What do you do with your chickens????

[dandydoodle]

I was reading a book last night and it said that egg production decreases a lot after 2 years. The book suggested that you process your chickens at 2 years of age and start with new chickens. So I was just curious do you keep your chickens until they are old and grey, Do you process when egg production goes down ( if so about what age do you process ) or do you buy or sell them. Just curious what everyone does. Our chickens are pets but, at the same time I want a small working little farm.

 

[dandydoodle]

No one?

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

You are getting responses on a thread with the same title in Chicken Behaviours and Egglaying.

 

[dandydoodle]

Yea thought I might get different peoples responses over here.

 

[real_redhead]

Have been wondernig the same thing. My girls are 4-5 months old and I have been wondering what to do when they stop laying. They will still be my pets but I will want more chickens for eggs and I don;t know if my hubby will keep letting me get more chickens (especially if they aren't producing). Are they still ok to eat when they get that old...just heard that the meat is tough??

 

[SycolinWoodsChickens]

If you have to cull after about 16 weeks I think the meat is tougher (we cull our excess roos). What we did last year with an older mean roo we had to dispatch was stew it all day in the crock pot. I still thought the meat was a little chewy but it was still good.

 

[tclegg]

I am same place as you are--just started May 20th--2011...Not sure from there..Only using them for eggs...and love them for pets...So I am wondering and worrying...?

 

[duckinnut]

Quote:
I like to refer to them as soup chickens. boil them to make broth and then pick the meat off,back in the broth add celery onion carrots and pasta of choice.

 

[MixedBlessings]

Chalk me up in the "pet chickens" crew. Our older hens will have a home with us til they keel over dead of old age or other natural cause. We're about to expand the pen (too many predators to free range) so we can make sure we keep some hens of prime laying age around for eggs, but the older girls have nothing to worry about!

 

[chicmom]

I have a hen that is three years old, and one that is two. They're my special girls. I just give the older layers away on CL, and then I get new ones when I want them. I have limited space, and I don't like them to be crowded, so I have to give away some in order to get some new or different breeds. That's my rule. There are just some that I'm attached to.

And I probably will keep my five banties until the end of time, because they're just eye candy and for fun!