Tell me I'm being a dummy.....

[FireTigeris]

We cannot process birds here (Duval County FL), nor discharge firearms.

I was pointing out we are using birds in different ways, and that's important to my customers that most of my birds stay their whole life.

Other places that aren't so "super low carbon footprint +hippy vibe+ no 'throw away' animals + vegetarian" it may not be important.

I was pointing that out so the weight of my opinion based on my customers was lessened.

That's all.

 

[cassidy22]

I think it's different for everyone. We raise meat birds, and when we get together to process those birds, we look at the flock and pick out any roos we don't want to keep, and if we have old hens, we might dispatch them, too, and sell them as stew birds, or put them in our own pot.

Since we raise meat birds, we are a bit desensitized to the butchering process, so that isn't want stops us. But I do have some special birds (we raise hundreds of layers, so not every one is special to me) and the special birds get to stick around. Essentially, I told my husband, if I name it, it gets to stay for its natural life.

Now to be honest, I hatch my own, so I get a lot of roosters that need to do. But my layers - they often don't make it to that 3rd or 4th year when we really start questioning the financial ability to feed them, since they aren't laying enough to pay for their own feed (we are a farm, and trying to make a profit). We find that the older birds are the ones that don't make it through winter, or get taken off by predators. That's not always the case, but we don't process in the winter, and by the time spring rolls around, I discover that my older birds are the ones that didn't last a harsh winter, or were too slow to get to shelter and got picked off by an eagle or a hawk. Sometimes, nature takes care of itself, especially when you have true free range birds, and sometimes sudden harsh weather.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This is one of those Essential Issues every chicken owner must consider and then answer for themselves. I wish that someone had mentioned this when I first began keeping chickens. Or perhaps they did, but it really didn't register with me at that time.

This is also one of those things that may change for a person over the years of keeping chickens. I started off being awfully sentimental about every single chicken I got or hatched out, every one had a name, a history, a fan base. Then I got to the point where I could process the extra roosters that resulted from hatching.

I still haven't gotten to the point of being able to dispatch & process any of my old laying hens. There are still a few from my beginning flocks. I also cannot process any duck or goose.

However, I am trying to prepare myself & the rest of the family to begin to consider any new hen being added to the flock as a potential dinner guest some day. I will allow for special favorites to be kept as perpetual pets, but those will be the rare exception. I find that it helps to start considering them as meat from the beginning, even if they get named.

Another option is to continue to add new hens to the flock while selling off the older hens while they're still young enough to be worthwhile to someone else. Add in 6-month-olds while selling off 18-month-olds.

 

[slink1211]

This is one of those Essential Issues every chicken owner must consider and then answer for themselves. I wish that someone had mentioned this when I first began keeping chickens. Or perhaps they did, but it really didn't register with me at that time.

This is also one of those things that may change for a person over the years of keeping chickens. I started off being awfully sentimental about every single chicken I got or hatched out, every one had a name, a history, a fan base. Then I got to the point where I could process the extra roosters that resulted from hatching.

I still haven't gotten to the point of being able to dispatch & process any of my old laying hens. There are still a few from my beginning flocks. I also cannot process any duck or goose.

However, I am trying to prepare myself & the rest of the family to begin to consider any new hen being added to the flock as a potential dinner guest some day. I will allow for special favorites to be kept as perpetual pets, but those will be the rare exception. I find that it helps to start considering them as meat from the beginning, even if they get named.

Another option is to continue to add new hens to the flock while selling off the older hens while they're still young enough to be worthwhile to someone else. Add in 6-month-olds while selling off 18-month-olds.

As a new soon to be chicken owner I want to say thank you for this advice.

 

[Annasg]

At what age does a chicken get too tough to eat...just curious!

 

[CarriesPeeps]

At what age does a chicken get too tough to eat...just curious!

If you cook it right, chicken is never too tough to eat no matter how old.

 

[JNB]

At what age does a chicken get too tough to eat...just curious!

An older chicken is usually called a stewing chicken or a crock pot bird.. Any bird over about a year old is considered and "older chicken" thats what I was taught for an age level. They yurn out best if you slow cook them

 

[Annasg]

Does anyone have any information to give me about killing and cooking chickens? I used to do this when I was a kid but that was many years ago and I am not sure I remember all the steps.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Or you could be like me and just know you'll be running a Home For Elderly Hens (and roosters) at some point in the future.

They will always provide great fertilizer. They will continue to keep the property bug-free long after they lay their last egg(s). They will ALWAYS make me smile with their antics.

My dogs and cats don't lay eggs - they continue to eat, shed, and poop, and they will live with me until they die (or I assist them in crossing the Rainbow Bridge).

My chickens don't have to lay eggs at all. It's great that they do, but they don't have to provide eggs to live here.

I do give cockerels to a friend for processing, though. The five "core" roosters can live here forever, but I've come to the realization I can't just keep ALL the roosters just because they were hatched here. I've also sold or given away some of the pullets and hens to special people. And some of the roosters, too; generally the bantam boys because they'd only be a lot of work for little more than a Cup O' Soup.

So, I know that *I* am the dummy, because I don't look at the hens as food at all.

I second that, gyreyes, I second that! If someone wants to raise their chickens (roosters or hens) for eggs AND food, well, that's their choice. But I couldn't do it. We got chickens because "the plan" was to get fresh eggs and later food, but it took less than a week of knowing them to know I wouldn't be able to do it. It took me a another whole week to work up the nerve to tell my husband "Uh, honey? Ya know that plan about the chickens? That's a great plan & all but, uh, well, I just can't do it. I want them to live here for as long as they can//want to, regardless of their egg productivity." We still eat chicken, just nobody we know. But I only eat eggs from the girls I know! Happy chickens make GREAT eggs and my girls are happy, healthy, well fed, spoiled, cuddly, lap//shoulder chickens that I can't imagine being without.

I'm perfectly ok with anyone thinking that I'm nuts for any part of the above, lol.

 

[BarredRockMom]

This is one of those Essential Issues every chicken owner must consider and then answer for themselves. I wish that someone had mentioned this when I first began keeping chickens. Or perhaps they did, but it really didn't register with me at that time.

This is also one of those things that may change for a person over the years of keeping chickens. I started off being awfully sentimental about every single chicken I got or hatched out, every one had a name, a history, a fan base. Then I got to the point where I could process the extra roosters that resulted from hatching.

I still haven't gotten to the point of being able to dispatch & process any of my old laying hens. There are still a few from my beginning flocks. I also cannot process any duck or goose.

However, I am trying to prepare myself & the rest of the family to begin to consider any new hen being added to the flock as a potential dinner guest some day. I will allow for special favorites to be kept as perpetual pets, but those will be the rare exception. I find that it helps to start considering them as meat from the beginning, even if they get named.

Another option is to continue to add new hens to the flock while selling off the older hens while they're still young enough to be worthwhile to someone else. Add in 6-month-olds while selling off 18-month-olds.

I guess it helps that we don't have any roosters & don't hatch any chickens so we don't have as many beaks to feed as others may have. We don't have to think about space issues, as we don't continually add to our flock. My husband grew up with livestock who ended up as dinner for the family, even though they all had names. He tried to prepare me for "their going to be dinner someday" and it was all good until I met them. These days, "having a chicken for a dinner guest" means "we're going to eat outside on the patio & gaze at the girls"...not eat the girls. Nothing could've prepared me for looking into their little faces. Which is funny to both of us, luckily! Have I mentioned that my husband is a very patient & understanding sort?