My chickens stopped laying. Should I kill them?

[MiniBeesKnees]

For sure if you kill them all, they will quit laying completely, permanently.

 

[Dust Bunny]

AWww look at this face, so sweet and innocent

this is the reason my hens egg production has "declined" my egg suckin dog!

 

[joebryant]

Good heavens, if I were to kill my chickens every time they stopped laying, they'd all be dead. Wait your turn; you'll get an egg.

 

[bakerjw]

I've wondered this question myself. I am very attached to my first chickens aka "The girls" that I bought specifically as layers and I am pretty sure that they will live out their lives and die a natural death. Well unless one or two of them really aggravates me. There are a couple who have been named and stand out but the rest are rather skittish still. I am not attached to my latest brood of white leghorns so this post has been really helpful.

 

[Penturner]

Quote:
Yeah but it sure lets you plan ahead with a high degree of certainty. All this unknown stuff get aggravating will they lay will they not? will the eggs hatch will they not? will the chickens get sick or be healthy. Man it never ends. It's really nice to know that something is definitely going to happen at least once in a while.

 

[blueskylen]

i usually let mine out in the evenings for a couple of hours, because if I let them out before 2 or 3 in the afternoon, there are no eggs in the nest box. i think that when they get the urge, they just find a secluded spot and lay them instead of going back to the coop. mine almost always lay their eggs in the morning.

i have read that some chickens lay eggs for 6 or so years, so culling them at 2 years would be rushing it a bit ( my opinion only )

 

[rancher hicks]

Did you know that a female chick is born with all the eggs she will ever lay?
Different breeds lay a different number of eggs each year. I don't recall seeing what breed these hens are. I would def check for another reason before killing them. I have some Delawares that are at least 2 and they seem to be laying well. Hens don't like sudden changes in environment, even if it's more space to range or one chick added to the flock. They can tell one breed from another too.
I have yet to get an answer as to whether same breed flocks lay better than mixed breed flocks.

 

[ICallMyselfCherie']

This is very disturbing. I hope you understand how I mean this: It's not really a big deal to me whether your hens are laying you eggs anymore. I'm on these boards because I really do love chickens, their personalities, their wonderful mothering abilities, their quirkiness. The eggs they lay are nice, but they are waaaaay down there on the list of why I keep chickens. There are probably a lot of other people on these boards who feel the same way. Please find one of them near you who wants to save a life or two. I'd take the hens, but I'm in CA. As much as I would like to, I'm not going to be able to get them here unless you know of a way to ship them.

I'm not usually so pointed as to speak this way, but it really does seem very greedy and cruel to kill a being who has been so giving to you for two and a half years. I understand this is probably a business for you. But even if that is all it is to you, when you decide to get rid of your hens, please go to a little bit of trouble and find them new homes. It's the right thing to do after all the eggs they've laid you, and I'm sure somebody will love them.

This is my most honest answer to your question. You said you love your hens. Don't kill them if you love them. I know you can find a better solution!!!

 

[RevaVirginia]

Quote:
Note to self *insert your best Alpha Rooster Popeye'esque chuckle here*

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

We have 16 chickens today, (with eggs to hatch tomorrow

)

I cant imagine killing any of my girls unless it was to put them out of misery. We bought them as egg layers, not meat birds.

But they are our PETS that give back. And this is what I tell people. Our SSH (dottie) is my 4 yr old daughters bird, noone but her is "allowed" to eat Dotties eggs. I just cant see lopping off their heads because they either stop laying, cant lay or wont lay. To me that is no different than killing a canary that stops singing.

But as I said OUR chickens are our pets that give back, not production stock.