What happens to your chickens when they get old and stop laying?

[allpeepedout]

Retirement. Can't free range but plan to rotate on pastures to keep feed costs down part of the year. Got heritage breeds to stagger out laying over lifetime (is this true or a myth?). May add 6 birds every 2-3 years to keep production up, stay under 24 birds, and pray they don't have exceptional longevity. The 40 year old and 25 year old horses are enough.
Love to hear about old hens still producing.

 

[Ole rooster]

That's bad news RH.........hate to know a chicken is going to outlive me. 9 years and still going. Wow!

 

[ChooksChick]

I keep my dogs until they're done with this mortal coil, and they've never fed me...just loafed around on my bed their whole lives. My chooks get an honorable position in the household (albeit in the yard) just as long.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've probably got totally different goals than you. I raise mine for meat as well as eggs, plus I like playing around a bit with genetics. Mine reach "retirement" age pretty young, before their third birthday. After a couple of years of egglaying, they make room in the flock for their children. But if I did not eat them, neither they nor their children would get to chase grasshoppers, dust bathe, or eat grass and weeds because they would have never hatched.

 

[tysonandperdue]

All my chickens live here until they die from natural causes. They give to me and my family excellent eggs for as long as they can so I give back to them by keeping them as my pets from the time they are born till the time they die. I could never kill them nor could my husband.

 

[old geezer]

Quote:

.....X2

 

[Noymira]

For the most part mine will retire to the stew or crock pot. We are raising and breeding for eggs and meat, so they are not pets to us and do not have names.

Although there are one or two birds I'm pretty partial to that might get a pass- probably will depend on the flock dynamic when the stop laying. If I have a good broody she might stick around for a while to raise up the next generation.

Luckily we have a few years before we get to that point with our layers.

 

[Stuck in the Coop]

Thanks for this post, I wondered the same thing.

For those who butcher the older hens....are they tough? I'm not opposed to eating them, just wonder if it's worth the trouble of cleaning them if the meat isn't very good.

 

[Noymira]

Quote:
No real experience on this yet, but from what I've read you'll have to slow cook them, either crock pot or stew pot (and make sure you let them age a few days in the fridge before cooking). Lots of people say the older hens and roosters have more flavor and make great broth!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Quote:
It's all in how you handle them and cook them. If you cook them long, slow, and moist, they can be very tender and tasty. If you cook them fast or dry, they can become inedible. They do have a different taste and texture to the 7 week olds you buy from the grocery store but I think they are great.

There are lots of different ways to do it. I usually use the legs, thighs, breast and wishbones for the crock pot or slow roasting in the oven, sometimes stews, but use the wings, back, neck, feet, gizzard, and heart for broth. After I make the broth, I pick the meat off the back, neck, and wings and use that as cooked meat for casseroles, tacos, or chicken salad.