"Spent" Hen Enterprise

[JayColli]

I've never been to Nova Scotia (always wanted to, but never have), but I suspect your winters can be pretty rough. Your tractors will be OK in warmer weather, but what about winter? Those battery birds are kept in climate controlled space that never freezes. So what breed are these brown egg layers? A sex link or similar hybrid? At any rate, will these birds survive your climate if not in climate controlled housing?

If the only reason for getting battery birds is cost, are you sure that is the best option? You might be better off to buy the same pullets ready to lay as the battery barns do. The cost of the bird is not as great as the cost of feed that never results in an egg, which is why they turn them when they do. It is one thing to have a dozen or two birds that won't make or break us. It is another to have a million or two. Economics gets amplified pretty fast at that level.

Winters in Nova Scotia are extremely varied and if I were going to keep the hens into the winter I would be coming at this from an entirely different angle but they'll be off to greener pastures come mid-nov when winter weather usually doesn't set in until mid-December. I'd rather not keep a second flock through winter so I have to work within a 6-month window of good weather and that makes buying point-of-lay pullets less economical IF the ex-battery hens are capable of laying at 75% up to 2 years old, this zee experiment!

I crunched the numbers on point-of-lay pullets and at $10.65 a piece it would take 22 weeks before I would start seeing a profit if they all started laying the day I brought them home so chances are I'd spend the majority of my 6-month window recouping costs.

The ex-battery hens may not give me the returns that I'm banking on for this to turn a wee profit to spend on extra feed but I'm hoping our local laying operations simply can't afford to operate at the lower laying efficiency that I'm expecting for based on my much lower infrastructure costs and willingness to not factor in labour costs - just since it's so enjoyable!

 

[aart]

Winters in Nova Scotia are extremely varied and if I were going to keep the hens into the winter I would be coming at this from an entirely different angle but they'll be off to greener pastures come mid-nov when winter weather usually doesn't set in until mid-December. I'd rather not keep a second flock through winter so I have to work within a 6-month window of good weather and that makes raising chicks or buying point-of-lay pullets less economical IF the ex-battery hens are capable of laying at 75% up to 2 years old, this zee experiment!

So you will only keep them for several months......then what, sell them to others?
Not sure you can truly assess their capability to continue laying in just 6 months.
Would think you'd need to keep them at least 18 months to be able to advertise their productivity in the future.

 

[JayColli]

@aart I only plan on keeping the hens for 6 months and I agree that it won't give us an accurate picture of the continued laying ability of ex-battery hens at 3, 4 or even 5 years of age but that isn't my goal.

I'm interested in seeing weather or not I can extend the productive lifespan of 18-month old battery hens for 6 months using a pastured poultry system. After 6 months I'll sell/give away what birds I can and butcher the rest.

 

[feedman77]

The ex battery hens will still lay well at 2 to 3 years old. Mine do.

But with your expectations eggs might be on the slow side. Most times within 30 to 60 days they will hard molt. Eggs will slow or stop all together.

Depending on time if year could be 1 to 3 months or more before they resume. Plus other stresses that have already been mentioned.

My hens I get I keep over. What eggs I get before molt are a plus. Because I know that when they resume laying I will get a lot of eggs.

But I enjoy my birds (stress relievers). Plus I feel as I'm giving a hen that has spent her life in a cage the chance to be a chicken. Enjoy grass, bugs, and open pasture.

Granted I don't get many of these hens anymore. But I will get about 8 to 10 a year from swaps and auctions.

But I kinda of know what to expect somewhat from the birds when I get them

 

[JayColli]

The ex battery hens will still lay well at 2 to 3 years old. Mine do.

But with your expectations eggs might be on the slow side. Most times within 30 to 60 days they will hard molt. Eggs will slow or stop all together.

Depending on time if year could be 1 to 3 months or more before they resume. Plus other stresses that have already been mentioned.

My hens I get I keep over. What eggs I get before molt are a plus. Because I know that when they resume laying I will get a lot of eggs.

But I enjoy my birds (stress relievers). Plus I feel as I'm giving a hen that has spent her life in a cage the chance to be a chicken. Enjoy grass, bugs, and open pasture.

Granted I don't get many of these hens anymore. But I will get about 8 to 10 a year from swaps and auctions.

But I kinda of know what to expect somewhat from the birds when I get them

Thank you for the reply! Exactly the sort of information that helps me to manage expectations.

I'm hoping 120 eggs from each hen in approximately 180 days is possible with a molt happening at some point but we'll see!

Giving these hens a chance to be real chickens is also an added bonus so if nothing else they get to go out to pasture rather than the processing plant and I'll have a good time crunching the numbers.

 

[Ljc01]

I got 3 ex battery hens at 18 months. $5 each. They laid well for 2 years after that . I just sent them to a ranch that was only looking for bug eaters to live out the rest of their days.

 

[JayColli]

I got 3 ex battery hens at 18 months. $5 each. They laid well for 2 years after that . I just sent them to  a ranch that was only looking for bug eaters to live out the rest of their days.

Any idea on how many per week they were laying after you got them up to 24 months? Did they molt and if so, for how long?

 

[Ljc01]

I got them in April and they laid 5-6 eggs each until they molted in the fall. They were only out of production for a couple of months and then right back to 5-6 eggs a week.
They went into a molt this Sept and stopped laying for good.
So, I got 2 more good laying cycles out of them.

 

[JayColli]

I got them in April and they laid 5-6 eggs each until they molted in the fall. They were only out of production for a couple of months and then right back to 5-6 eggs a week.
They went into a molt this Sept and stopped laying for good.
So, I got 2 more good laying cycles out of them.

Interesting to hear that they laid right past 18 months and into the fall before they had their first molt! If I find this to be the case with my hens I'll likely just sell them at auction at the end of September since I found my pullets stopped laying mid-oct so I suspect that'll be when the ex-batt hens would go into their first molt if not sooner.

If the hens were to lay 5 eggs per week from May - August without moulting that would be about 6.5 dozen, netting $14.81 per hen after feed and packaging costs, less $2 for the hen itself, assuming I can't get that back at auction.

If that's the norm with whatever type of hybrid layer the battery houses around here are using then it could be a great way to pay for some feed!

 

[PaulaMc]

A few more details to be added from my research:

• Some commercial producers keep hens to 31 months of age but they tend to be less profitable due to the decreased value by weight of eggs in the XL to Jumbo range which are less desirable for sale by the doz directly to consumers so usually get sold in bulk to processors. This is probably why there are so many "spent" hens for sale. Any producer with sufficient capacity and facilities to raise replacement pullets wouldn't be maximizing their profit if they kept them any longer.
• Commercial lines of White Leghorn can still be expected to lay at approximately 75% during their second cycle up to 31 months of age which is slightly more than 5 eggs per week.

Finding specifics on brown layers is proving more difficult but there are references to them being only slightly less productive than white egg layers so I suspect an average of 5 eggs per week is a reasonable number to expect from these hens.

I'll also add that I plan to have a stocking density of 10 sq.ft. per hen, their feed (layer pellets) will be rationed to 1/8 of a lb. twice a day per hen and their tractor will be moved each evening so that they'll wake up to new pasture

Can anyone comment on their experience with reduced laying rates during molting in commercial brown layer hybrids? I have one myself but she is still a pullet and hasn't molted yet.

Hi

I rescued ex batts in May this year, 1 white leghorn and 2 buff orpingtons. My first chickens ever. I got them only as pets and not for commercial reasons. However, Talula the leghorn is the most prolific layer=superb large white eggs. Sofia and Brenda are also awesome layers. I simply give the eggs away and enjoy the feedback and odd bag of spinach I get in return. They love spinach! On average from the three I would say in summer they lay every day(they are bred to do that although it is not normal), - in winter, average 18-20 a week. Not bad for lovely ladies who were destined for cat food! Guess I am a more emotional owner, but it is wonderful to see them grow feathers and do chicken things they had never had a chance to do before. Glad that you are planning to give each hen more than the 12 inches by 12 inches they have lived their former life in.

Good luck and enjoy giving them a better life