Official BYC Poll: What Do You Do With Your Old/Retired Hens?

[Fwoof]

I still get plenty of eggs from my four 5 1/2- and 6 1/2-year-olds during certain parts of the year.

Same here!

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

I haven't reached that point yet but when I do they're just going to live out their lives as my pets.

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

When my hens stop laying, I just let them live their lives the same as always, without culling them. Life is pretty much the same for them. They eat, drink, take dust baths, squabble over grubs, and get lots of love from me. I let them live as long as possible until the time comes for their spirits to fly to heaven.

Same here, also that was the most gorgeous thing ever

 

[Fwoof]

Same here, also that was the most gorgeous thing ever

Thank you!

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

Thank you!

It was, literally almost cried reading it, says alot to how much you love your flock!

 

[Fwoof]

It was, literally almost cried reading it, says alot to how much you love your flock!

Thank you again! I do love my flock, and all my pets. I count them all as members of the family.

 

[Pampered chicken girl]

Thank you again! I do love my flock, and all my pets. I count them all as members of the family.

Same here, they are definitely pets and spoiled more then the dog sometimes . They know it too!

 

[Bonkerelli]

Haven't decided yet what I would do worth my older ladies. They're still laying but some are approaching 4 years old. I think I'll keep them until they lay no more then probably go into the stew pot.

 

[Florida Bullfrog]

I don’t consider a hen truly mature until she’s 2 years old. Prior to that, she’s just a teenager. Mature hens make the best chicks and are the best mothers. So no, I don’t cull past 2 years old as seems to be the current trend among homesteading chicken keepers.

If one makes it to a decade, and none of mine ever have to my recollection, I figure she’s earned the right to live until she dies. I figure even a super survivor like that will get picked off once she slows down. I don’t think I ever had a free ranger just die of old age.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

My older hens are still able to dig, they still make fertilizer, and provide "hentertainment" for me and my family. They lay occasionally still. They are my soil turning, compost pile flipping, garden employees. They are about three and a half, so not that old.

I have a couple not so friendly hens that may go to the stew pot, and one that seems to have a reproductive issue that I may cull and process if it progresses too much.

But I'll always have some older hens to train the younger chickens how to scratch, behave in a flock, and who feeds them treats.