Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Gailoh]

especially after how hard we've fought to keep our girls.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=58608

We adopted our four hybrid girls last year via Freecycle, when they were in a poor way. They hadn't been getting fed properly, were moulting, and looked very sorry for themselves. We had planned on getting chickens this year, as we're making small steps towards becoming self-sufficient, but couldn't pass these girls by.

The man we got them from was very vague, and couldn't tell us much about them. Now that they are happy and healthy, the most we ever get is one egg per day, and there are some days that doesn't happen. Eggs started appearing in March, there was nothing over winter, which wasn't a surprise as it was Baltic here. They are not over/underweight, get wormed regularly, have been on layers pellets since we got them, with some corn/greens much later on in the day once they've filled up on pellets.

It would seem that they are probably around 4 and have come to the end of their laying cycle.

Our quandary is this, we struck an agreement with our Housing Association that we could have four hens. The point of us having hens was for the fun of keeping them, but also as a source of eggs. If we were living somewhere with no restrictions in terms of lease, or size of garden, we'd just keep them forever until they passed away naturally. We adore them, they all have such different personalities. But for our goals to make our own food as much as possible to make sense, we need to have hens that are productive, not like little machines, but more than what we have currently.

What do those of you on here with limited space do when you reach this point? We live in the country, so have naturally had some bit too practical advice, which involved eating them, which we couldn't do.

Just really would want some suggestions/advice/re-assurance.

[Plum]

Probably not the right answer but buy eggs from a local free range farm and wait for nature to take its course.

[cluckingmad]

Good for you for taking them on, sounds like they needed some TLC and general adoration

 

Well, knowing how soft I am on my girls I totally understand how you'd feel about eating them (and, frankly, a laying hen doesn't have a huge amount of meat on her to be brutally honest!), so.... as they're around 4 already they may not have too much time left so it may turn out to be an academic question, but could you speak to the housing association and let them know the situation? They may surprise you and say yes to, say, 3 POL girls, seen as though your older ladies may not be with you much longer?

 

We got our girls originally so we could be more self sufficient too (we grow our own fruit and veg, figured eggs were the next logical step - I quietly harbour a dream of adding a goat, pig, a couple of sheep and some ducks to the chooks in the future, but that will take about the next 30 years to persuade Him Indoors that it's a good plan!!), but it's become more a labour of love with the girls now - we're at 11 and counting...

 

Carolyn x

[ISCA]

I can see It is a quandry for you. Although a carnivore myself, I could never eat an animal I had raised myself. But I am a softie Some would argue I am hypocritical, but thats just me.

 

My view is, you need to decide where you really stand with regards to the chickens and make your mind up. Are they pets or poultry kept as a source of eggs in your attempt to be self-suficient? I do not see how they can be both if you are restricted to keeping just 4 chickens. If the former, then it is unlikely you will want to slaughter them in order to get new stock, if the latter, you probably should do, hard though it may be, otherwise it seems to defeat the self-sufficiency aim.

 

I keep mine as a hobby, the eggs will be a bonus and I can see me ending up with several elderly, non-laying, hens in a few years. But I have no plans to be self-sufficient and have no qualms in going out and buying a dozen free-range eggs!

 

If you do decide to slaughter them, there is no requirement to eat them and I doubt they would be very palatable even if you did.

 

Good luck in whatever you decide, there is no right or wrong here so do what feels right for you.

[squidsin]

They wouldn't taste that nice anyway, they are too old!

 

I couldn't bump them off myself - mine will remain as pets when they stop laying, not that they've even started yet - but plenty of people do, especially country folk who are through necessity a lot less sentimental about livestock. It sounds like they've had a good innings. It's really up to you to do what's right for you.

[Olly]

Let's forget any idea of eating them, which I don't think Gailoh was suggesting ... they would not be very palatable anyway.

 

I think this is a decision only you can make. My hens are a hobby rather than an economic exercise, and so when mine have 'retired' they just live out their days with the others, however I've managed mostly to have a range of ages so I am always getting some eggs. I am not sure how I'd feel about keeping 4 hens with no eggs at all, however I also know that I wouldn't be able to do the deed myself.

 

Anyone keeping hens on a commercial scale - even small-size - would not hesitate; a non-laying hen is no use at all, and they would wonder why you are even asking the question. If you want to be self-sufficient(ish) then I think the answer is clear. It sounds as if these hens would have been long gone anyway, if you hadn't rescued them and given them a happy year.

 

The majority of people posting on this forum keep hens as pets, and so will probably say 'keep them' but having hens as food producers is a perfectly valid objective, and if that is your plan then go with it - as squidsin says, it's what is right for you.

[Tweety]

I'm with Plum on this one. Nature will solve the problem for you sooner rather than later, if the hens are as old as you say. You were kind enough to take them on in the first place and have clearly gone to some lengths with the HA to be able to keep them, so my advice would be to let them grow old gracefully until they fall off the perch, then start again with some POL girls.

I know I am too soft with my girls, but I couldn't get rid of them just because they were too old to lay.