What to do when chickens age out of laying?

[Nym]

Pay the fines....I live in an HOA where backyard animals are not allowed, but I live in a cul-de-sac with only one neighbor. No one behind me, or on the side of the house where the chickens are. I'm good friends with my one neighbor, so its unlikely she will report me, but if she did, or if the HOA found out, I'd get fined 20 bucks a month until I removed them....so they'd get 20 extra dollars a month.

Why pay a fine? A ban / regulation / policy etc is not a law and unless said 'authority' can show you a written law ACT you have every human right to keep your own livestock. man has the natural-born right to feed himself. According to my local council, roosters are not be kept in residential areas lol.

 

[WoDia]

My elderly hens are given special consideration, once their lives begin to slow down. They have their own building that accommodates elderly needs… low roosts for the girls unable to fly, nesting boxes near the floor for an occasional egg, and lots of warm fluffy bedding. Some find it difficult to stay warm and comfortable during winter. Radiant heaters are appreciated to snuggle near. I integrated my Buff Orpington and Austalorp pullets (early in the year) for extra body heat and companionship. It’s worked out really well. The young ones mind their manners around the old girls, and the temperature‘s a little more comfortable with the extra body heat. In extreme cold, the few oldest are moved to the outer room of the quail building, where I provide a little more heat. My girls are very much appreciated.

 

[NatJ]

Why pay a fine? A ban / regulation / policy etc is not a law and unless said 'authority' can show you a written law ACT you have every human right to keep your own livestock. man has the natural-born right to feed himself. According to my local council, roosters are not be kept in residential areas lol.

For people who live in an HOA, that typically means they agreed to follow the rules set by the HOA. (That's the deal: agree to the terms, or you can't buy the house. Yes, it is typically considered a legally-binding type of agreement.)

Paying the fine would be one way to keep the peace with the HOA. Sometimes peace is worth a bit of money (either in the form of paying the fine, or in the form of paying to buy a different piece of property. Different people make different choices.)

I admire the OP for thinking through the situation, and having a plan that should work. That is much better than getting the chickens with no plan, and panicking later if the HOA does find out.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Most of the hens I keep that get old are specialty chickens so I would just keep because they are special. I have kept an eye on our bulletin board, and on occasion someone will want a few old hens to keep a hen they have company, if their other hens died or something. Also we get a lot of grasshoppers in our area, sometimes people will request some old hens to chase and eat them free range. If the old hens were not special, or say had a flighty personality I would give them away to someone who may have requested chickens to process. I have had a lady request older hens just so they could stroll her yard, but she didn't want the egg part of having chickens.

 

[Birdofire1]

That's really awesome to hear! I didn't realize they could lay that long. I'm am trying to make sure we are not over taxing them. We aren't adding light right now, or doing anything else to try to extend their laying.

This is just me but... I feel like adding lights etc. is messing with the natural order of their biology. Accordingly I have experimented with water glassing extra eggs and have been extremely satisfied with that as a solution. It's not for everyone, I have one family member who can't bring herself to use them. I have however and was perfectly fine with water glassed fried egg sandwichs! I understand why folks do the lights and such and it is easier than preserving eggs. It's a matter of preference.

 

[chickenlover8969]

either go ahead and butcher it u wont get much meat if there laying breeds witch they are
or you can keep her as a pet but people say its noot worth butchering them when u can go to the store and buy them for 5 dollars but realy its gonna cost a decent amount to take care of them till they die i dont butcher mine when they stop laying but u can do what u want bc i think of them as pets so i couldent do that but u can do either if u still need this imfo u posted this 2 weeks ago so

 

[TaylorGlade]

I gotta second this. It's winter now, but heck, I had two 10 year old hens laying decently last summer. I have other birds far younger that struggle to come close to them.

@JacinLarkwell what breed of chicken is that? Our birds are also pets and I prefer to keep them around for as long as possible.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

@JacinLarkwell what breed of chicken is that? Our birds are also pets and I prefer to keep them around for as long as possible.

A bantam cochin and a bantam WFB Spanish. There are two other hens only a year or so younger that laid consistently until last year too, a leghorn mix (who had shell issues with every egg, even as a pullet) and an EE

 

[TaylorGlade]

https://the-chicken-chick.com/supplemental-light-in-coop-why-how/#:~:text=There is no evidence of,some muscle and fat stores.

Give this a read, it may change the way you see things.

I have this article bookmarked and send it to everyone who questions lighting the coop. It's a fantastic explanation.

 

[HenriettaPizzaNolan]

I only have one that's mostly stopped laying (although I've randomly gotten a few eggs from her recently! Thought she was done!). It's my RIR and she is my most predator aware chicken. Even though she doesn't really lay eggs, she is an important member of the flock because she spots hawks and warns the others. She's really quite amazing. Sometimes I'll catch her growling at a hawk in a tree a few yards over that I would have never noticed.

If any of my hens got to the point that their quality of life was suffering, I would cull. We've had to do that in the past and even though it was extremely difficult, I don't regret it. I don't like to prolong suffering. I don't really cull just because they stopped laying. Maybe if I had a larger dual purpose flock I would have to for financial reasons, but feeding 1-2 extra hens who aren't laying isn't too much of a financial burden. I guess it just depends on what the purpose of your flock is.