when to replace flock to keep production high

[spottedtail]

Hi,

I sell them privately. Over here we have a weekly advertisement type newspaper with a "farm" section.
Otherwise, I would probably just put an ad in several of the local small town papers.

Good luck,
spot

 

[texasreb]

I met a person who owns a small commercial egg farm. He keeps track of the hens by lot and will cull the entire lot when production falls below 75%. Mind you he has several hundred birds to a couple thousand at any given time. He generally sells his culls at auction as the are still healthy, just not productive enough for a commercial operation. Each lot can contain up to 250 hens, so usually other commercial operations buy them either to slaughter or to add to their flock.

 

[Guitartists]

I was just speaking to a neighbor about this very thing yesterday. A local lady sells all her hens off after 2 years for $2 a piece. Is this practice only common in egg producing situations? Do people who raise show birds or breed for other purposes also replace so frequently?

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

We replace ours at around 18-24 months.

 

[redhen]

i was wondering these things myself...mine are only 2 weeks old..lol..but..was still wondering what to do when they get past laying age...are they still ediable at 2 yrs old?...(i know..i know, dumb question..)but..still wondering..;o)..even though i dont think i could eat one that i've raised.....my concern is i'd still want eggs,but have limited space to keep the non-layers..so..what do people do?..wendy

 

[All about the EGG]

Being a novice chicken "collector" I see my self buying more chicks in 2010. I bought 5 sex links in April. In April 2010, if I buy more, they should be ready to lay by the time the others are 2 years old (Laying that is).

 

[sunnychooks]

Quote:
They probably wouldn't be good for anything except stewing.
I've been lucky enough to have sold some to people who were not that interested in egg production - only wanted enough for their own use. I sell them with the understanding that they are past the time of their highest production. Whatever I can't sell into pet homes go to the livestock auction.

 

[chickenannie]

Since so many people (commercial folks included) want to sell hundreds of birds at 2-3 years of age, my question is WHO is buying them all?? There can't possibly be that many people wanting pets. At an auction, what is happening to those hens? If they are slaughtered, do they get turned into people-food like chicken soup or something? Just curious about how this business works, and trying to figure out what to do with my older hens.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
I bet they get bought up as laying hens from the people who are unaware that production goes down. Going to the poultry sales I get asked all the time "Do you have any hens for sale?" and I am pretty certain these people aren't asking for the ages of the "hens" they're buying.

-Kim

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Campbells mmm mmmm good!!!!

The spent hens from commercial layer operations are used in chicken noodle soups, chicken stocks, and other foods that don't depend on high quality chicken meat.

Jim