbs. Some produce during spring and summer at a reduced rate. In the winter I buy my eggs from the previous owner when I need eggs.

I've found that diatamacious earth works really well for ant control

 

[path.otto]

I started when I was 50 figuring I'd outlive those first ones as well--now I'm 80 and just added 3 dozen more.

And I hope you outlive these chickens, too! I intend to outlive mine - I have leukemia so nothing is certain but, nothing ever is.

 

[ZoomuKeeper]

I am a firm believer of Whats good for the goose......... All of mine will when they reach that age will go to the bigger yard where they can walk and scratch the ground all day where they can live out their natural life. When they die they go in my animal grave yard. I eat a vegan diet not for the animals but for my health so egg production means nothing to me. I love watching them. I have baby Buff Brahmas now and I cannot wait for them to be old enough to go out in the chicken yard. Giant beauties

 

[leisure]

Hi, I was reading the post about when to cull. I'm wondering if there's anyone out there that just keeps their hens and lets them live out their lives. If so, on average, how long do they live? I have a flock where the majority of hens have just turned 3. Egg laying has slowed for sure, but they're still producing. They aren't super friendly pets, but I don't think I have the heart to cull. That being said, I'd like to add some new birds and know i can't end up with too many! I have about eight 3 yr old hens and then some younger silkies that are laying good. Unfortunately I also have 3 silkie roos and one is actually really sweet. I guess I just want to know how many folks let their chickens live out their lives and if you do, do you also keep adding new girls?

Yes, my girls all live out their lives in easy retirement. The oldest is my Aracauna, who is over 10 years old and still laying! And yes, I add a couple new birds once in a while. I put the new birds in a cage (like a small dog crate) and put the cage in the hen house. The chickens get to know each other without being able to hurt the new ones. After a day or two, I let them all loose in the backyard. By the end of the day, they all go back into the hen house and roost together. Every once in a while I have to put the new chickens back in the cage, but not usually. I do not have roosters, so I'm not sure how that would affect things...

 

[deacons]

I do. I have two different age groups in one flock of 10, but they're all considered "old." I have three five year old Golden Laced Wyandottes, and then 7 three year olds: 2 SLW, one Dominique, 4 Speckled Sussex. They're all pets so laying output doesn't matter for me. Now that the days are longer, I'm getting anywhere from 2-6 eggs daily. I suspect at least one and maybe two of the GLW aren't really laying much, if at all, but that's fine for me. I am hopefully we don't run into any reproductive diseases as they continue to age; after losing two Golden Comets around two years old, both to EYP, I tried to prioritize hens that weren't such egg factories.

 

[BabyGirl2]

I have a grand total of 30 chickens, 6 bantams, and the rest game/big stock mixed. I have only culled do to bullying. I plain to let them live out their lives. My first hen Momma Game was the oldest the dogs killed her, but she ruled the roost. She didn't lay eggs but she certainly told the other girls and the young roosters how things went. I plain to wait until my numbers thin quite a bit before I had any chicks. (but we all know how plains go.)

 

[Naser]

On this front I found the white Leghorns are the best, they lay longer and they die younger

 

[chkva]

My family spoke about this before we got our hens and we all decided that we would keep all our retired hens until they pass away due to age. We recently just took in a 2 year old hen knowing she may not have much laying left in her, she will be used to teach our new girls the law of the land. We personally don't feel comfortable culling a healthy chicken especially after they laid us so many delicious eggs to eat. Keeping them when they retire is a small price we will pay for what they have done for us. If the hen was unhealthy and suffering, that would be a different decision.

 

[meetthebubus]

I let mine live... they love life they aren't mindless creatures they have feelings why do we ever need to cull poor chickens (in general) love em