Options after hens stop laying

[TrialandError]

my sister in law back in the late 60s gave me some of her butchered old hens for dog food & i gotta tell ya its not an easy task , keeping all those bones from killing your dog & its lots of work

What do you mean? Dogs can eat raw chicken bones no problem.

 

[Leigti]

my sister in law back in the late 60s  gave me some of her  butchered old hens  for  dog  food  & i gotta tell ya  its not an easy task , keeping all those bones  from killing  your dog  & its lots of work:/    

As long as the meat and bones are raw your dog shouldn't have much problem with it. It's the cooked ones that will kill them. If you're really worried about it you can run it through a grinder. I feed my dog and cat raw meat and bones all the time. No problems. I admit it took me a long time to get comfortable hearing my dog Krentz through a chicken back or chicken neck but she's never had a problem. The key is raw, not cooked.

 

[Diannastarr]

HI Leigti , WOW i never knew that

but we have always fed our dogs raw meat just not the bones so yeah live & learn, but still i would grind up any meat with bones just to make me feel better HA ,

we never kill any thing & about old hens we would just keep them all, since they paid their way for their life time , but if we could not keep them for who knows what ever reason , we would find all good homes for them, & lately some elderly folks have been asking about old hens & they say they want them to clean up there yards & i gotta say yeah they sure can do a good job of that ...HA

THANKS have a good one

 

[Peghen]

Curious, Should you still give your old girls Layer feed? Are there any other options for old hens you keep as pets?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I feed an all flock with oyster shells on the side, so the old girls don't get the extra calcium.

 

[LTC Steve]

I know this is an older post, sorry late to the party.

If I had the laws that would allow me to keep many birds, I might consider keeping them after the eggs are done. However, I really started this venture out to get eggs. I have been told not to name them if I plan to eat them, but I did. Grilled, Smoked and Baked are a few of the names I have used.....JK.

I have only 6, three more than allowed, and only two are still laying. If I want more eggs, then I have to make some decision.

We do have some meat chickens at another location and they will be processed in about 3 weeks. I may have my 4 non egg producers join them. Processing is being done by someone else. I guess I will see how this goes.

BTW- I love this site.