When to cull old hens??

[oldhen2345]

My grandmother lived out on a ranch and taught me how to kill and pluck a chicken, also to cut and fry them up. So I am not adverse to killing and eating chickens. However, I live in town and can not have a large flock. The few I have (anywhere from 4 to 7 on any given year) are pets and I could not bear to kill them.
That said, I have rehomed a bunch- usually refresh half the flock every year, so they don't get over 2 years old. They have been rehomed to friends who like to grill fresh, young cockerels ( those usually go by 8 weeks). and to those who just love hens and want eggs. I do have a couple of "special pets" who will stay with me for the length of their lives. Eventually I will probably end up with an entire flock of "special pets" and at that time will just keep what I have until I don't. To each his own way.

 

[Saaniya]

I’m in your camp.

high five

 

[Ms Clucky]

You should still have a plan in place for if/when one becomes injured beyond saving or sick beyond saving. It's better to plan ahead than to be scrambling while a bird suffers.

I do. I had to put two hens out of their misery. One brown/red {Windy} that her legs were so broken from fighting with the chicks to get on the roost when they were small and one white hen { Marshmellow } I really don't know what happened to her. She just quit eating and couldn't stand up. Her little feet and face were purple like she had something stuck in her crawl. I had to put them both down. I buried them in my garden along with my Blue Silkie hen, Dusty and my Mille Fluer hen Flo. Also, my two dogs, Pookie and Sissy. I miss them all very much. I buried Peep in a different spot so I could bury his girlfriend when she goes. Hopefully that won't be for a very long time.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I cull mine at 4yrs old when egg laying happens only once a week, or when egg laying completely ceases.

 

[LunaMarieWolf]

An update to this thread. I ended up selling the hens instead of culling them.

I have a 5 year old EE hen who is laying an egg every other day. She stopped giving us eggs last year, but since she is from our original flock of chickens, we just kept her. And this spring she started laying again. And she is the boss of the flock. I am still hatching out eggs from her and they produce healthy chicks. It just seems to differ from hen to hen how long they will lay for.

I HAVE had to cull a chick because of a genetic deformity, (thank gosh I know who's eggs I am putting in the incubator). At that point I was relying on said hen's broodiness to keep her a part of the flock, and when I did a flock clean-out (kept some newer chicks, cycled out older hens) I decided that she was going to the sale too.

 

[aart]

An update to this thread. I ended up selling the hens instead of culling them.

A year + later
Glad you found a solution, it's been a great discussion and will continue to be so.