What to do when chickens age out of laying?

[BDutch]

Oh sorry! Misundersood. Different breeds are born with different amounts of eggies!

? Im not sure at all about this statement.

My chickens (old heritage breed) didn’t lay 300 eggs a year, from point of lay as some productive layers do. But the production layers often die at 3-4 years old. The second year the don’t lay as much as the first, the third year even less. Maybe they lay 800 - 900 eggs in their whole life if you/they are lucky. They often die being sick or having internal problems when they still have undeveloped eggs in their bodies. This is no personal experience but I’ve got this from reading. Especially the rescues for factory farming often die way too young.

My 3 oldest Dutch (almost 8 and 9 years old) laid about 4-5 eggs a week in the first year after they started laying. Over the ca. 8 years their egg laying decreased and the winter periods got longer. Say they laid about 180 the first year, Decreasing to 3 eggs a week for a period of about 8 months now. That’s still ca. 100 eggs a year. Btw the oldest didn’t reach the 100 this year and I think she is about ready to retire. But in total they probably laid over 1000 eggs.*

Maintenance
I have bought hatchery eggs a few times when I had a broody , space for more hens and when the egg production lowers. I don’t kill them but over the years I lost quite a few hen to predators, a few died at about 4 years old, and I sold one broody with 2 male chicks once.

*PS
I forgot to calculate the times my chickens went broody. These 3 oldies were mama’s on two occasions and they try to sit on infertile eggs too a couple of times each laying season. So they probably did not lay 1000 eggs in all these years.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

I have resolved to cull in the fall, its winter now and I still have not finished the job only 2 of the 6 condemned so far . I want to get 6 chicks in the spring, 4 more have to go before then. Maybe tonight I will finish the job.... Or this week for sure...

That said some have retirement plans

I have stopped naming them but that does not make it easier

 

[Acre4Me]

@kborio we have had hundreds of chickens in the nearly 6 years of raising chickens. We have 3 left from first flock, and bc my kid (now teen) wants them to stay, they stay until they die. Every now and again, we have a special-to-us chicken that gets to stay.

Otherwise, they get sold at auction. Sometimes they are 9-10 months old, 18-20 months old, sometimes just over 2yo. But, we cycle through chickens bc of laying and 4-H fair. We’ve been moving through quite a few APA breeds for the learning experience for the 4-H kid. So we make room for new by getting rid of ones that aren’t serving a purpose. So, we’ve been enjoying the variety of breeds.

A few years ago we bought 6 high production layers. We got eggs through their first winter, and all the next year. We bought more HP chicks that spring, sold the older HP hens before the second winter. They sold for a good price bc they were only 18 months old. So, the new HP chicks start to lay as the older ones are sold. It’s keeping us in eggs through the winter to have the HP hens. The flock is larger than just the HP chickens: with the oldest (nearly 6yo), through to the currently youngest 16 week olds (4 chicks) of mostly APA breeds, some EE mixes, and we also have bantams in a separate coop and run setup. The bantams are not very good layers, but we are enjoying their personalities.

 

[Momma-Hen-Misti]

Just don't start with 12 like I did back in May 2020. I do still currently have 7 of those initial 12! Never in my mind did I think I would still have this many of my OG's 3.5 years later! 3 of those 7 are currently laying again after they finished molting. That's not normal tho. I did get 4 chicks in the spring. Just keep your numbers low & add a few every other year. I WISH I would've began with a smaller number!

 

[Justagalwithchicks]

I used to live in a neighborhood and I had homing pigeons while there, But obviously chickens were not allowed. I knew I wanted chickens in my life. So the first thing I did was find a place where I could have them, and move there. So now I have chickens and there is no problem, And thank goodness because I have come to love them so much!

I have egg layers and started with 4 hens and 1 rooster. Fast forward just 9 years, and now I have over 70 chickens...11 are roosters. I love them all & yes they have names.
Only a few of the older hens have passed due to old age, as they were old when I got them, but all of my hens still lay eggs. I have various breeds so I get various color eggs. It's true they lay much less in the winter months and they will lay less often as they get older, But mine still do all lay eggs. I enjoy their company, Especially when I am gardening With them, They are adorable Living mobile roto tillers, weed and pest control. They also provide hours of laughter with their humorous antics. My chickens all die of old age. The oldor hens Actually make wonderful broody mamas, Hatching out eggs & raising chicks, so Even if they may not lay lots of eggs, They make excellent nannies. My oldest nanny chicken, big Brahma Mama Chanel, actually protected her entire section, taking on a young fox kit, and she is still fine today! All the fox got was a mouth full of feathers, & he still roams here but steers clear of our gardening days now...lesson learned.

They are part of my family, their waterers bleached clean & fresh water daily, rodent proof & dry, clean coops & predator proof pens. And I have a constant eye on the weather app, Just so I can keep my flock comfortable, Always checking wind direction and or storms approaching, Etc. So I know what windows to open or shut. Yes, some call it a labor of love, but they surely are the most rewarding part of my life. I'd be devastated if I was told I could no longer have them in my life...so I really suggest that you have a backup plan in case someone reports you have chickens. It doesn't have to be a neighbor either. It could be anyone that your kids could possibly talk to about the chickens, or even a stranger considering moving to that area driving by, that happens to see some chickens. If you aren't going to move to place zoned for chickens, I'd be very careful.

I appreciate your words of wisdom and how much you love your flock.. I am if the same kind and will be loyal to the end. I only have 3 little hens. I can have 4 in my suburban yard so will add 1 in a year or so. I have them staggered in age but I adore them. They add so much enjoyment to our life and stress when my one americauna has constant reproductive issues. I'm very blessed I have an avian vet who seen her once n now I can call in symptoms and just pay for meds as needed. I know her life will be shortened because of it but while she is here I plan on helping a smuch as possible. She the sweetest of the girls and naps in our laps. When we don't have space and they are all to old to lay - the closest farm that's sells eggs will have my business.

 

[Ponypoor]

Howdy all! I wanted to query the group about what people are doing when their birds stop laying due to age. We are new to this and just started our flock, so I won't have to worry about this for a little while, but I want to prepare myself and my family for what will be next. We started our flock for eggs, but these birds have very quickly become family members (my daughters had them named before we made it home from the feed store). If space were not a consideration, I would keep every bird until their natural life ended, but we live in a area where chickens are not allowed, and I am not sure how I would fit more in to maintain egg production. I have no interest in eating these birds, and it doesn't seem like anyone suggests that anyway. I'm curious if others find themselves in this situation, and what they do?

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.

Well if you had a lot of space I would suggest doing what I do and having a mix of lawn ornament old hens and youngsters who are laying readily. At the moment I have one 7 yr old, four 4 yr olds and three 4 yr olds who mostly don’t lay any eggs. One of the 5yr olds is very fragile and she likely won’t see Spring. The 7 yr old though is going strong and in the spring and Fall she will go through spurts of laying eggs daily. I doubt she will be passing anytime soon. So I have all these older hens (10) who need feeding housing meds when they are ill and daily care, and aren’t looking like they will pass anytime soon. I have an additional 10 hens who will be 3 in the spring and are starting to slow down production, add to this 10 young pullets who are laying the majority of my eggs now, and two 4 week old chicks… a Roo… and you can see how chicken math quickly takes hold.

If I were you I would make a plan for how many chooks you can have there, how old they will be at passing (usually 5 to 7 yrs of age), and if it’s eggs you are interested in or the chooks as pets.. for me I don’t really care if they lay eggs - though they do pay for their keep with those eggs. They are my pets and each has a name

If you don’t care about eggs, and are willing to have them as pets then that is your succession plan right there.

 

[peastix]

My coworker calls his non-laying hens Yard Art Ours will be that someday too

Yep I call them garden ornaments

 

[BDutch]

Well if you had a lot of space I would suggest doing what I do and having a mix of lawn ornament old hens and youngsters who are laying readily. At the moment I have one 7 yr old, four 4 yr olds and three 4 yr olds who mostly don’t lay any eggs. One of the 5yr olds is very fragile and she likely won’t see Spring. The 7 yr old though is going strong and in the spring and Fall she will go through spurts of laying eggs daily. I doubt she will be passing anytime soon. So I have all these older hens (10) who need feeding housing meds when they are ill and daily care, and aren’t looking like they will pass anytime soon. I have an additional 10 hens who will be 3 in the spring and are starting to slow down production, add to this 10 young pullets who are laying the majority of my eggs now, and two 4 week old chicks… a Roo… and you can see how chicken math quickly takes hold.

If I were you I would make a plan for how many chooks you can have there, how old they will be at passing (usually 5 to 7 yrs of age), and if it’s eggs you are interested in or the chooks as pets.. for me I don’t really care if they lay eggs - though they do pay for their keep with those eggs. They are my pets and each has a name

If you don’t care about eggs, and are willing to have them as pets then that is your succession plan right there.

What breed(s) do you have. I don’t recognise the early passing and neither that my Dutch stop laying eggs after 4 years. My 8 year old still laid eggs last year. Just less eggs and the rest period in winter gets longer when they age.

 

[SituationalLefty]

When chicken people measure egg-laying capacity, they sometimes talk about "longevity of lay." This means that certain breeds of chickens may be more likely to lay regularly into their 5th, 6th, or 7th years. So if you raise these breeds, you might have better luck getting ladies that will lay for a long time. Breeds known for their longevity of lay include RIRs, Barred/Plymouth Rocks, Dominiques, ISA Browns, Australorps and Easter Eggers.

But, of course, YMMV. And if you already have your hens and you're like me, you can't just rehome them (or butcher them) and start over with chicks that might have more longevity as layers.

The birds I got from a local hatchery turned out to be not what I ordered. I got a couple of Buff Sussex, some brown Leghorns that lay colored eggs, and a couple of Buff Rocks. This was pretty frustrating. But now I'm enjoying them, they have become pets with different personalities, and I look forward to seeing how they do over the years. (They're pullets till March and laying well.)

Good luck with your girls!

 

[fuzzi]

When chicken people measure egg-laying capacity, they sometimes talk about "longevity of lay." This means that certain breeds of chickens may be more likely to lay regularly into their 5th, 6th, or 7th years. So if you raise these breeds, you might have better luck getting ladies that will lay for a long time. Breeds known for their longevity of lay include RIRs, Barred/Plymouth Rocks, Dominiques, ISA Browns, Australorps and Easter Eggers.

But, of course, YMMV. And if you already have your hens and you're like me, you can't just rehome them (or butcher them) and start over with chicks that might have more longevity as layers.

The birds I got from a local hatchery turned out to be not what I ordered. I got a couple of Buff Sussex, some brown Leghorns that lay colored eggs, and a couple of Buff Rocks. This was pretty frustrating. But now I'm enjoying them, they have become pets with different personalities, and I look forward to seeing how they do over the years. (They're pullets till March and laying well.)

Good luck with your girls!

I mentioned to a friend that my chickens weren't laying, explained about the shorter days. She suggested I get a light.

But I didn't get my chickens to lay eggs continuously for a couple years, but to lay as long as it is natural for them. Personally, I feel that pushing them to produce more by unnatural means (like lights) will result in a shorter laying span overall, and maybe shorter lifespan.

But, what do I know?