What do vegetarians do with unproductive laying hens?

[Squawk Squad]

I would definitely just let them retire. No way I would eat any of MY chickens!

 

[ChooksChick]

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I'm right there with you!! I can't imagine selling my kids for money for someone else to eat, either...and my dogs never EVER lay anything for me to eat, and I still have them.

I guess it just depends on why we have them in the first place.

 

[ChooksChick]

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Mine still all lay well, however, we got more this year, and the plan is to get 2 every other year until we get maxed out on our population. Whether the max is what I can handle or the 20 I'm allowed to keep legally, we'll have to see when the time comes, but because it's just 4 family members and friends who receive eggs, it's unlikely we'll have a shortfall, anyway.

We will be introducing, as we did with an adopted pullet, the babies to the flock and keeping them together. I'm not breeding, so there's nor reason to keep separate.

I get the majority of what I use for feed from a local mill and it's fairly cheap, plus the kitchen scraps and free foraging in the yard, so it's not an expensive pet for me.

And they love me! I get to go sit in the hen-house to be covered by chickens who preen me and talk to me in the evenings when I'm stressed. They are my lapdogs. I get PT- Poultry Therapy!

 

[cwc362]

Right now I only have a small number so they will be kept as pets even after they don't lay. But if you have a large number that could get expensive. Guess if you only have 3 o 4 and you can afford it - it would be okay to keep them. Guess it all depends on your feelings toward letting somebody else eating them or you financial situation. Some older hens still lay every once in a while and some can even be used for broodies.

 

[Henrietta23]

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Same here!

 

[Jeff9118]

Not a vegetarian but could never bring myself to eating our chickens as I'm sure that is grounds for divorce with my wife. We usally just keep them for pets and let them live the remainder of thier lives out on the farm if they are old. Now with young ones we usally try to place them with new owners without hideing the fact of thier poor laying. You would be suprised how many people have a pet lonley rooster or would like to add another pet to thier collection. Lots of people could care less how many eggs they lay.

 

[wings]

I know people who built a hen retirement house. As the hens get older, they don't need as much space as new laying hens.

 

[77horses]

Cool! I'm a Vegetarian too!

We have chickens that we only use for eggs, of course, and as company; and trust me, most chickens are great company! Ours are very friendly and are like part of the family.

My dad isn't a Vegetarian, but he knows how much we love the chickens, and he does too.
We haven't had to think about what to do with a chicken if she doesn't keep laying eggs; But if one of them stops, we just keep them. Call me crazy, but I believe that chickens should be treated like humans; not literally, but when it comes to egg production, if a hen wants to stop, shouldn't she be able to?

I mean, if you had an older daughter/son who gave you free food every day, and then suddenly stopped without a reason, would you just say, "Oh well. Lets just cull and eat him/her".

So what we do is if a hen stops laying, we don't really care; she will lay when she wants to lay. No big deal. We have enough eggs anyway. But that's just what we do. We have our chickens for 2 reason; friends and eggs. If they aren't laying, then we can have them as friends. If they are mean and ugly and aren't laying, then we usually rehome them, not eat them It works fine for us.

good luck and happy veggie/non-meat eating!

 

[al6517]

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You are vastly misinformed, have you not been reading the post, no offense but 99.99999999 % of BYCers have their chickens for only this purpose. just read the previous post and you do the math. just stating some facts. As for what to do with your hens when they no longer are productive, most vegetarians around here will cull and eat them when nobody's looking.

AL

 

[Jeff9118]

You can not help but get attached after having them for so long and you will be the first person I know to only keep 2 or 3 without getting more as they tend to be addictive. I think you will end up with young ones anyways while the older ones are still laying just fine. They all have thier own personalities and eat less then most pets. Since you dont eat meat most of your scraps can be recycled much to your hens enjoyment.