"old" hens- what to do

[4everacres]

hi, I'm not at this cross roads yet, but want advice for when the time comes. I don't want to "cull" any hens just because they egg laying productions has gone down. but i feed them organic feed ( expensive!) and my husband feels I shouldn't be wasting money on low producing hens,, any suggestions?

 

[enola]

My old hens have two options when they reach the end of their second laying season. I eat them or sell them. I agree with the husband, feed is too expensive to feed free loading hens.

 

[donrae]

This is a management decision each flock owner has to make. Some folks keep their birds as pets, some have retirement coops, some sell hens, some butcher hens. That pretty much covers the options, and you simply have to decide which works for you personally.

Here, most hens get sold. Some earn a place by being dependable broody mommas or somehow being unique layers.

 

[4everacres]

maybe I'll start a chicken rescue! I'll operate as a 501 (c) and save chickens!

 

[RubyPriestess]

Considering your username is '4everacres,' it sounds like a chicken retirement home in the works already! xD
I'm nowhere near having to make this decision as of yet, but I already know the choice that will be made once that day comes.

 

[Beekissed]

One thing you need to realize about old hens. Their bodies will keep trying to produce long after they no longer can make a full egg and deliver it, so they develop lash eggs and the resulting problems from that. Very rarely do old hens just potter off into a blissful old retirement and die peacefully on the grass one day....usually they experience horrible discomfort from this internal laying and the fluid that collects around them, so they need to either be culled before they can experience that discomfort or shortly after you notice they have a problem. Either way an old hen will need to be culled. Never really saw an old hen just drop over dead one night, dying peacefully in her sleep of old age.

 

[yellowchicks]

One thing you need to realize about old hens. Their bodies will keep trying to produce long after they no longer can make a full egg and deliver it, so they develop lash eggs and the resulting problems from that. Very rarely do old hens just potter off into a blissful old retirement and die peacefully on the grass one day....usually they experience horrible discomfort from this internal laying and the fluid that collects around them, so they need to either be culled before they can experience that discomfort or shortly after you notice they have a problem. Either way an old hen will need to be culled. Never really saw an old hen just drop over dead one night, dying peacefully in her sleep of old age.

This is good to know. I was expecting some kind of hospice/retirement home for my olden girls when the time comes. I don't mind keep feeding them as pets, but maybe the quality of life out weights the longevity of life for old hens.

 

[goodb]

This is a management decision each flock owner has to make. Some folks keep their birds as pets, some have retirement coops, some sell hens, some butcher hens. That pretty much covers the options, and you simply have to decide which works for you personally.

Here, most hens get sold. Some earn a place by being dependable broody mommas or somehow being unique layers.

"Some earn a place by being dependable broody mommas..."

Applause!

I'm loving my broodys. Problem I'm having now is I've nowhere to put 3 concurrent broodies. Sigh, what a great problem to have I suppose.

 

[Mrs. K]

I have never had real high quality chickens, I have always had hatchery hens. The longevity of hens depends on a lot of things: the breed of the bird, the quality of the breed of the bird, the climate and a bit of luck with predators.

Truthfully, I have never had a bird that lived much past 3 years. By that time, they look old, they are a little rattier, a little slower. However, I have had them just be dead in the morning. No signs of suffering, reasonably active the day before, then dead.

So depending on you birds, it may not be a real problem. Currently I have a Buff, that has raised several clutches for me, and I am hoping that she has one more, but I won't be surprised if she does not make fall, she is currently 3+ years. Red - a egg giving girl, a cinnamon queen, laid an egg nearly to the end, just a couple a week at that point, and one morning she was dead.

So, what I am saying is it might not be a big problem. Personally, I am attached to Butter, but I know her time is close, I like to add birds to the flock, and birds have to come out. Pick a favorite, and keep her through her old age, culling if she is not well. The others, let them go.

Mrs K

 

[OR4-hmom]

I have 7 year BR hatchery hens. I'm getting an average of 7 eggs from 9 old ladies. I feed them all winter and they start up with large eggs when the days get longer. I've had to put some down that developed egg issues but they don't need heat, the pecking order issues are all resolved and no brooding indoors unless I want to.
It works for me, but I take on extra work to buy feed, they are really pets to me rather than livestock.