What do I do with 4 Barred Rocks who are done laying eggs?

[ChickenElla12]

Barred Rocks have sweet personalities. Give them to someone who doesn't mind getting fewer eggs .

You are right - they do have sweet personalities and are quite beautiful.

 

[ChickenElla12]

This reminds me of a story about a dog breeder who said keeping the sire of the puppies with the puppies made them smarter dogs.

Thank you - this is a great way to think about it. They are still so beautiful and sweet.

 

[ChickenElla12]

I had 3 Barred Rocks left from my second Flock of 7.
Lost 2 to a predator while free ranging, one to prolapse and culled an egg eater.
So out of 3 only 2 were laying, one quit laying a year ago when a predator took one of her sisters.
So I got 8 replacement day old chicks.
I tried to give the 3 Barred Rocks away for 4 1/2 weeks, no takers.
So I culled them on a weekend before sunrise.
My replacements were in the coop 2 days later after cleaning and updating the coop.View attachment 2736120
I have two Flocks in 2 coops and try to replace the older flock around 4 years old, but because of losses to predators I had to replace them a year early. GC

These are beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Mrs. K]

This of course is no help to you now, but if you re-home them when they are 2 going on 3, you will have better luck. A lot of people will take on an bird like that. Especially if they get wiped out or something.

It is good to refresh your flock yearly, and often times, giving away a free laying hen, will remove this problem.

Mrs K

 

[Chikenux]

Well if you have other animals that eat meat like pigs or dogs they would eat it, for the dog you need to process the chicken and debone it then you can feed it to the Doggo

 

[vintage]

I understand the no room thing but I think I would relook @ my keeping practises. Older hens are not only wonderful companions they are extremely useful when you have younger birds. They are still alive because they are smart, predator savvy, good foragers & know how to look out for the flock as a whole, where the best cover is, the best food, the safest paths from place to place & the best bolt holes when danger arises. This is all information that older hens are able to pass on to youngsters ensuring the best outcome for survival & that each generation is just that little bit smarter than the preceding ones. Just because they are not laying doesn't mean they are not contributing to the flock.

This is excellent advice.