Thoughts and best practices .. older hens

[Acre4Me]

I have a batch of Red Ranger/Dorking mixes outside and the biggest roo weighs 8 lbs on the hoof at 15 weeks.

We have some Red Dorking and butchered the smaller male at 22 weeks (Christmas time), and it was not quite that big - meaty and tasty, but not that big. The BJG was quite big, but thats what they do - grow big and mature slowly. So its great that your D/RR mix are doing so well for meat within a relatively short period of time!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Welcome to the forum. You've had some good responses so far.

1. What do I do with older hens ( will I end up with 60 hens that don't lay over the next 5 years if I retain them). I suppose it's naive of me to hope there could be some sort of happy medium win win.

We all have our own goals, facilities, capacities, and desires. What works for me will likely not work for you. You can keep them all as pets provided you are willing to provide facilities and feed to take care of them. You can eat older hens, many of us do. The people that consider them too tough or stringy pretty much don't know how to cook them. You can try giving them away or selling them, but once they are no longer yours you have lost control over their fate. You can try to find someone that would be wiling to take your 60 hens and provide facilities and food for them, manage the poop, treat them as required, and dispose of the bodies as they die of old age, but someone like that might be hard to find.

2. Anyone have experience in rearing meat chickens and processing them? I don't know if I can stomach doing the slaughtering myself. But I rationalise that a chickens life growing up in my honestead would by likely vetter than that of a farmed broiler one.

There are so many different ways you could go with this. Many of us raise the Cornish X or Rangers as meat chickens. I raise my dual purpose chickens for meat as well as for other purposes. Many of us process them ourselves, some people pay others to process the chicken for them. Some cannot kill them themselves but might be able to handle the butchering. Others can't. Don't let any one guilt you into feeling bad for however you feel about this. We are all different with different abilities and emotions. The way I look at it mine have a great life until they have one bad moment and I try to make that moment as short as I can.

3. Should I be more thick skinned and not be so emotional and not look at the chickens as quasi pets

That is totally up to you. You have to find your own way.

 

[CindyinSD]

Welcome to the forum. You've had some good responses so far.

1. What do I do with older hens ( will I end up with 60 hens that don't lay over the next 5 years if I retain them). I suppose it's naive of me to hope there could be some sort of happy medium win win.

We all have our own goals, facilities, capacities, and desires. What works for me will likely not work for you. You can keep them all as pets provided you are willing to provide facilities and feed to take care of them. You can eat older hens, many of us do. The people that consider them too tough or stringy pretty much don't know how to cook them. You can try giving them away or selling them, but once they are no longer yours you have lost control over their fate. You can try to find someone that would be wiling to take your 60 hens and provide facilities and food for them, manage the poop, treat them as required, and dispose of the bodies as they die of old age, but someone like that might be hard to find.

2. Anyone have experience in rearing meat chickens and processing them? I don't know if I can stomach doing the slaughtering myself. But I rationalise that a chickens life growing up in my honestead would by likely vetter than that of a farmed broiler one.

There are so many different ways you could go with this. Many of us raise the Cornish X or Rangers as meat chickens. I raise my dual purpose chickens for meat as well as for other purposes. Many of us process them ourselves, some people pay others to process the chicken for them. Some cannot kill them themselves but might be able to handle the butchering. Others can't. Don't let any one guilt you into feeling bad for however you feel about this. We are all different with different abilities and emotions. The way I look at it mine have a great life until they have one bad moment and I try to make that moment as short as I can.

3. Should I be more thick skinned and not be so emotional and not look at the chickens as quasi pets

That is totally up to you. You have to find your own way.

Excellent answer! Good sense and well balanced.

I know of a guy who offered his spent hens on Craig’s List and a “crazy chicken lady” (his words) came and picked them up—loaded them into the back of her aging SUV, no boxes, no tarps on the floor... and drove away. I visualize animal control showing up and euthanizing a bunch of starving, pest-ridden, filthy birds six months later. I would just process them... or give them to someone else for that purpose, or maybe three-four at a time as pets rather than that. He had a lot of spent hens. No way that was gonna turn out well.

 

[aart]

Not that type of fattening them up. You should've known what I meant. What I meant by fattening them up which is a common term that means put more meat on their bones. Make sense?

Right, yes, I do.......but you can't really make bird grow more musculature than it's already got after a certain age. Unless maybe you've got some special diet and have documented the muscle growth.

 

[igorsMistress]

We have some Red Dorking and butchered the smaller male at 22 weeks (Christmas time), and it was not quite that big - meaty and tasty, but not that big. The BJG was quite big, but thats what they do - grow big and mature slowly. So its great that your D/RR mix are doing so well for meat within a relatively short period of time!

That's the biggest and he's not the norm compared to the others. The pullets were really heavy for their size when younger but they're in that lanky, getting taller stage right now.
Wow, you pushed it to 22 weeks? I don't know if I can wait that long with my current situation. The big boy sounds like a man when he crows and he's trying to move in on my Dorking girl!

 

[MysteryChicken]

Right, yes, I do.......but you can't really make bird grow more musculature than it's already got after a certain age. Unless maybe you've got some special diet and have documented the muscle growth.

I'll just have to make a thread for this subject sometime.

 

[Acre4Me]

That's the biggest and he's not the norm compared to the others. The pullets were really heavy for their size when younger but they're in that lanky, getting taller stage right now.
Wow, you pushed it to 22 weeks? I don't know if I can wait that long with my current situation. The big boy sounds like a man when he crows and he's trying to move in on my Dorking girl!

yes, 22 weeks! They were extra males we knew we would not keep. Butchered, rest 3 days, grill over fire. Quite tender even the Dorking that was more sexually mature than BJG (testicles were much larger on Dorking, and BJG were still quite small at butcher). My thread is in meat bird forum not very long ago - lots of pics.

 

[igorsMistress]

Not that type of fattening them up. You should've known what I meant. What I meant by fattening them up which is a common term that means put more meat on their bones. Make sense?

Nope, not a bit. I'd be interested in reading how you do this.

 

[igorsMistress]

yes, 22 weeks! They were extra males we knew we would not keep. Butchered, rest 3 days, grill over fire. Quite tender even the Dorking that was more sexually mature than BJG (testicles were much larger on Dorking, and BJG were still quite small at butcher). My thread is in meat bird forum not very long ago - lots of pics.

I'll go find it and check it out!

I had some JG mix pullets I gave to my son. He said one of them weighs a ton now, just a big girl. I've heard they're pretty easy going.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Nope, not a bit. I'd be interested in reading how you do this.

So, you've never heard of the term, in which makes it so it makes no sense to you?