What do you do with older laying hens?

[rhoda_bruce]

My mom would just show up with people that wanted chickens, but didn't want to raise them, so she would introduce us and suggest I sell my older hens to make room for the younger ones. She always wanted me to have young hens. I never got to have an old hen.

 

[frankenchick]

I wouldn't worry too much about having too many chickens. Over the last 3.5 years, I've had 19 hens total, but only have about 12 at any one time due to predators. Stuff happens.

I love my "senior" chickens! They're the broodiest, friendliest girls (the only ones I hand raised), and they keep my young roo in line.

If you're a hatch-a-holic, though, the only thing to do is build more coops . . .

 

[sepiolida]

Quote:
What do you do now?

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Well I still have my mom, but she is not as peppy as she used to be, so I don't know what she will do when my hens get older. I got wiped out by a few hurricanes a few years back and lost all my chickens.....they drowned, I guess. That left only the ducks and the coons took care of those real quick. So I only just got started back with chickens since April. I will be 44 in 2 days, so I guess that makes my mom 65, with COPD and on oxygen at night. She shows up sometimes because she loves chickens and all the other things I like, but she has to see about her own parents just about everyday. I don't plan on getting new chicken for another 2 and 1/2 years, so I hope my mom is happy with my birds. That waiting for the first 20 + weeks for that first egg gets long. When I replace, I will go for less than what I have. And I will probably replace from my own eggs and not until the young ones are laying. But I do like the idea of keeping good broodies to old age.

 

[Chickie'sMoma]

i would say if your hens are a type that are good for being broody i would rent them out for hatching other people's eggs or your own!

it would make them feel useful!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I keep'em!