Time to say goodbye to this batch. :(

I'm down to four hens with this batch, and, at over two years old (they're brown girls), laying is getting a bit hit and miss. Getting an average of two eggs a day from the four, which is good, for their age, and considering they have been laying non stop. They've been an excellent batch (five originally - one died in her sleep recently), with no health issues at all, no egg or laying issues.

However, I had determined when I got them that from now on, I was operating an "all in/all out" policy, and giving the house and run (which is huge) a thorough cleaning and disinfecting between batches and leaving the ground outside have a break of about a month/six weeks. And as it turns out, I'm just about out of pellets, so this lot are being despatched today or tomorrow, and then I'll get a new batch in maybe April. Sad to see them go. But I think this lot, because of maybe not being integrated with older girls? have been much healthier than previous hens. They've had a lovely life, and I don't want to wait until the inevitable illness starts - which I'm sure it would do, soon, as they start reaching the end of their laying lives. Not looking forward to their going (my son n law is going to do the deed), but looking forward to getting stuck in to the cleaning and getting the place ready for new girls. And being over-run with eggs again!

Glad you’ve had such a good, stress free batch of hens. That’s hybrid vigour for you!
I’ve never kept commercial hybrids but I’d hold fire on the killing quite yet. Most hens at this time of year, if kept in natural conditions, are a bit hit and miss with the laying. But come Mid March are back in full production.
I’ll be interested to hear what others have to say.

i agree with HenGen - though it does depend on how many eggs you need on average. I tend to let mine go on until either the egg supply gets less than I need, or egg quality is degenerating generally, with softies and/or blood spots - usually after their third summer, when they're going into moult anyway and will stop laying. Like you, I'm not sentimental about keeping old hens, but at the moment I have 5, which have laid nonstop since they arrived last March, and I've been overwhelmed by extra eggs, even in the depths of winter. I got that many because I thought some would pass on from various causes, leaving me with the 3-4 birds I need, but they're all fine. So when two or three have dropped by the wayside, and I do decide the time has come, I shall welcome a clean sweep and a spring clean. Next time, I must remember I only need 3! However, if you're lucky enough to have hybrids who remain healthy and active, they will go on well into their third season, and although egg laying problems do occur, I've found they're much less frequent than often supposed.

Well, I supply dau & her family with eggs, and both they and I eat a lot of eggs! Dau & family easily get through 18/24 a week. The hens I have have all gone through a moult this Winter - some a long, slow moult, and one a "pillow fight" moult that saw her walking around almost oven ready for a while. So, I think, come April, five or six new POL will be good. I've been through hens with peritonitis and other egg problems several times, and hens just going downhill from general "ill health" although I couldn't figure out what was wrong with them, and tbh, I don't want to go through that again. Watching them, afraid I'm missing something obvious that would help them. If it makes sense, I'd rather they "went" while they were still enjoying life? If I had the set up, (and who knows? some day...!) I would set up a separate "retirement area" for the old girls, and get a new batch. God knows, I've space enough! Just not fencing, and housing.

And all the extra work and expense of looking after pensioners! Dau is very lucky, to have your lovely eggs, and it gives you a reason to keep more hens than otherwise you might have done. Enjoy the new girls, and let us see some pics of them when they arrive.

I had heard of some keepers (moderately small flocks for eggs to pay) putting their old hens out to fully free range when they got past reliable production. Nice for them I suppose but the idea of them getting into trouble and fading away under a bush somewhere not so good.
I've come to the conclusion that a good hard moult is a good sign as they seem to be rejuvenated all over as long as they have sufficient nutrients to get through it properly.
But, let's face it, you would probably lose another one, at least, before the year was out.
A retirement run is just the sort of thing I'd go in for if I had the space. And have some ex batts as well, and another run ....

I'll add my ten penneth.... my two "rescued" hybrids have been through a moult - Cindy in November and Barbie in December. Up until their moult, Barbie laid an egg every day, Cindy laid larger eggs every other day and occasionally laid a double yolked egg. As it stands now, both lay every other day, possibly due to their recent moult??

The other two younger hens lay every day.

As mine are pets, with benefits (eggs), I could not bear to end their lives, however, should either become ill, then I will not allow them to suffer.

Ah! We all here have very lucky birds and, however things pan out practically and emotionally, many lucky birds now and to come!
Sounds like Barbie and Cindy are handling things very sensibly Tweetypie. I don't think less eggs are due to the moult (though it may have marked the transition.) its just a natural progression to slow down after the first couple of years and that's good because they couldn't keep up being commercial super egg layers indefinitely!

rick said:

because they couldn't keep up being commercial super egg layers indefinitely!

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That's the thing. And I have to say, this batch have been absolutely amazing. I've had them almost two years, and they were all laying every day when I got them, so I reckon they are at least 2 1/2. And until the last few weeks, they were throwing out an egg a day, each, non stop. They must be exhausted. The one that had a full moult stopped laying and far as I can make out, started again straight after.

So, I'm looking forward to a new batch of young girls. I got out of having them as pets when my husband was ill, I just didn't wasn't able to spend any time out doors. It was a case of run out, fire some feed at them, grab the eggs, and run indoors again! And when my hens were pets, I just found it far too upsetting when, inevitably, they would become ill, and I'd have to cull them. So, now they are livestock that I chat to when I'm out! I don't give them names anymore, and I haven't learned to tell one from another (not really! One is slightly darker than the rest, that's all.). In years gone by they all had names and I could tell at a glance which brown girl was which, to other people's astonishment! "But how do you tell them apart?" they'd ask - but when you get to know them, hens, like people, don't look alike!

Mine all have names, and I enjoy putting thought into choosing names I think are appropriate, largely to help my memory. I choose various breeds so they each lay a different colour egg. This makes for pretty boxfuls of eggs, sometimes amazement when recipients see the mixture of greeny blue ones, dark brown speckled ones, pearly white ones, and 'normal' beige ones. Mainly it's so they all look different and are easy to tell apart, and also as a check on who has laid that day, as part of my daily health check on all of them. Keeping several breeds over the years adds to my own experience and knowledge about breed characteristics, but also because, although I keep them mainly for eggs, they do add life and interest in the garden, and I feel a variety of breeds looks more interesting than all the same. i don't think of them as 'proper pets,' but to keep up the level of care that they need, especially in winter, there have to be some extra features to maintain my interest!

When I first decided to keep ex-batts, my plan was to keep them until they stopped laying, then let them "fully free range" & let nature take its course. Once I'd been given advice on the forum as to how the latter would mean their dying in terror in the jaws of a fox, & once we'd adopted our first 4 hens & they'd become family, my original plans went out of the window!

Now, so long as they have quality of life, we keep them. After all, neither I nor my husband produce eggs, but we're not ready to be euthanised yet!

I freely admit to being a bit soft. Guilty as charged, mi'lud...

Icemaiden said:

Now, so long as they have quality of life, we keep them. After all, neither I nor my husband produce eggs, but we're not ready to be euthanised yet!

I freely admit to being a bit soft. Guilty as charged, mi'lud...

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I used to keep all the oldies until they became ill. But (apart from not having an extra house anymore) I'm on a very low income now, and can't afford too many freeloaders around here! My two special needs cats, which I didn't know when they arrived would turn out to be special needs, and house cats, are worryingly expensive, and in return for all the money spent on them, all I get in return is....well, yeah. Cuddles, and furry warmth on the couch in the evenings, and giggles at their games. I wouldn't get rid of them, but do I regret having these two expensive freeloaders? Yes! Mouses gaily running around having festivities outside, and these two can't go out!! :roll: And I've always fed my hens organically, which is €22 for a bag here, and I have to go almost an hour's round trip to get it. So the years of me keeping the pensioner hens are gone. For me, I hate watching the hens becoming ill, and having to cull them myself. This way, I won't have to go through this drip feed of culling, and the guy that culled them will use them (tough as I'm sure they will be!) for meat. Once they become ill, I wouldn't allow the guys to use them for meat, because although I generally had a good idea what the issue was, I couldn't be absolutely sure.
This is going to be a bit experimental too. This last batch were so good. No issues at all, since I got them, except the one that died in her sleep recently, and the one that I almost culled because she looked so very ill a week or so ago, but she suddenly recovered in the nick of time! And this batch had come into a "clean" environment, where there hadn't been chickens for a bit. The ground had had a rest, and the house/run had been empty for a while and scoured & disinfected. Did that have anything to do with the health of this batch, or was I just lucky? So, I'm going to leave it at least six weeks or so before getting new ones and meanwhile, disinfect the house & run, maybe spread a little lime on the ground outside, and then see how well they do. I was going to start today and clean the house - but there's a wind out there this morning that would take the door off if I left it open!

It is always a tricky one if you are not hard hearted what to do with older hens. Luckily we have the room to keep a few old timers especially if they are characters. Not an option for everybody.
Most hybrid layers don't have a long life and we do despatch any swiftly that are sick.I never thought the OH would do it, but after the 1st time she is swift and efficient with a meat cleaver, very scary.

I'm so glad I am not the only soft touch on here
Well, I am pleased to say that for the past 4 days, I am now back to collecting 4 eggs a day! I have so many I will have to either do some baking, or give the neighbour a dozen. ;-) I am making the most of it really, but hope they continue to be healthy for a few more years.
I would dread having to despatch mine, I would have to ask the vet to euthanase, as I know my husband would not do the deed either. He's quite handy with his rifle (pigeons), but I know he couldn't do it to the hens.

No reason why you shouldn't take them to the vet when the time comes, Tweetipie. I've done that with several of mine and it's comforting to see them just go to sleep on the table. My vet charges about £18, which includes disposing of the body. It depends on cost for many people with lots of birds, of course. It's probably good to know how to do it yourself in an emergency, or if you find an injured bird when out in the countryside, but best to be shown how to do it properly, or at least to have someone you can trust to do it for you.

A chicken's brain is a very small target Tweetypie and when it came to say goodbye to our Basil we took him for his first and last visit to the vet, even though we have an air rifle and air pistols, as I couldn't bear to get it wrong. He was a huge chap (over 6Kg) so he had two injections, the first smaller one just to knock him out (still took two minutes, much to the vet's astonishment) and the second was the final 'blow'. For reference, the shot must be sent from above the eyes backwards towards the ears. Don't steady the head or you will shoot yourself in the finger! If the bird just slumps it is only stunned- it should start struggling immediately, so you have missed and need a very fast second shot.

The vet, when asked if she treated many chickens, answered "no", which we read as doesn't treat any. She also did emphasise that we couldn't eat him afterwards.

Remember that scene in "The Good Life" where the husband went out to kill a chicken with a pistol, and missed completely? And then, there's the (true) story of the chicken that a farmer botched beheading with an axe. He missed the brain stem, and that bird lived without its head for around two years!! He was famous, it seems, as a sort of sideshow, back in the US in the 1930s. They fed him with a dropper straight into his crop! That's why I always use a broomstick, and dislocate the neck. You can feel it go. And you know the bird has had a swift end.

I can't remember that episode, LadyA, but I used to love that series. All those types of tv series' were great, unlike the junk they put on now. ?

It was quite early on, when they were getting set up with their self sufficiency.

Gosh, things here got so busy, that only now am I getting there, as regards to being ready for new hens!! The house & run is clean and now I just have to clean the feeder, and get new bedding and stuff for the floor of the run. So, hopefully, end of this week or next week, I'll be in line for some new girls, and importantly, good eggs, again! My daughter nearly went into shock at the cost of eggs! "Mum!" she said "Do you KNOW what eggs cost?? Not even organic ones, just free range? 20c EACH!!" :lol: :lol: So, they will be glad to have free range organic eggs again too!

I'm going this morning looking for something to give some rain/wind shelter on one side of the run. It's roofed and has mesh walls, but the prevailing gales here are something else! I used to use tarp, but it just got shredded very quickly with the wind. I am thinking of maybe willow screening? It doesn't need to keep everything out, just so that the rain isn't blowing as strongly straight into the run.