Options after hens stop laying

[JanetMarie]

My hens live out their lives naturally. They have ONE life to live, and I let them have a good one, whether they lay eggs or not. They get to retire from providing eggs for us to eat, and they still get to be loved, and live.

I don't let anyone's opinion affect the lives of my chickens.

 

[Bridebeliever]

It's totally personal. You could ask the person the question "So when are you going to eat your "non-productive" dog or cat!" Shock and horror! When they tell you how much enjoyment and stress relief they get from their pet you can smile at them and say, "Exactly!"

I haven't reached this point with my chickens, they are 13 weeks old and haven't started laying yet. I've tried not to get attached to them, but no luck, they are completely adorable with unique personalities. My plan is to broth them when they are done laying. Whether I have it in me or not is yet to be seen. I am a total carnivore, love all meat, I can hunt too but my cute little fluffs raised from chicks!? Eek! I don't know?!

 

[Teila]

Howdy Leigti

Hopefully my gals will also be around until retirement which they will get to enjoy without the risk of being rehomed or culled; they are my beloved pets and eggs are just a bonus.

When they are not laying due to moult etc, I buy eggs to scramble and feed back to them .. yes, I see the irony

Loved the ‘flossing’ line and Free Feather’s picture cracked me up

I am also surprised at the negative response you get .. This one is definitely an ‘each to their own’ scenario.

 

[Leigti]

I think the more chickens you have the easier it would be to cull them or lose one in general. When I had three and one died it was very noticeable. But I plan to get up to 10. OK, it is in writing. 1010 10. It's crazy but you are allowed to have 50 with in the city limits here. But I keep reminding myself 10 I will do what I decide to do and I'm not going to let people make me feel guilty or unresponsible. I do the best I can for all my animals as long as I have them. But I am able to make the decision to have them put down if they are suffering.
I feed my dog and cat a raw diet, I thought the dog was going to get some super fresh food the other day when the chickens kept trying to take her food from her.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

You know, I've been thinking about this some more, and while on the one hand I am also surprised at the negativity Leigti experienced, on the other hand, I kind of get what she's talking about after giving it some thought. Everyone on this site is wonderful about not judging how others raise their birds, and very well-informed about the issues, but when you're out there in the world telling people about your chickens, it's true that you can feel like people are rolling their eyes a little at you when you say they are pets and you plan to let them live out their lives. In my experience, it's usually the people who know nothing about chickens (as was suggested above) and have never kept them who react this way, not the actual chicken keepers who cull. But in any case, I do get what Leigti is saying about feeling a little judged by the world outside BYC sometimes, and for that reason I'm glad to see that there are others on here as well who, like me, have 401K plans for their birds.

Not that I am judging anyone who does otherwise, of course! I really respect aart's point about confronting where your food comes from.

 

[Leigti]

I am actually purchasing a couple processed chickens from a friend of mine who's raising them specifically for that purpose. As long as I didn't raise them and name them I have no trouble eating them
I have not run into this issue personally but a couple people I know have. Have you ever had somebody tell you they will not buy your eggs because they think they are dirty? And that they would only buy from the supermarket? And I do know one lady, she even has some Bantam silky chickens, who will not eat brown eggs. And I knew somebody who worked at a restaurant and when they got in a case of brown eggs she threw them away, she thinks brown eggs are less value than white eggs. People just baffled me. But I guess I am just willing to live and let live.

 

[Ballerina Bird]

I am actually purchasing a couple processed chickens from a friend of mine who's raising them specifically for that purpose. As long as I didn't raise them and name them I have no trouble eating them
I have not run into this issue personally but a couple people I know have. Have you ever had somebody tell you they will not buy your eggs because they think they are dirty? And that they would only buy from the supermarket? And I do know one lady, she even has some Bantam silky chickens, who will not eat brown eggs. And I knew somebody who worked at a restaurant and when they got in a case of brown eggs she threw them away, she thinks brown eggs are less value than white eggs. People just baffled me. But I guess I am just willing to live and let live.

My brilliant, rational, animal-loving sister said to me, soon after I got my hens, "Don't you have to clean all the chicken goo off the eggs before you can eat them?" Chicken goo??? This cracked me up. I sent her a pic of an egg right after it was laid so she could see how beautiful and clean it was.

 

[Folly's place]

Nearly nobody in the US has any direct contact with food production or animals, except pet dogs and cats. This includes many of my family members and co-workers (at a vet clinic!). Food grows in Styrofoam at the supermarket, and you can't convince them that there's any other way. I have no idea why this is so, but there it is. Mary

 

[cluckcluckhens]

My hubby got 12 chicks three years ago, one suddenly died about the same time she was going to start laying for the first time. He told me not to get attached to them so I tried not too but it did not work, I'm the one that feed and water them everyday so it's kind of hard not to get attached to them when you feed them, just like cats or dogs. He told me in case there was an emergency these are our dinner if things get rough. I told him I couldn't eat them, maybe if I didn't see him cook it I wouldn't know and I would eat it but other than that I'm not sure I could only if we really had to. I talk to them, they follow me around all the time like cats or dogs do so answer one small tiny question, how do you not get attached to chickens!

 

[Diannastarr]

my sister in law back in the late 60s gave me some of her butchered old hens for dog food & i gotta tell ya its not an easy task , its lots of work keeping all those bones from killing your dog