Chicken Question

[MoonShadows]

My hens were just 2 years old this month. I have 11 hens. I do not use artificial light in the winter. If nature intended for them to have a rest, why would I overtax them? Right now, they are laying like pros. I am getting 9-10 eggs a day. I have noticed since I let them start free ranging last November, they are bigger, healthier looking, and laying better.

Smart Red...you are naughty! I like that in a gal!

 

[dewdropsinwv]

@Ridgerunner Thanks for the info!!! I do not give them artificial light during the winter. I had one hen that started to molt late in the fall and she has not been laying. I'm sure my neighbors are not taking my eggs. I lock them up every night, haven't seen any sign of critters around. I need to get on my hands an knees and check under the nest boxes and make sure they are not laying under there.... that could be a possibility. My hens are only 2 years old.
If I decide to cull my flock, I will not get more. I will let Monty J have the new coop for a grow chamber/ green house.
I will check their combs and waddles. Monty J and I can not always be around to check the trap... and no one else will go tend them. I guess I'll be bumming if I can't figure this out.

 

[so lucky]

What kind of chickens are they, Dew? Some are more reliable layers than others. My 4 year old Easter eggers are laying about 4 per week each. But not in the darkest winter days.
I expect to have to cull two of the oldest girls before too long. They are not laying all that well anymore. There will come a time when I will just have an old chicks' home if I don't start culling.

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a more definitive check, though some are a bit squeamish about it. Glove up and insert a finger in the vent at night, you should be able to palpate the next day's egg through the intestinal wall. You don't have to insert it far and it won't hurt the chicken at all.

Since using this method I've never accidentally killed a good layer and I've been able to keep my flock down to consistent layers. I've found that culling at the end of March, early April is the best time and waiting until then will insure that everyone who should be laying will be laying...that's prime laying season.

I've found that all the other signs of active laying can be deceptive, depending on the individual hen and after killing a few good layers by following them, I've changed over to the butt check.

If these are sex link birds they are prone to health issues starting around the 2nd year and beyond and every time I've tried to save one past that, they always wind up with laying issues or other health problems, so they are pretty terminal past 2 yrs old any way you look at it. Never had one to make it to 3 yrs old.

I no longer get sex link production birds unless it's retired hens someone is selling for a $1 that I can put in a jar for soup.

If you want a breed that lays like a production breed but doesn't burn out or have early health problems like one, try getting BAs...lay like machines for years and years, healthy to the max, big personalities. Haven't found one negative trait to BAs yet.

 

[baymule]

Dew why would you give up on keeping hens? Because of the butcher part? I know your hens have names, are pets, and you love them. I have my favorites too. I had to get rid of half my hens when we moved. Down to 6 now. 2 are pets and will die of old age. One is a black sex link, 4 years old and still lays a couple eggs a week. The other is a 3 year old SLW that is a pet. The other 4 will hit the soup pot this fall when the 12 replacement Golden Coments come into lay. I can't imagine not having chickens. Why do you want to not get more chicks?

 

[dewdropsinwv]

@so lucky I have 3 black austorlorps (sp) 2 res sexlinks and 6 I can never remember the breed of . They are all very good layers. I just can not figure this out. Their combs and waddles are very dark red, actually beautiful in color. I looked all over their run for hidden eggs and under the nest boxes nothing!

@baymule , If I have to cull the flock, I would just rather not bother getting more. It's not the butchering that bothers me, yes they are like my pets with names and all , but it's just with everything else I'm getting into now with work and DD making the marching band..... I'm getting stretched pretty thin. Besides it's not like I would be tearing down the building Monty J just built, he could get more use out of it for more than just eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Dew, I understand. Animals are a commitment. You have to take care of them on a regular basis, you can't just ignore them when you want to. It's not necessarily the amount of time you spend taking care of them but more that it has to be on a schedule. Your daughter is more important than chickens. My niece was in the band several years back. Her parents were the kind that manned the concession booth as a fund raiser, went on trips with them, and all that. It can be a pretty big time commitment and that time has to be scheduled too. With everything else, time can get stretched. You can always come back to chickens later.

Do you know how to cook a mature hen? It's different than cooking a 6 to 8 week old chick that you buy at the grocery store. If you do decide to butcher you might start a thread on here asking for mature hen recipes. it could be interesting.

 

[so lucky]

Well, we all have to choose our priorities. Nothing wrong with trying something and deciding it doesn't work for you any more. Chickens really take a toll on the flower beds around here. And they dig up the mole runs where they break the surface, and make a mess. At least this aspect is being addressed by my DH patrolling the property a couple times a day wielding a hatchet. (for the moles, not the chickens, lol)

 

[ducks4you]

I'm sorry that you are realizing what I discovered spending my spare time on BYC--the older the hen, the fewer the eggs. Also, in MY experience, two breeds lay very well: RIR's and EE's. Now, I realize that other breeds lay very well, too.
I have a friend who's GF decided to buy baby chicks around Easter, even though her neighborhood has a convenant against chicken keeping, so she broke the rules. She's been keeping them in her garage, but wasn't sure about the "crowing". I ended up with 3 bantam roosters, 1 Silkie, and two Australorps (?), still not sure. The last three are hens, but the Silkie is gonna be on the dinner table tonight along with the three bantams. To me, these 4 birds are useless. Silkies lay one egg/week, if you are Lucky. They are bred for showing.
Regarding adding light in the winter, it does work. Remember that chickens originated in SE China, close to the the equator, where the winter days are not too much shorter than 12 hours/day, and the summer days are not much MORE than 12 hours/day.
I had a 75 watt light on a timer this winter, flipping on at 5AM-8AM, and then again 5PM-8PM. My 6 hens laid faithfully all winter 4-6 eggs/day. I know on FB there is the normal exaggerating, but I really did get a good amount of laying, and my hens are 2yo's.
Still, these hens will be going to "freezer camp" this winter, and they will be replaced. I will harvest them after their molt. I have discovered that they skin the best at that time, BUT, each one will have to be cooked in a crock pot, with a cup of wine. I just salt the inside cavity, add a few leaves of sage, and 1/2 of an onion, salt and pepper the outside. The wine or beer, breaks down the meat, and you cook on LOW 6-7 hours. Then, the meat is tender.
Chickens are just tougher after one year. The birds in the grocery store are under one year old. The birds in the grocery store eat...???? I have come to believe that those birds are mostly ill kept and fed, perhaps, some kind of garbage mixed with sawdust, bc I have read articles in the past suggesting this could keep the costs low. MY birds eat the cheapest name brand farm supply store layer feed I can get, but my horses and dogs approve of it, so it must be pretty healthy. They also get grass, and sweet pepper tops, and lettuce that's gone brown, and carrot tops--You get the picture.
It's fine and nice to keep your birds as pets.
It's also fine to harvest eggs and meat from them.
I now feed dogs, cats, horses and chickens and it ALL costs me. (Horses are on full pasture now, so hay costs are reduced.) Every animal at my place has a purpose. My chickens live a good life.
Sorry that you are at a crossroads.

 

[bobm]

Chickens are just tougher after one year. The birds in the grocery store are under one year old. The birds in the grocery store eat...???? I have come to believe that those birds are mostly ill kept and fed, perhaps, some kind of garbage mixed with sawdust, bc I have read articles in the past suggesting this could keep the costs low. MY birds eat the cheapest name brand farm supply store layer feed I can get, but my horses and dogs approve of it, so it must be pretty healthy. They also get grass, and sweet pepper tops, and lettuce that's gone brown, and carrot tops--You get the picture.
The chickens that one sees in the stores are the Cornish X selectively bred starting about 70 years ago ( long before they even had the technology to do any GMO s ) for fast growth on the least amount of feed. and are processed at eather at 35 days of age for " Game Hens ", at 6 weeks for fryers, or at 8 weeks for roasters. The old laying hens are processed for soup , stock, and/ or dog , cat and zoo animal feeds. As for the chicken feed ... If a commercial chicken grower were to be " ill kept and fed some kind of garbage mixed with sawdust" The chickens would be a sore sight in deed and their carcass would be so scrawny that sales would suffer at the grocery store , which translates to LOSS of PROFIT. In reality, the feed is scientifically formulated by University Poultry Scientists to be a nutrient complete feed for optimum nutrition to promote growth as well as optimum health . I can buy a whole chicken at any grocery store today for $0.89 / lb. and everyone in the production and sales chain still makes a PROFIT. Those articles that one reads about abuse by commercial growers are circulated as gospel to the uninformed consumers by animal rights activists and those that are against a commercial business . Think about it !!!