What do y'all do with older hens?

[Kadu]

I know all you chicken addicts want to get new chickens every year. This becomes a problem later on because you will still have some of your older hens that have stopped laying.

I want to know what y'all do in this case. Do you process older hens? what do you do if you get attached?

 

[WallyBirdie]

I keep them happy and healthy and let them live like delightful sponges!
They are still a joy to feed and watch. They come running for treats, and it is nice to recount their adventures.

 

[chrissynemetz]

If they aren't laying anymore I process them. If they're still giving eggs I'll try to sell them or give them away. And there are always a few who become pets and stay for life.

 

[Birds of a Feather]

In my experience, a lot of people want to add more hens to their flocks, so it’s easy to re-home nonlaying hens (but not roosters) as pets.

 

[Cyprus]

Mine stay for life.
Like my 5yr old Red Ranger hen.

 

[Kadu]

-I'm revisiting some of my practices because I'm seeing some adverse affects. I have a coop without fencing (protected by very attentive LGDs) where the older hens live with some roosters. They get fed and they get to forage. But this coop is near the house and they've started to roost on the porch and scratch the ground around the porch to the point where the tree roots are bare and we've lost about a foot of soil to erosion. need to stop this before it gets even worse.

 

[Rammy]

I have replaced non-laying hens before and restarted with new hens, but this year I wont be due to an outbreak of MG at my house. So anyone here now will have to stay until their time comes, or a predator gets them. Or I decide to eat one.

 

[Folly's place]

Some stay for life, some die or are killed by predators, some are sold while still laying eggs, it just depends. Some go into the freezer too.
We all have the space we have, and need to manage our flocks so they are comfortable in that space. For me, that's 35 to 40 birds over the winter, including a few roosters, all compatible out there.
Mary

 

[chrissynemetz]

@Birds of a Feather You're so lucky!! In my experience it's been difficult, if not impossible to find anyone willing to take a non-laying hen as a pet. They only want hens that age for soup. People around here who are looking to add hens to their flocks only want ladies still giving eggs.

 

[slejdad]

None out hens are even a year old yet, and we already have more hens than we have room for them. My DW is addicted. A betting man would say ours will stay until they pass of natural causes