My chickens stopped laying. Should I kill them?

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

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I agree about rehoming them, I know some family members that have Chickens for live yard ornaments that sometimes give back lol

 

[kelyeliot]

I am in the same vote. I decided to get 15 new chicks and start again!!! My old layers are going to auction once the new chicks are almost ready. My only dilemma is do I get a rooster or not?????

 

[Jody]

Had to come in and update:

1: No, they eggs are not hidden anywhere. There is no where for them to be hidden other than in coop, in second coop, in either of the two duck houses, or in the goat stalls in the barn.. Nope.. no eggs (no bushes, no vegetation ---- no predators, etc.. this was ruled out at the beginning) (free range area is fenced)

2: Mites.. could of been, but when I inspected the birds and the coop, none were found, however, I inspected them the day after a dusting with poultry duster and cleaned out the coop, so not sure if this was the cause or not.. decided to correct it anyway just in case, so cleaned coop and did the dusting, and checked afterwards.

3: Molt... Most likely.. feathers are everywhere outside and in the coop.


Got two eggs the day before yesterday.. so, looks like molt is over....

BUT, I got the two eggs the day after I fed them a couple dozen worms and several crickets.. I think I have to bribe them from now on.

As for culling vs loving chickens vs loving my hens, etc.... I realize many raise chickens as pets while many raise them for food while some do for both simultaneously. When I first got my chickens, it was never intended for them to be "pets" but rather a step towards self sufficiency and turning my home into a self sustained homestead and micro farm. Yes, I love my birds, because they have names and I have a relationship with them due to daily care and interraction, etc, however, because my end goal in all this was "for food" and egg production, culling is the only option because one, it puts soup in the kitchen, and two, it frees up square footage for replacement layers.

Don't get me wrong here.. it would be a very difficult decision for me to make in regards to culling these hens and it would pain me a great deal since these 3 were our first chickens, but I also want other breeds, more chickens, more eggs, etc and I'm limited in how many I can house without over crowding and although there is the option of re-homing them, if I went with that route I would never do my first cull, which needs to be done if I'm gonna be raising chickens for meat.. I've culled and processed chickens before, but this was over 20 years ago while a student at the aggie.. If my goal is food, I need to get it out of my system to see if I am not only capable, but comfortable with doing so and to conclude whether or not culling and processing my own birds is something I really have the stomach for. When I was an aggie student I was very squeamish about culling chickens those first few times and right now, I don't even know if I have it in me to follow through with my grand plan.

Sure I could outsource the processing part and never see my birds meet their maker, but that in itself detracts from being self sufficient.

I'm in the midst of cognitive dissonance over this.

 

[LovedMyAlydar]

I have three hens who are 4 years old and 2 are still laying. The Americuna stopped laying over a year ago. The other two have gone from two eggs a day to just one, and sometimes none. I love my girls though and they will always have a home. They are family to us, just like the dogs. They know their names, love to sit in your lap and do tricks. How could I give them the ax? My hubby jokes and tells them he has a nice oven waiting for them but he wouldn't do anything to them either.

Since we like the eggs we have added two new little ones who should pick up the slack later on. When I need fresh eggs I just buy them from the lady I get my milk from.

My girls are getting older just like I am. I guess we can commiserate together about what starts going south. LOL.

 

[Chick Maniac]

Love is not the word I would use if I was going to kill my pets because they stopped laying

 

[Morgan7782]

In the meat birds forum there are many people who process their older laying hens (stewing fowl) once they have stopped laying (I think I saw a few at 4 and 5 years old.) When my hens stop laying I would be interested in processing them as well. I do not look at it as 'killing a pet'. But rather completing the circle. At least you know the hen was well loved and well cared for before processing. However there are other things to look at such as molt and such, but I hold nothing against people who process and eat their older laying hens. Not a thing wrong with it.

 

[chickenqueen]

Thank you for some common sense!!! I have a bird or two that I would love to serve up someday too, but that doesn't make me a bad person. I have a neighbor that thins her flock every so often so she can make sure that they are all laying. Not all of us in CA are tree huggers LOL
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[bad_coffee]

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