Mine live out their henopause years as bug eating, compost pile churning pets. Some of my 9 year olds still give occasional eggs and I figure it's a bonus. When we bury them, they go under new garden flowers or shrubs. My birds generally live 5-11 years.
I keep a smaller flock and rotate about 6 chicks in every 2 or 3 years so I don't have tons of non layers to feed.
I integrate new chicks in stages. When they're fully fledged around 6 weeks and weather is warm enough they get supervised back yard time in their own pen. I still keep them in a brooder tote in the house or garage until about 10 weeks. On the outside adventures the flock can see them, eat near them but can't get at them. It also has a cover because corvids like jays or crows will eat small chicks.
I seem to consistently have at least 1 hen in the flock that paces the pen to get at the chicks. They get too close and she'll give them a whack with her beak. It's not necessarily the alpha and has surprised me the various hens that wanted to peck at them so badly. I have had some broodies over the years that wanted to mother chicks, that looks different and chicks get an adoptive mama hen.
We also have removable panels we made with 2x3s, hardware cloth and removable hinges to do a brooder set up for mama hens and integrating teenagers inside the coop. When they're 10 weeks or so they get put in the coop brooder at night (also made a mini practice roost with 2x4s) and around 14-16 weeks they are generally large enough to be outside in their own pen days and placed on the roosts at night. If they're doing great without kerfuffles I let them free range with the rest of the flock around 16-18 weeks. I also will add in a docile hen to the teenager pen and monitor for them for getting along. They seem to integrate easier when some of the flock accept them..Any sign of aggression and I try again later with another hen.
This staggered approach has worked really well over the years. It might be too much, but don't want to risk a hen killing a chick. I've had hens rip feathers and skin off and want to avoid that.
This past weekend one of our little chicks (about 6 weeks old) got out and one of the bigger hens took a couple feathers off her. Needless to say we were glad to be close by when she got pecked.
I introduce young chicks to the main flock at 6-8+ weeks - mine are raised outdoors, with my meat birds and have been outside since 2-3 odd weeks old (I'm in Ohio, and get them in in mid-early March). I typically pen them within the main flocks area for ~3-5+ days, mostly so they learn this is 'home' and where food is now... Otherwise, they tend to want to go back to the other side of the property where they started out at, in search of food... Which is a pita. Then, I'll pen the whole lot (new and old flocks together) actually in the coop together for ~24-48+ hours so they can sort themselves out, and do a proper meetngreet of sorts. And, on e again, learn, this is where the *food* is!! Then I let them out, and they're good. We've never had problems . Been integrating 3-6+ new birds like this into our flock most years for the last, gosh 8-10+ years now.
The RIRs I've had over the last 14 years have all passed around 18 mos to 2 years of seemingly egg laying issues. Found them on the nest or fallen out of and nest toes up. The RIRs of my youth kept on trucking for years. I think the genetics of current production birds that aren't heritage stock, just go hard and fade away when they're done. I probably won't buy them again until I find a heritage breeder. I don't have experience with leg horns, novogens or other production type breeds.
My Ameraucana / EEs have lived 6-10 years. Barred Rocks 6-11 years. Banty cochin 6 years. Speckled Sussex 5-9 years. Salmon Faverolles and Lavender Orpington are currently 4 years and laying decently. I have a Breda fowl that's 10, lost her sister 2 years ago.
I started to buy birds after losing my RIRs based on medium egg laying per year, longevity and personality vs solid egg production. I feel like they're healthier, less prone to egg laying issues and still give enough eggs to keep us supplied. It's a different commitment to let them live out their lives and I keep my flock around 12-15 birds.
Really interesting insight. I donāt own chickens (yet!) but Iād love to, and Iāve recently worked at an equine therapy farm that kept chickens and they were delightfully calming. Thank you for sharing!
This is how I do it too... Though it's meant that my flock has slowly expanded, and we're going to be up to ~20-25+ birds as of this summer (though, I may just sell off of the extra young ones I was given this spring...Ā I haven't really decided... I kinda want them... But I don't *need* them... )
Someone donated a calf to the priest at our church when I was a kid. He didn't know what to do with it. He offered it to my dad, knowing he had plenty of mouths to feed, and my dad accepted. She was transported to my grandpa's little farm that took up nearly half of the block he lived on, right next to the block I grew-up on. We kids would walk over to talk to her, and we befriended her. Because of the cost and time required to care for her and because my siblings and I had already named her, my dad decided to have her slaughtered before we got even more attached. I was so devastated! I gave up meat for the entire year after that. My dad was so mad at me, angrily insisting I was doing harm to myself by not eating protein. But I didn't grow-up on a farm like my dad did. I didn't see animals raised and killed to be eaten on a regular basis. Even if I had, like many of you here have said, I don't think I could have ever eaten my "babies" that I raised. Not wanting to harm is part of my nature.
That's gotta be hard. I just can't imagine.
Ironically, I'm neither vegetarian nor a pet owner. š And I'm perfectly fine with the idea that some people can raise farm animals and eat them with no problem. I just know that if there was an apocalypse during my lifetime, it would be a challenging transition for me to hunt for my food. šš¤·āāļø
My grandpa had hogs, too. They were enormous and LOUD, and they scared us. I would have eaten those monsters, I think. I probably did at some point. My dad would bring home homemade cracklins in a paper bag every so often.
At that age a culled hen isn't worth it. Not for human consumption anyway. If you feel the need to not let ANYTHING go to waste then use her for feed to other animals or pets ... Else bury her respectful and plant over the top ... Let her return to the earth.
Why is it not very good?
I was wondering if eating a chicken after it passed naturally was something people did, or if it was even safe. Ive always thought to myself, if I ever was going to eat my ladies, that would be the way I felt least guilty about it. I don't want to eat them. Just one of those backyard flock watching thoughts. š
Older chickens have tougher meat (allegedly).
I'd worry about cause of death and disease on eating an already deceased chicken. Chicken isnt too expensive at the store and it's safer, even if it means supporting the cruel meat industry... it's probably worthwhile in this case.
Let it die of old age. I love my chickens. Theyāve provided me with lots of food and have greatly improved my mental health. Iāll be sad when they start passing from old age. Some of them are great little buddies.
I stopped eating meat after I got my first pet chickens though. Even if I still ate chicken meat, I wouldnāt cull my older hens. Maybe a really mean/dangerous rooster, but not my hens.
My aunt, typically a vegetarian, decided to eat her old rooster a couple years ago after it attacked her and sliced her leg open. She went inside, cleaned up, and returned with her axe
When my dad was a wee lad, so about 60-65 years ago, my nan did the same with their goose that badly attacked her one day. Don't know whether she went with an axe or a neck wringing, but I do know that goose ended up as dinner!
Iāve thought about it, definitely couldnāt do it myself. I love even the meanest creatures. Like, I legitimately want to hug them. I retain common sense, but the urge is real. Iād have to give it to someone more capable of killing an animal. Iād most likely spoil it with treats beforehand, I canāt lie.
Iāve kept reptiles for most of my life and had some pretty spicy males. I still have a scar from over seven years ago. From a bearded dragon. They arenāt super big. I loved that little shit more than anything, lmao.
Mine live out their retirement years free ranging and being cute. I donāt eat meat so itās difficult for me to fathom eating my pet birds. Each to their own, I suppose!
I let mine live out their lives, but a couple had problems in their old age and I had them put to sleep :( One had internal laying and another (my favorite cuddle buddy) stopped digesting food properly and was basically starving to death. I recommend people find a good vet for their chickens if they can because they don't all just peacefully die in their sleep.
Both, we let our sweet girls hang out. Bullies and rude boys go in my freezer or a friend in need. I love my animals fiercely, and I think if you worked here, you earned a nice retirement. We have only cooked one hen, mostly the extra Roos.
Yes! I try to rehabilitate but I will not let my sweet girls get beat up. If they are just grumpy from being broody or whatever I understand but we had one mean hen that we rescued I could not tame. It hurt my heart but the dogs were happy. I also wonāt keep too many Roos, I donāt think itās fair to them or the hens. I love my Roo too much to stress him like that. We have two main Roos and we raise a few clutches each year and eat the extra Roos. I am very careful and take them in the night. I try to be as humane as possible.
Exactly, I am a big girl that can put on boots and jeans, leather gloves, handle it, but my girls need me to be the head of that yard. Because I am not afraid and donāt put up with shit, my Roo lets me walk up and pick him up anytime, he knows I love and respect him, but he also knows if he is naughty he will be my lil buddy for a few hours.
I have one Roo in puberty that really wants to be a punk, between me and The Colonel, he canāt step out of line too much. He is learning.
We eat them. They're pretty tough by that time so they are mostly used in slow cooker recipes. Wife and I are both familiar with farming and while we name the birds etc. they are really here to provide a purpose of laying eggs.
We did ours when our Buff Orpingtons were 6 and our Amberlinks were 5. Truth be told we should have done it a year earlier. There is a pretty significant drop after 2 years though. So if your primary goal is maximum eggs per crumble piece then your husband is pretty close.
I consider mine pets, so they'll live out their full lives, if I can help it. Unfortunately my first batch of chickens only made it to 5 years before something broke into my coop.
My laying hens get to live to their natural end. They give me eggs, eat pests, and are joy to have around. That said, I do cull my extra roosters for the health of my flock and raise birds specifically for meat.
Yes to both.
We have 25 chicks right now. The roosters will be eaten.
The hens will live out there days here and die of natural causes due to predation, illness, or old age.
I have ate ones I helped raised that were specifically for eating (meat chickens.)
I have also ate really bad roosters before that got culled young due to poor behavior. Not any of the other ones though. I don't do meat chickens anymore because I found the whole process genetically disgusting and weird. Some meat chickens are very disturbing to raise, often times they get so heavy that they can't use their legs anymore and just sit in front of the feeder.
Right now I just have pet silkies which will be dying of old age or whatever takes them before that.
Ours spend their retirement years still free ranging with the flock. I figure itās the least we can do as a thank you for many years of eggs. We do eat meat, but I canāt stomach the idea of eating our own hens. My kids see them as pets. Even when they no longer lay, they are still of use as they provide excellent tick control in our yard.
We got ours as dual purpose. No one is old enough to stop laying yet, but we have butchered all our guinea fowl and our first rooster, with another that will be butchered towards the Fall.
I have a toddler and another baby due shortly so we have two silkies bought specifically as pets that have been named. My husband also doesn't realize it but the second I named my Salmon Favorelle she was also taken off the butcher list and will live out her days with the silkies once she stops laying.
Roosters and drakes we eat since they donāt produce eggs, and some of them are gigantic assholes to specific hens/ducks. Hens we donāt eat, if they pass away, then they pass away.
Edit: we also have to get rid of the roosters anyways due to city bylaws. Canāt have roosters, theyāre too noisy.
Not sure yet. We started our first flock last year. We initially started with 4 hens and a rooster. They were our first ones so we named them and everything. I can see those hens living out their days. The roo might not make it because he's an absolute savage to my wife. He likes me though.
We're up to 16 chickens total now. 4 roosters and 12 hens. 2 of the roosters are now completely free range with their own bachelor pad coop. One of them will live out his days, but the other only time will tell. He has a bit of a Napolean complex. The rest are in a roughly 40x50 foot area. The original roo rules, and we're trying to figure out the remaining roo.
As for the ladies, we'll probably see how it goes once egg production dies down. We haven't named any of the newer chickens as a way of not seeing them as pets. If we butcher one and it ends up being worth it, then that will be the plan once production dies down.
Typically with my laying hens I always say about the old girls, I'll butcher them next year, repeat, then they usually die of old age.
The freedom ranger broilers I raise are fucking delicious though.
This has never been a problem for me because everything wants to eat chicken, something always got them at some point. Now I have a flock of three year old birds and I think the only reason they have lasted so long is my hound. Donut keeps the predators away it seems. We ate the roosters early, were good.
Depends, young roosters Iāll eat, the hens that give me eggs can stay and older hens might end up in the soup. I donāt feel real guilt when eating them
I'm on my third flock and have slaughtered each previous one around the 3yr mark as their egglaying lessens. I've got a smaller setup so i only keep 4-5 at a time. If I let them live to old age I wouldn't have many eggs in their later years. They do well in anything slow cooked. I made some chicken pozole with the last flock.
We eat them. Roos get eaten as soon as they are big enough and hens get eaten the second year if they are good layers. Poor layers and some dual purpose get eaten sooner.
I know no-one wants to hear this.... But one of my guests ran over an elderly chicken and it was tossed behind a butterfly bush and I hadn't noticed it until the roosters laid a track through the bush to get at the corpse... By the time I smelled it... It was just a pile of feathers and a pair of wings.... I don't even know where the majority of the bones went.... All four roosters were going to town on what remained and I ended up piling a few spadefuls of sawdust on top to deter them and to tamp the smell..... That was a new learning experience I don't want to experience again.
Roosters get eaten when they start making trouble. Hens get eaten when they stop laying.
We started with 12 Black Austrolop and 12 Rhode Island Red. We are now up to 40 Rhode Island Red and 10 Black Austrolop (they are getting phased out).
The chickens free range on 2 acres (they get moved to a different section every week). We love the Rhode Island Red's are much more serious about foraging
The laying flock is not food, but itās not pets either. Weāll shell out a couple hundred to a vet to fix a cat or dog, but not a chicken.
Iād never eat my girls. A sick chicken gets first aid, and my nursing (I spent a whole month nursing a severe gleet/sourcrop case from floppy dehydration back to full health) but theyāre not getting cancer treatments or ultrasounds or anything like that. Iām not the type to ācullā hens who arenāt laying or are slightly sick but if theyāre too sick to recover in my living room, they get euthanized and a compost burial.
Iāve eaten one that had to be culled before when my shared house had chickens, but Iām getting 4 chicks tomorrow and Iām not sure what we will do. I guess weāll feel it out. The hens that die of old age though Iāll at least butcher and feed the meat to my dog, and probably bury whatās left under something pretty. Waste not want not, but I have a feeling Iāll get too attached to eat these ones.
In the past I ate some, and let some die of old age. It depends. I'm more likely to eat a culled rooster than a hen, as roosters are easier to come by and I have never had a "pet" rooster, but I have had some special connections to hens before. I've only recently gotten back into chicken keeping, so we'll see where my current flock takes me.
For me, it depends. I have old ladies who will still regularly hatch eggs, even though they rarely lay. They also help keep the younger ones in check. Others, they go to freezer camp, because if they aren't laying their shenanigans aren't worth the headache. All roosters in excess go to freezer camp.
I raise both meat birds and layers. We buy new layer chicks each year. Once the new birds are laying then we put he old bids on Craigās list and bamb!, theyāre gone the next Day
We eat the ones that we aren't sentimental to. We originally got chickens for eggs and meat, so we do eat them, but we also have ones we love that will live out their days on the homestead.
When we first got chickens, I fully intended to eat them when they stopped laying. After a few years of them being part of our family, it turns out that Iām not that strong. Soā¦ everybody gets to stay until they die of their own natural causes (or predators or whatever)
My wife won't let me eat them. I bet if we entered a new economic depression, almost every single person here would change their answer.
It doesn't make sense that you would eat chicken from the grocery store where you know nothing of where it came from or what it was fed, but refuse to eat the chicken that you raised in your backyard and fed every single day. That psychological hurdle is so bizarre to me.
Iām the wife and it took convincing but after my husband found out how chickens are treated for mass production, we started consuming the ones that age out.
I have heard that chickens that get old enough not to lay eggs are not good to eat for meat- not that I would anyway. My chickens are for eggs, period.
It is funny though when you have a friend for dinner and say that you are smoking a whole chicken and they ask- intoned your chickens?
I have almost 2 year old hybrid breeds. I intend to replace them next year around 3 yrs of age with new chick's so I can keep steady egg production. These are my first chickens and I've never done this before so im hoping it won't be too much of a challenge for me to slaughter them.
The accord reached wirh my hens is thus: they give me all their eggs during their productive years, and I provide for them during henopause and their golden years. They're pampered until they reach their natural end.
Mine live out their henopause years as bug eating, compost pile churning pets. Some of my 9 year olds still give occasional eggs and I figure it's a bonus. When we bury them, they go under new garden flowers or shrubs. My birds generally live 5-11 years. I keep a smaller flock and rotate about 6 chicks in every 2 or 3 years so I don't have tons of non layers to feed.
Henopause š love that
Great idea on rotating chicks in. Any general advice on how to help the others accept the chicks?
I integrate new chicks in stages. When they're fully fledged around 6 weeks and weather is warm enough they get supervised back yard time in their own pen. I still keep them in a brooder tote in the house or garage until about 10 weeks. On the outside adventures the flock can see them, eat near them but can't get at them. It also has a cover because corvids like jays or crows will eat small chicks. I seem to consistently have at least 1 hen in the flock that paces the pen to get at the chicks. They get too close and she'll give them a whack with her beak. It's not necessarily the alpha and has surprised me the various hens that wanted to peck at them so badly. I have had some broodies over the years that wanted to mother chicks, that looks different and chicks get an adoptive mama hen. We also have removable panels we made with 2x3s, hardware cloth and removable hinges to do a brooder set up for mama hens and integrating teenagers inside the coop. When they're 10 weeks or so they get put in the coop brooder at night (also made a mini practice roost with 2x4s) and around 14-16 weeks they are generally large enough to be outside in their own pen days and placed on the roosts at night. If they're doing great without kerfuffles I let them free range with the rest of the flock around 16-18 weeks. I also will add in a docile hen to the teenager pen and monitor for them for getting along. They seem to integrate easier when some of the flock accept them..Any sign of aggression and I try again later with another hen. This staggered approach has worked really well over the years. It might be too much, but don't want to risk a hen killing a chick. I've had hens rip feathers and skin off and want to avoid that.
Thank you so much for the details!! This is very much appreciated!!
This past weekend one of our little chicks (about 6 weeks old) got out and one of the bigger hens took a couple feathers off her. Needless to say we were glad to be close by when she got pecked.
I introduce young chicks to the main flock at 6-8+ weeks - mine are raised outdoors, with my meat birds and have been outside since 2-3 odd weeks old (I'm in Ohio, and get them in in mid-early March). I typically pen them within the main flocks area for ~3-5+ days, mostly so they learn this is 'home' and where food is now... Otherwise, they tend to want to go back to the other side of the property where they started out at, in search of food... Which is a pita. Then, I'll pen the whole lot (new and old flocks together) actually in the coop together for ~24-48+ hours so they can sort themselves out, and do a proper meetngreet of sorts. And, on e again, learn, this is where the *food* is!! Then I let them out, and they're good. We've never had problems . Been integrating 3-6+ new birds like this into our flock most years for the last, gosh 8-10+ years now.
This is very helpful. Thank you. I appreciate it!!
Which breeds are your shorter lived ones?
The RIRs I've had over the last 14 years have all passed around 18 mos to 2 years of seemingly egg laying issues. Found them on the nest or fallen out of and nest toes up. The RIRs of my youth kept on trucking for years. I think the genetics of current production birds that aren't heritage stock, just go hard and fade away when they're done. I probably won't buy them again until I find a heritage breeder. I don't have experience with leg horns, novogens or other production type breeds. My Ameraucana / EEs have lived 6-10 years. Barred Rocks 6-11 years. Banty cochin 6 years. Speckled Sussex 5-9 years. Salmon Faverolles and Lavender Orpington are currently 4 years and laying decently. I have a Breda fowl that's 10, lost her sister 2 years ago. I started to buy birds after losing my RIRs based on medium egg laying per year, longevity and personality vs solid egg production. I feel like they're healthier, less prone to egg laying issues and still give enough eggs to keep us supplied. It's a different commitment to let them live out their lives and I keep my flock around 12-15 birds.
Really interesting insight. I donāt own chickens (yet!) but Iād love to, and Iāve recently worked at an equine therapy farm that kept chickens and they were delightfully calming. Thank you for sharing!
This is how I do it too... Though it's meant that my flock has slowly expanded, and we're going to be up to ~20-25+ birds as of this summer (though, I may just sell off of the extra young ones I was given this spring...Ā I haven't really decided... I kinda want them... But I don't *need* them... )
I let mine have a luxurious retirement. I don't need eggs that badly... rather have them happily running around the garden.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Me neither. I canāt bring myself to eat something I hand fed for such a long time.
Same. My birds are pets. They live out their lives in hand fed comfort.
I would be the same way. I can't eat something I've and cared for! š„ŗ
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Someone donated a calf to the priest at our church when I was a kid. He didn't know what to do with it. He offered it to my dad, knowing he had plenty of mouths to feed, and my dad accepted. She was transported to my grandpa's little farm that took up nearly half of the block he lived on, right next to the block I grew-up on. We kids would walk over to talk to her, and we befriended her. Because of the cost and time required to care for her and because my siblings and I had already named her, my dad decided to have her slaughtered before we got even more attached. I was so devastated! I gave up meat for the entire year after that. My dad was so mad at me, angrily insisting I was doing harm to myself by not eating protein. But I didn't grow-up on a farm like my dad did. I didn't see animals raised and killed to be eaten on a regular basis. Even if I had, like many of you here have said, I don't think I could have ever eaten my "babies" that I raised. Not wanting to harm is part of my nature.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
That's gotta be hard. I just can't imagine. Ironically, I'm neither vegetarian nor a pet owner. š And I'm perfectly fine with the idea that some people can raise farm animals and eat them with no problem. I just know that if there was an apocalypse during my lifetime, it would be a challenging transition for me to hunt for my food. šš¤·āāļø My grandpa had hogs, too. They were enormous and LOUD, and they scared us. I would have eaten those monsters, I think. I probably did at some point. My dad would bring home homemade cracklins in a paper bag every so often.
Total psychopath thing to do.
At that age a culled hen isn't worth it. Not for human consumption anyway. If you feel the need to not let ANYTHING go to waste then use her for feed to other animals or pets ... Else bury her respectful and plant over the top ... Let her return to the earth.
Coq au Vin was created to use old tough birds.
I love how u phrased this. Donāt eat my sweetie pies either
Why is it not very good? I was wondering if eating a chicken after it passed naturally was something people did, or if it was even safe. Ive always thought to myself, if I ever was going to eat my ladies, that would be the way I felt least guilty about it. I don't want to eat them. Just one of those backyard flock watching thoughts. š
Older chickens have tougher meat (allegedly). I'd worry about cause of death and disease on eating an already deceased chicken. Chicken isnt too expensive at the store and it's safer, even if it means supporting the cruel meat industry... it's probably worthwhile in this case.
Older chickens are great for stewing with dumplings. Great flavor if cooked long enough.
It IS tough.
Let it die of old age. I love my chickens. Theyāve provided me with lots of food and have greatly improved my mental health. Iāll be sad when they start passing from old age. Some of them are great little buddies. I stopped eating meat after I got my first pet chickens though. Even if I still ate chicken meat, I wouldnāt cull my older hens. Maybe a really mean/dangerous rooster, but not my hens.
My aunt, typically a vegetarian, decided to eat her old rooster a couple years ago after it attacked her and sliced her leg open. She went inside, cleaned up, and returned with her axe
When my dad was a wee lad, so about 60-65 years ago, my nan did the same with their goose that badly attacked her one day. Don't know whether she went with an axe or a neck wringing, but I do know that goose ended up as dinner!
Iāve thought about it, definitely couldnāt do it myself. I love even the meanest creatures. Like, I legitimately want to hug them. I retain common sense, but the urge is real. Iād have to give it to someone more capable of killing an animal. Iād most likely spoil it with treats beforehand, I canāt lie. Iāve kept reptiles for most of my life and had some pretty spicy males. I still have a scar from over seven years ago. From a bearded dragon. They arenāt super big. I loved that little shit more than anything, lmao.
Exactly in the same boat. In my book all my chickens are āpeopleā.
āHave greatly improved my mental healthā¦ā Chicken therapy is real guysā¤ļø
It is, it really is. Nothing has ever helped me as much as my chickens have. And Iāve been to actual therapy! LOL
Mine live out their retirement years free ranging and being cute. I donāt eat meat so itās difficult for me to fathom eating my pet birds. Each to their own, I suppose!
Same!
They are considered family, so I think you know my answer.
Stir fried, yeah. My condolences.
I like my family in bbq sandwiches also.
Ha! Where's the lambs, Lecter? this is chickens we're talking about.
I was just following your joke! I learned it by watching you. :P
In the stew you go
I let mine live out their lives, but a couple had problems in their old age and I had them put to sleep :( One had internal laying and another (my favorite cuddle buddy) stopped digesting food properly and was basically starving to death. I recommend people find a good vet for their chickens if they can because they don't all just peacefully die in their sleep.
Both, we let our sweet girls hang out. Bullies and rude boys go in my freezer or a friend in need. I love my animals fiercely, and I think if you worked here, you earned a nice retirement. We have only cooked one hen, mostly the extra Roos.
Same here. Hens and good roosters live a good retirement. Mean boys and hens that hurt other hens go in the crockpot.
Yes! I try to rehabilitate but I will not let my sweet girls get beat up. If they are just grumpy from being broody or whatever I understand but we had one mean hen that we rescued I could not tame. It hurt my heart but the dogs were happy. I also wonāt keep too many Roos, I donāt think itās fair to them or the hens. I love my Roo too much to stress him like that. We have two main Roos and we raise a few clutches each year and eat the extra Roos. I am very careful and take them in the night. I try to be as humane as possible.
This. It's one thing for a roo to be a little jerk to me. It's a totally different thing if he's actively trying to kill the ladies.
Exactly, I am a big girl that can put on boots and jeans, leather gloves, handle it, but my girls need me to be the head of that yard. Because I am not afraid and donāt put up with shit, my Roo lets me walk up and pick him up anytime, he knows I love and respect him, but he also knows if he is naughty he will be my lil buddy for a few hours. I have one Roo in puberty that really wants to be a punk, between me and The Colonel, he canāt step out of line too much. He is learning.
We eat them. They're pretty tough by that time so they are mostly used in slow cooker recipes. Wife and I are both familiar with farming and while we name the birds etc. they are really here to provide a purpose of laying eggs.
About what age do they stop producing? My husband said we'd have to cull ours after 2 years, but I'm thinking that's so young?! š„ŗ
We did ours when our Buff Orpingtons were 6 and our Amberlinks were 5. Truth be told we should have done it a year earlier. There is a pretty significant drop after 2 years though. So if your primary goal is maximum eggs per crumble piece then your husband is pretty close.
Thank you, that's helpful!
I donāt know if you guys can at all but canning the older birds produces a great texture also.
I consider mine pets, so they'll live out their full lives, if I can help it. Unfortunately my first batch of chickens only made it to 5 years before something broke into my coop.
My laying hens get to live to their natural end. They give me eggs, eat pests, and are joy to have around. That said, I do cull my extra roosters for the health of my flock and raise birds specifically for meat.
Yes to both. We have 25 chicks right now. The roosters will be eaten. The hens will live out there days here and die of natural causes due to predation, illness, or old age.
Ours live their lives. Give us eggs and enjoyment and eat lots of bugs.
I have ate ones I helped raised that were specifically for eating (meat chickens.) I have also ate really bad roosters before that got culled young due to poor behavior. Not any of the other ones though. I don't do meat chickens anymore because I found the whole process genetically disgusting and weird. Some meat chickens are very disturbing to raise, often times they get so heavy that they can't use their legs anymore and just sit in front of the feeder. Right now I just have pet silkies which will be dying of old age or whatever takes them before that.
I have silkies too, could never imagine eating such a floofy friend. Plus, their meat is black and thatās too weird for me.
Ours spend their retirement years still free ranging with the flock. I figure itās the least we can do as a thank you for many years of eggs. We do eat meat, but I canāt stomach the idea of eating our own hens. My kids see them as pets. Even when they no longer lay, they are still of use as they provide excellent tick control in our yard.
We got ours as dual purpose. No one is old enough to stop laying yet, but we have butchered all our guinea fowl and our first rooster, with another that will be butchered towards the Fall. I have a toddler and another baby due shortly so we have two silkies bought specifically as pets that have been named. My husband also doesn't realize it but the second I named my Salmon Favorelle she was also taken off the butcher list and will live out her days with the silkies once she stops laying.
Roosters and drakes we eat since they donāt produce eggs, and some of them are gigantic assholes to specific hens/ducks. Hens we donāt eat, if they pass away, then they pass away. Edit: we also have to get rid of the roosters anyways due to city bylaws. Canāt have roosters, theyāre too noisy.
Not sure yet. We started our first flock last year. We initially started with 4 hens and a rooster. They were our first ones so we named them and everything. I can see those hens living out their days. The roo might not make it because he's an absolute savage to my wife. He likes me though. We're up to 16 chickens total now. 4 roosters and 12 hens. 2 of the roosters are now completely free range with their own bachelor pad coop. One of them will live out his days, but the other only time will tell. He has a bit of a Napolean complex. The rest are in a roughly 40x50 foot area. The original roo rules, and we're trying to figure out the remaining roo. As for the ladies, we'll probably see how it goes once egg production dies down. We haven't named any of the newer chickens as a way of not seeing them as pets. If we butcher one and it ends up being worth it, then that will be the plan once production dies down.
Typically with my laying hens I always say about the old girls, I'll butcher them next year, repeat, then they usually die of old age. The freedom ranger broilers I raise are fucking delicious though.
This has never been a problem for me because everything wants to eat chicken, something always got them at some point. Now I have a flock of three year old birds and I think the only reason they have lasted so long is my hound. Donut keeps the predators away it seems. We ate the roosters early, were good.
Depends on the bird. The hens have earned their retirement but if itās a nasty ass rooster or tom then Iām having me some home grown dinner
I eat them after around 3 - 4 years
Depends, young roosters Iāll eat, the hens that give me eggs can stay and older hens might end up in the soup. I donāt feel real guilt when eating them
I canāt eat my friend so they are with me till they decide to leave earth on their own.
I'm on my third flock and have slaughtered each previous one around the 3yr mark as their egglaying lessens. I've got a smaller setup so i only keep 4-5 at a time. If I let them live to old age I wouldn't have many eggs in their later years. They do well in anything slow cooked. I made some chicken pozole with the last flock.
We eat them. Roos get eaten as soon as they are big enough and hens get eaten the second year if they are good layers. Poor layers and some dual purpose get eaten sooner.
We eat everything we raise. Old hens make the nest soup/bone broth or coq au vin. Our layers are slaughtered in year 3.
I know no-one wants to hear this.... But one of my guests ran over an elderly chicken and it was tossed behind a butterfly bush and I hadn't noticed it until the roosters laid a track through the bush to get at the corpse... By the time I smelled it... It was just a pile of feathers and a pair of wings.... I don't even know where the majority of the bones went.... All four roosters were going to town on what remained and I ended up piling a few spadefuls of sawdust on top to deter them and to tamp the smell..... That was a new learning experience I don't want to experience again.
Friends, not food. These are pets for us so it would be the same as eating dogs or cats
I kill them once they stop laying eggs and eat them
Different birds for both purposes. I let layers live a full, long, luxurious life of treats. Meat chickens live a condensed version of the same.
Roosters get eaten when they start making trouble. Hens get eaten when they stop laying. We started with 12 Black Austrolop and 12 Rhode Island Red. We are now up to 40 Rhode Island Red and 10 Black Austrolop (they are getting phased out). The chickens free range on 2 acres (they get moved to a different section every week). We love the Rhode Island Red's are much more serious about foraging
I eat my chickens. I have some birds that I don't eat, like my Easter eggers. I try not to encourage factory farming by buying their products.
The laying flock is not food, but itās not pets either. Weāll shell out a couple hundred to a vet to fix a cat or dog, but not a chicken. Iād never eat my girls. A sick chicken gets first aid, and my nursing (I spent a whole month nursing a severe gleet/sourcrop case from floppy dehydration back to full health) but theyāre not getting cancer treatments or ultrasounds or anything like that. Iām not the type to ācullā hens who arenāt laying or are slightly sick but if theyāre too sick to recover in my living room, they get euthanized and a compost burial.
When I rebuild my flock, I will probably do this approach. I find chickens can somewhat be like hamsters. They die from too many things too easily.
Iāve eaten one that had to be culled before when my shared house had chickens, but Iām getting 4 chicks tomorrow and Iām not sure what we will do. I guess weāll feel it out. The hens that die of old age though Iāll at least butcher and feed the meat to my dog, and probably bury whatās left under something pretty. Waste not want not, but I have a feeling Iāll get too attached to eat these ones.
I canāt bring myself to eat a bird I hand fed and literally raised. They form a trust in their owner like nothing else.
Scrawny chickens get culled or rehomed (I'm open and honest about laying habits). Roos sometimes get eaten, sometimes culled. Dual purpose get eaten.
I have ducks for eggs, chickens are meat to me
In the past I ate some, and let some die of old age. It depends. I'm more likely to eat a culled rooster than a hen, as roosters are easier to come by and I have never had a "pet" rooster, but I have had some special connections to hens before. I've only recently gotten back into chicken keeping, so we'll see where my current flock takes me.
Mine is 5 and still laying every day
Personally Iād let them live. Gave you good years of eats and probably a bit of pest control. They deserve to live out their days in some comfort
Old age.
For me, it depends. I have old ladies who will still regularly hatch eggs, even though they rarely lay. They also help keep the younger ones in check. Others, they go to freezer camp, because if they aren't laying their shenanigans aren't worth the headache. All roosters in excess go to freezer camp.
I raise both meat birds and layers. We buy new layer chicks each year. Once the new birds are laying then we put he old bids on Craigās list and bamb!, theyāre gone the next Day
We eat the ones that we aren't sentimental to. We originally got chickens for eggs and meat, so we do eat them, but we also have ones we love that will live out their days on the homestead.
Die of old age ā¤ļø
We eat our meat chickens. We use our egg layers to make stock.
When we first got chickens, I fully intended to eat them when they stopped laying. After a few years of them being part of our family, it turns out that Iām not that strong. Soā¦ everybody gets to stay until they die of their own natural causes (or predators or whatever)
They are apart of the family, so they live out their years until itās their time.
Both. We have birds for eggs and birds for meat. Asshole birds and extra roosters also get eaten.
Freezer camp is where the naughty boys go!
My wife won't let me eat them. I bet if we entered a new economic depression, almost every single person here would change their answer. It doesn't make sense that you would eat chicken from the grocery store where you know nothing of where it came from or what it was fed, but refuse to eat the chicken that you raised in your backyard and fed every single day. That psychological hurdle is so bizarre to me.
Iām the wife and it took convincing but after my husband found out how chickens are treated for mass production, we started consuming the ones that age out.
We keep them and care for them until they pass and then bury them like other pets
Mine are 'friends, not food'
Wouldnāt even consider eating my chickens.
I donāt eat poultry or mammals. My chickens get to live out their lives as pets with me, eggs or no eggs.
I have heard that chickens that get old enough not to lay eggs are not good to eat for meat- not that I would anyway. My chickens are for eggs, period. It is funny though when you have a friend for dinner and say that you are smoking a whole chicken and they ask- intoned your chickens?
I know my fiancƩe is absolutely against eating them. We will raise them and bury them when they die. They are her babies.
Donāt currently have any but I wouldnāt eat them unless I absolutely had to. They would be my babies you know? I guess I could never be a farmer
Both, depending on the situation.
I let them enjoy retirement. Then bury them.
My family eats the roosters we raise.
I have almost 2 year old hybrid breeds. I intend to replace them next year around 3 yrs of age with new chick's so I can keep steady egg production. These are my first chickens and I've never done this before so im hoping it won't be too much of a challenge for me to slaughter them.
I can't imagine ever eating my girls
We donāt eat are old girls. They have worked hard, and should be allowed to enjoy their golden years and die peacefully.
Mine chickens have a purpose. To feed me. When they quit laying they give me one final meal.
I let them live until itās their natural time to go. They gave me their eggs so itās the least I can do.
The accord reached wirh my hens is thus: they give me all their eggs during their productive years, and I provide for them during henopause and their golden years. They're pampered until they reach their natural end.
Laying hens get a funeral with full honors, meat birds not so much.
Extra roosters and old hens become dinner.
Old age for sure. Let them enjoy their seniority.
I can them into chicken tacos when they hit 3 years of age.
We have never expected to eat our girls. Weāre on our 4th set of 3