Where do you retire chickens if you don't want them killed?

[EweSheep]

I have a beautiful Welsummer girl that is already six years old (see avatar). I love her type, conformation and disposition and I have not yet got a daughter out of her OR got a suitable roo for her. So hopefully coming fall this year, I should get a big boy and see if I can get something going here. And yes she will have a forever home.

I also had a seven year old bantam hen that only laid less two doz eggs a year...yep, she was the friendiest bird and loves my daughter. She met her untimely death probably by a feral cat one night about almost two months ago. She would have a forever home here.

As for my unnamed Welsummer gal, will be two coming July, expecting to get some daughters out of her. Once that happens, then I can sell her in the fall when her daughters take her place. She produced good eggs this year but not as good as my avatar hen.

I've put down excess birds when I can not find homes for them..I dont care if they are to be eaten but they have served their purpose and NO names LOL! I remember I had so many banties, that I could not sell or give away at all, ended up going to the zoo for gator bait or I just put them down myself.

 

[Avalon1984]

As my chickens get older and egg production hasn’t dropped yet, I put them up for sale for people who are looking for starter flocks. There is a surprising number of people out there not interested in raising chicks and they are looking for adult birds that can begin laying the day they bring them home. Of the 20 or so 2.5 year olds I sold all but 4 of them this way. With the rise in feed cost it is more economical for me to do it this way. People will get established birds for a low price and I get some money for my older layers vs. having them drop off the roost with a heart attack.

 

[Evelle]

I have two, two year old Excalibur leghorns (not really what they are starts with an ex so that's what I call them lol) they have only layer together in these two year maybe 12 eggs (both of them together in two years) they have never reached past the size of a pullet sized eggs and I never can seem to hatch their eggs. I love the "multed" look of them and I really don't care if they lay or not these two are two of 12 pet chickens I have. (I have 40 all together)

 

[sonew123]

Mine have a forever home when they stop laying..Right now I have probably 5-7 hens that are 4-5 years old...2 of which havent laid an egg in well over a year...Nature has a way of deciding for me what I should do. When I began to think about how many birds that won't be laying anymore ..a unknown predator broke threw our property and wiped out half our flocks..The older girls! It was horrible, but dealt with my issue that I was going to face in the next year...I hope it never happens again but nature did me a favor this time...

 

[Jakenhoss]

I agree with most of you. My chickens will have a home with me until the day they die. They, the hens, have provided me with wonderful eggs and all of them have given me hours of enjoyment. I have a cat that does absolutely nothing except puke where ever she happens to be standing at the time, there are 4 dogs that are so old it's just a matter of time before we will be digging yet another gigantic hole in the ground. All but one of them can't hear and two are going blind. We have two aquariums and a koi pond. We buy food for all of these "PETS" with no complaints about "what are they doing for me"?
They ALL came into this family knowing that they would be pets until death. Yes, the price of feed has gone up considerably, but do you kill or get rid of your kids or spouse because the price of food has gone up. I consider all of my pets to be part of my family. Most times my dogs are better than having children. You get no argument from them. The dogs, not the children. In the long run it's cheaper to have pets than children. Not that I don't love and care for my daughter and grand-kids, but my pets give me more pleasure most times. To sum it up, I would not get rid of nor kill any of my pets on purpose.
I hope I have not offended anyone by my statement.

P.S. I do try to find a good home for my roos if I have too many. I try to keep the fighting time limited.

 

[StarLover21]

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[bobbi-j]

Quote:
No offense taken, but I do want to address a few points. My hens also provide me with wonderful eggs and hours of enjoyment. I do process my hens when they quit laying, so, in a sense, mine have a home with me until they die, too. Just in a different way. Why? Because mine aren't pets. I know that they've received the best care I can possibly give them, and when they die, they have no idea what happened. They don't suffer.

I'm not sure that pets have the capacity to "know they would be pets until death". Not being nitpicky, just sayin'... Did I get rid of my kids because the price of groceries went up? No, but that's because they're PEOPLE. Not animals. There is a difference, and I don't think it's an equal comparison. My sons have given me far more love, joy and pleasure than an animal ever will. I pity you that you don't feel the same way about your family. (I will agree that the dog argues less...

) Am I attached to my PETS? Yes. I won't get rid of the dog, cats or horses because of the cost of feed. My reason for butchering my chickens when I do has nothing to do with the cost of feed. After all, I'm replacing them with more chickens so I'm still buying feed. It's more of a practical, farm-based approach. Livestock all has a purpose. some have two purposes. Chickens are for eggs and meat. Cattle can be for milk and beef. Pigs make great pork. Some people have goats for milk or meat. I don't think it's wrong for people to keep any livestock animals for pets as long as they can feed or properly care for them. I don't judge them, nor do I expect them to judge me for my purposes for having animals.

I hope I have not offended you by this statement. Just giving another point of view.

 

[Avalon1984]

Quote:
No offense taken, but I do want to address a few points. My hens also provide me with wonderful eggs and hours of enjoyment. I do process my hens when they quit laying, so, in a sense, mine have a home with me until they die, too. Just in a different way. Why? Because mine aren't pets. I know that they've received the best care I can possibly give them, and when they die, they have no idea what happened. They don't suffer.

I'm not sure that pets have the capacity to "know they would be pets until death". Not being nitpicky, just sayin'... Did I get rid of my kids because the price of groceries went up? No, but that's because they're PEOPLE. Not animals. There is a difference, and I don't think it's an equal comparison. My sons have given me far more love, joy and pleasure than an animal ever will. I pity you that you don't feel the same way about your family. (I will agree that the dog argues less...

) Am I attached to my PETS? Yes. I won't get rid of the dog, cats or horses because of the cost of feed. My reason for butchering my chickens when I do has nothing to do with the cost of feed. After all, I'm replacing them with more chickens so I'm still buying feed. It's more of a practical, farm-based approach. Livestock all has a purpose. some have two purposes. Chickens are for eggs and meat. Cattle can be for milk and beef. Pigs make great pork. Some people have goats for milk or meat. I don't think it's wrong for people to keep any livestock animals for pets as long as they can feed or properly care for them. I don't judge them, nor do I expect them to judge me for my purposes for having animals.

I hope I have not offended you by this statement. Just giving another point of view.

X2

 

[welasharon]

Sometimes people do take in old hens as pets. I took two from a girl on here that had to move to a condo. She wanted desperately to get her hens back to Florida where it was warmer. THe only way I could get my mom to let me build her a pen was for her to be helping these poor hens who had nowhere to go. I knew she would enjoy them. The smaller one is 8 years old and does not lay. The other is 4 and was laying but just finished a molt. She may or may not lay again. Here she is with them.

 

[riane'smimi]

Quote:
No offense taken, but I do want to address a few points. My hens also provide me with wonderful eggs and hours of enjoyment. I do process my hens when they quit laying, so, in a sense, mine have a home with me until they die, too. Just in a different way. Why? Because mine aren't pets. I know that they've received the best care I can possibly give them, and when they die, they have no idea what happened. They don't suffer.

I'm not sure that pets have the capacity to "know they would be pets until death". Not being nitpicky, just sayin'... Did I get rid of my kids because the price of groceries went up? No, but that's because they're PEOPLE. Not animals. There is a difference, and I don't think it's an equal comparison. My sons have given me far more love, joy and pleasure than an animal ever will. I pity you that you don't feel the same way about your family. (I will agree that the dog argues less...

) Am I attached to my PETS? Yes. I won't get rid of the dog, cats or horses because of the cost of feed. My reason for butchering my chickens when I do has nothing to do with the cost of feed. After all, I'm replacing them with more chickens so I'm still buying feed. It's more of a practical, farm-based approach. Livestock all has a purpose. some have two purposes. Chickens are for eggs and meat. Cattle can be for milk and beef. Pigs make great pork. Some people have goats for milk or meat. I don't think it's wrong for people to keep any livestock animals for pets as long as they can feed or properly care for them. I don't judge them, nor do I expect them to judge me for my purposes for having animals.

I hope I have not offended you by this statement. Just giving another point of view.

well said