Should I kill my whole flock?

[Little Cheepers]

My partner and I have had a flock of 20 hens for a year now. Their current condition is:

• Laying well with occasional egg eating by a few
• Eating high quality whole-seeds and grain feed, vegetable scraps, grass, and bugs
• Living in a chicken tractor and quickly get bored and peck at each other
• Most have lice and mites, and some have bumble foot

We are considering killing them all for meat because:

• Though we get $5/dozen for their eggs, we can't afford their feed, let alone compensate for our time
• We are overwhelmed with their health problems and don't have simple enough solutions
• We think that anyone willing to buy them with their current health problems probably won't treat them well, and we are also concerned about our small-town reputation

I'm posting about this here because I'm wondering:

• Is killing them all for meat a reasonable and worthwhile strategy? It feels like a big trade-off since they still have lots of laying time left.
• Do you agree that anyone willing to buy them with their current health problems probably won't treat them well? We figure people wanting a very healthy flock will only buy very healthy chickens.
• Do you have any other solutions?

Thank you for reading and considering. This is not an easy decision for us -- we've been grappling with it for several months.

 

[GitaBooks]

I'm sorry to hear that.

Offer a dust bath with some wood ash in it, this should help get rid of the lice and mites. There may be some people who would be willing to take them for free, though probably they wouldn't know how to take care of the bumblefoot.
You could use them for meat, however, or sell them to someone else as meat birds. You could try treating there bumblefoot, though that would be a lot of work. Spray down there run for mite and lice and make sure they have a soft, clean surface to walk on. Chickens with health problems can be hard to treat, and using them for meat is a good way not to waste a good bird.

I hope this helps: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303829/vet-suggestion-for-non-invasive-bumblefoot-cure/220

Best of luck!

 

[QueenMisha]

I would say it all depends on the age. It sounds like a lot of your issues are management problems. But long term poor management results in issues and habits difficult to break and treat.

If they are more than 4 or 5 years old, or high production breeds over 2-3 years, I would kill off the flock and start with a new crop of birds, and manage them better this time.

If they are less than 2-3 years, these are issues worth solving. Treat the lice and mites with permethrin powder, cull the egg eaters, treat or cull the bumblefooted birds, and reduce your numbers so they stop picking. Once they're healthy again, you can sell off or eat whatever you don't want. Laying hens aren't good fit much besides stew, but the stew is usually good. And hens 6 months to 2 years can probably be sold for $10-$20 each.

 

[CalgaryFarmer]

Our chickens look haggard. We are in the process of changing their diet to increase the protein. They were on standard layer feed with lots of kitchen scraps and treats. We do not think they were getting enough protein. Just started so I cannot tell you how it is going.

But based on your description of their feed it sounds like your hens are not getting enough protein. This might add to their health problems. Try changing their diet.

 

[Mrs. K]

You do not give the dimensions of your set up, but I am suspecting it is too small for the number of birds you have. I would cull half the flock, treat the rest for mites and lice, and see how it goes. If things do not improve, cull again.

This will cut your feed bill in half, and may even do more towards the feed, as parasites are eating up the feed, by sucking out the blood of your birds. It should reduce the work, should reduce the smell and should reduce the noise so your neighbors will be happier.


This also gives you the stew meat, and the remaining birds will still be producing eggs.

Personally I would not buy sick chickens and bring them into my operation.

Mrs K

 

[ChristieB]

I would start with a new coop, something big enough for your flock size. Tractors are good for small flocks, but 20 hens need more space, atleast free range time. Depending on the severity of the bumble foot it's probably best to cull them if you can't treat it yourself. to prevent it in the future you should definitely look for the cause. Usually it's the roosts or flooring. The rest treat for parasites and move them to the new coop, I'd burn the old one, or spray it and clean it thoroughly before putting any birds back in it

 

[dawg53]

It sounds like you're looking for a way out of chicken keeping responsibilities due to ligitimate reasons. Perhaps keeping 4 or 5 hens for your personal egg consumption and culling the rest for meat would work for you. If you decide to cull all of them for meat, you could sell the coop, feeders/waterers etc...there is nothing wrong with that and might be best thing to do. It's your choice.