What do you all do with elderly birds?

Discuss, share and chat about all things relating to keeping Chickens including health issues
Post Reply
ce81ar
Learner Laner
Posts: 2
Joined: 08 May 2011, 19:21

What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by ce81ar »

I first started keeping chickens for eggs 8 years ago and through trial and error and a lot of hard work have gradually improved how I look after them to give them 'happy' lives. I always took the attitude that I'd keep them until they died of natural causes and have gradually replaced birds over the years as required. Over time the life expectancy of my flock has got longer, to the point now that they are on average 5 years old and from 7 birds I am getting ~1 egg a week. I have a maximum number of 8 hens at a time and am basically waiting for 1 to die off so that I can introduce 2 more.
What do others do? Do you let your hens live out their natural lives or cull then once they stop laying? If the former, how do you maintain egg production?

User avatar
lancashire lass
Legendary Laner
Posts: 6527
Joined: 28 Jun 2007, 15:17

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by lancashire lass »

hi and welcome to DTL )wav(

To be fair I have lost girls over the years but generally I keep them until they die naturally - currently I have 2 girls left aged about 4.5-5 years .... both still laying but not reliably (one has started in earnest recently with an egg every 2-3 days but I'm not expecting it to last) My original egg quota were for sale but I'm more than happy to keep the remaining girls in semi-retirement for my own use. I haven't really been in the situation where an entire flock is not laying and no room for new hens to fill the gap - though I am fortunate to have a big enough garden where I could set up a new run if needed.
User avatar
Richard
Lord Lane of Down...... Site Owner
Posts: 30037
Joined: 26 Apr 2007, 22:48
Gender: Male
Location: Ashford, Kent, UK

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by Richard »

Hi

It really depends on the reasons for having hens, I respect and understand your predicament.

Guess there are three factors in keeping chickens. Possibly more variations..

1. Pets, eggs are a bonus

2. Livestock as in self-sufficiency

3. As 2. plus selling any surplus.

I've always kept on to mine and waited the inevitable, mainly ex-battery hens who on average lived 1 - 2, occasionally 3 years after their adoption.

I had on average about 8 at any one time and would replenish when down by about half each time, sometimes meaning I had upwards of 10 for a while.
Even doing this I had times when eggs were few and far between.

It's a hard one this.

Richard
New Member? Get more from the Forum and join in 'Members Chat' - you're very welcome
bikesandbirdsbob
Legendary Laner
Posts: 3792
Joined: 11 Jun 2014, 14:34
Gender: Male

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

As Richard says .
Always rehome them like a farmer , where are you and I am sure someone would take a few older girls to give you some space . Trouble would be , like if ypu `Culled¬ which girl would you pick out ??????
I think you may have to buy a few eggs from some where ....
Bob
ce81ar
Learner Laner
Posts: 2
Joined: 08 May 2011, 19:21

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by ce81ar »

I keep them for self sufficiency. If there are enough to sell on then great, but it's not essential. We normally get through about 2-3 eggs/day but have been buying them in for 6 months now.
It's a decision I am really struggling with. I'd like to let them die off naturally but I'm finding it hard to justify the expense when we are getting so few eggs.
bikesandbirdsbob
Legendary Laner
Posts: 3792
Joined: 11 Jun 2014, 14:34
Gender: Male

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

Well I am sure if you put them on rehoming some person will take them . eating them I am afraid would be tough in more ways than one as older girls.
Where about are you.
Bob
User avatar
albertajune
Legendary Laner
Posts: 5073
Joined: 02 Oct 2010, 15:39
Gender: Female
Location: Aldermaston, Berks.

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by albertajune »

I first started keeping hens for the new laid eggs that they gave me. I never had more than 4 at a time and have now decided that my last surviving girl will be my last because of my age. When I first had them they were just chickens. As their individual personalities started to show they became sort of pets. My last girl who has a name has the run of my garden. She loves being around the cat, dog and myself and runs to greet us all. Sounds daft I know but would I have her killed? No more than I would my other pets. I honestly did not find chickens a great expense once they had been ser up. Besides the chook food they ate kitchen leftovers etc and because I cleaned their coup of muck each day their straw kept for a good while. I do hate the amount of poop she does but this is the only downside.

I'm afraid she is spoiled, even by my sister who every shopping day buys her 2 custard tarts which last the week. Rosie knows the sound of the car and waits by the patio door for her first taster. I will be sorry when my old girl is gone.
I am now a widow and live with my memories.
User avatar
Mo
Legendary Laner
Posts: 15368
Joined: 30 Apr 2007, 09:39
Location: Cheshire (nr Chester)

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by Mo »

albertajune wrote: I honestly did not find chickens a great expense once they had been set up.

That's the trouble, isn't it. The set-up is expensive, the cost of those first eggs (total cost / number of eggs) eye-watering.
I started chicken keeping thinking of self-sufficiency. Had a spread-sheet of costs and how many eggs each hen laid.
I'll admit to having culled, my secure run (that they were shut into if I went out for the evening) was small and I'd seen the bullying that happened if numbers went over 5.
I didn't enjoy doing it and only did it once, but a fox also did the job for me a couple of times before I gave up (guilty feelings again). I now try to buy eggs from backgarden hens, but there aren't enough to go round.

I'm sure that the eggs you buy will come from a flock that is culled, probably far younger than yours would be. People who want to make a living have to consider the capital cost and labour as well as the food they eat (and the term 'chicken feed' is not accurate these days, either).

It's all a balance isn't it - how much freedom you give them against security from fox, how long you want to keep them against wanting eggs to eat and a return on your money. Good luck making your own line.
Dance caller. http://mo-dance-caller.blogspot.co.uk/p/what-i-do.html
Sunny Clucker enjoyed Folk music and song in mid-Cheshire
User avatar
lancashire lass
Legendary Laner
Posts: 6527
Joined: 28 Jun 2007, 15:17

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by lancashire lass »

ce81ar wrote:We normally get through about 2-3 eggs/day but have been buying them in for 6 months now.


As you have had hens for some while, you must have experienced an egg famine over winter months before? Perhaps as all the girls are about 5 years, this just seems more pronounced now than before when you might have had mixed ages? Also take into account moulting so some girls might still be reasonable layers once their new coat grow? One of my 2 girls went on strike in October when she lost all her feathers and has only just started up again (one every 2-3 days) I also noticed that the other seemed to only want to lay her occasional offering when the weather was mild and warmer ... so combined, sometimes I get 2 eggs on one day or none at all for several days ... {rofwl}
User avatar
Richard
Lord Lane of Down...... Site Owner
Posts: 30037
Joined: 26 Apr 2007, 22:48
Gender: Male
Location: Ashford, Kent, UK

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by Richard »

Agreed, I've often said the least expensive item in chicken keeping is the cost of buying the chickens.

It could well be the winter thing.

I decided to stop keeping chickens for a few reasons, not I was fed up with them, and didn't have a single egg for about the last 6 / 7 months in which time, I went from 5 down to zero. They all died 'naturally'.

Had I kept going I would have got another 4 when down to 4.

It's about the balance between age of the chickens and space, a kind of stock rotation like a Supermarket filling up shelves when the shelf is half empty.

Richard
New Member? Get more from the Forum and join in 'Members Chat' - you're very welcome
Cheshire Chick
Longlasting Laner
Posts: 894
Joined: 12 Jan 2017, 11:51

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by Cheshire Chick »

I think that Richard has said it well listing the reasons for chicken keeping. I am absolutely in the first category "Chickens are Pets". I can understand that in some people's cases that the eggs are important, i.e. self sufficiency. For me eggs are a bonus as it is the looking after the girls that is the important thing for me and the most enjoyable. Feeling down and miserable a visit to my girls picks me up a treat, so they earn their living in other ways. I only have two girls (who are now 2 years old). but I will be getting 2 more youngsters in the Spring. Reason being that I don't want anyone left on their own. My chickens will be looked after until the end, which includes vet visits if needed. They are family members to me and I will look after them just as I will look after my cats. Rose and Vi are definitely pampered pets ... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
User avatar
albertajune
Legendary Laner
Posts: 5073
Joined: 02 Oct 2010, 15:39
Gender: Female
Location: Aldermaston, Berks.

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by albertajune »

Cheshire Chick wrote:I think that Richard has said it well listing the reasons for chicken keeping. I am absolutely in the first category "Chickens are Pets". I can understand that in some people's cases that the eggs are important, i.e. self sufficiency. For me eggs are a bonus as it is the looking after the girls that is the important thing for me and the most enjoyable. Feeling down and miserable a visit to my girls picks me up a treat, so they earn their living in other ways. I only have two girls (who are now 2 years old). but I will be getting 2 more youngsters in the Spring. Reason being that I don't want anyone left on their own. My chickens will be looked after until the end, which includes vet visits if needed. They are family members to me and I will look after them just as I will look after my cats. Rose and Vi are definitely pampered pets ... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

)like( same here!
I am now a widow and live with my memories.
User avatar
kitla
Legendary Laner
Posts: 3752
Joined: 30 Oct 2009, 23:25
Gender: Female
Location: Northants

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by kitla »

Yes mine are definately pets, I dont think you should worry about lack of eggs in the winter, alot of hens naturally stop laying for a few months at this time. They may start up again in spring, are they hybrids? In the 10 years I've been keeping chooks, I've only had 1 hen that laid through winter (a bluebell) All 5 of my current hens are approaching 6 years old & all stopped laying in autumn, but my bantam started again a couple of weeks ago, and I reckon 2 others will start next month.
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
bikesandbirdsbob
Legendary Laner
Posts: 3792
Joined: 11 Jun 2014, 14:34
Gender: Male

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by bikesandbirdsbob »

My girls supply eggs all year round though the numbers go down when the moults start. Varies ages so they all have ago . But it still goes back to what do you do with unwanted `pets`... Rehome is the best answer and many people will take them .Plan a time and advertise well a head and replace as the plan unfolds.
Killing them would not be any good to eat unless you stew them .
If you do not want to give them up to someone else you have answered your own question , they are pets and eggs are not the reason to remove them.
Let us all know what you do .
Sure what ever you do will be a good reason.
Bob
User avatar
manda
Moderator
Posts: 17241
Joined: 04 Aug 2007, 04:22
Gender: Female
Location: New Zealand

Re: What do you all do with elderly birds?

Post by manda »

There is another option (if you have the space) and that is to set up a retirement village for the oldies so you can bring in some younger ones for eggs....just a thought if you're finding the thought of moving them on / culling difficult. (This from the woman who has a few acres and untold numbers of chickens and turkeys wandering about and probably gets 10 eggs a day at a push.... and get through 25kgs of feed every other day!!!...I am a really horrible example of self sufficiency when it comes to chickens :oops: )
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*¨)✰
(¸.✰´¨(¸.✰ Manda

Living our version of the Good Life with 4 dogs, 6 cats, a cow, a few sheep, Angora Goats and ???? chooks.
Don't get your knickers in a knot..it solves nothing ~ just makes you walk funny

Post Reply