Culling old laying hens is not the easiest task on the farm.
Heck, are there any easy tasks on the farm? (Shaye reflects… Shaye realizes that no, there aren't any easy tasks on the farm… Shaye moves on with her life.).
Heading into the thick of winter, if one has chickens, one must ask themselves: “Do I want to feed these old hens through the winter even though they won't give me any eggs?”
This is a new hen. She gets to stay.
It's a hard question, actually. When a hen reaches this point in her laying career, it's challenging to let her go. By now, she's most likely been on your farm for a few years and has earned her place in the coop. You most likely know her mannerisms and personality. She's given you many eggs through her time on the farm and it seems slightly selfish to cull her when the going gets tough.
But that's a decision we must face.
It isn't cheap to feed chickens through the winter. When grass and bugs are low, the chickens tend to hang closer to the coop, and thus, eat a lot more grain. High quality grain is expensive and even hens low in productivity will easily eat 1/3 of a pound of a day. That'll add up quickly.
And so, when the arrival of winter was eminent, we knew we had to take a few hours and work on culling the old laying hens. There's an input to output ratio that we hold to on our farm and these hens were long past their days of peak contribution.
Looking at a chicken's feet is one of the easiest ways to pick out young ones from old ones.
What To Look For When Culling Old Laying Hens
- Look for old hens that have any sort of physical disability that may hinder them from producing.
- Look for old hens that have succumb to pests, such as scaly leg mites.
- Look for hens with pale waddles, skin, and earlobes.
- Look for hens that are molting for a second (or more) time. Hens will molt each year and with each subsequent molt, their eggs will get slightly bigger but will come less frequently.
- Bad attitudes. This is a great time to remove nasty ‘ol hens that you won't want around your littles (and also those spare roosters you've been meaning to get rid of).
Culling old laying hens may seem like a mean task, but in reality, it's the best way you can ensure your flock stays healthy and producing. Old hens are much more susceptible to injury, disease, and pests.
Think of it like spring cleaning your closest. But in the winter. And with a wee bit more blood involved.
Our culled hens are quickly decapitated with a hatchet. It's possible to butcher the laying hens just like a meat chicken and process them for supper, but on this particular day, we had also butchered 15 rabbits, so I wasn't in the mood to pluck feathers. Rather, these ladies were packaged and are being utilized for natural dog food. After all, the pups gotta eat as well.
We were able to cull out old hens and process the meat rabbits right before the snow fell. Whew! Nothing like waiting till the last minute. This time last year, we were packing up our rental house, moving seven ton of hay in the worst winter our town had seen in a hundred years, butchering chickens and pigs in the midst of it all, preparing for baby number four, and trying not to lose our minds in the madness.
This year, it feels good to be cleaning out those closets… errr, coops.
Speaking of, I seriously do need to clean out my closets. Is it weird that I'm ready for spring cleaning and it's not even Christmas yet?
Organization is my love language.
Which is ironic, considering I'm not very organized.
At least my coop is full of youthful, producing chickens! That's gotta count for something.
And Amen.
More posts on chickens:
- Homemade Chicken Stock
- How to Butcher a Chicken
- What to do with Chicken Feet
- Building a Chicken Run
- Trimming Chicken Wings
- How to Cut up a Whole Chicken
Tracie
I would like to know more about the difference between culling those old hens and preprint g he meat birds.
Perry @ StoneHillRidge
Agree completely. We retire our layers after two summers of laying. After that product declines and it allows for easier planning. It is not fully implemented yet, but we are working towards having half the flock retire each season, this will make sure each season half the flock is in full production. Instead of a good year followed be a so-so year.
Jessica
May I ask how you “package” the birds and then feed them to the pup? Do you give him the whole bird feathers and all? I really appreciated the post on natural dog food. Just wondering about the specifics on this process. Thank you!
Elizabeth
Thank goodness no one is looking at my feet to decide whether I stay or go! It would be “go” for sure. “Put the old broad out of her misery!”
Charlotte VanderBent
That is hilarious!
Shaye Elliott
Hahaha!
Kristy
I was dragging my feet on butchering some older hens in my flock and finally got it done the week before our weather went from mild and unusually warm to snowy and frigid. So glad that I did – it is so much nicer in this cold weather with less chickens in my coop, and none of the ones I butchered were laying any eggs anyway! I cooked a bunch of them up and shredded/ground the meat and froze it and canned a big batch of chicken stock made from the bones.
P.S. I haven’t commented before on your blog – but I LOVE it! Speaks to my heart – four little ones, homeschool, self-employed, trying to stay organized and failing, pigs, chickens, milk cow….
Shaye Elliott
Glad you’re here, Kristy!
Sierra Nicolls
We have a few hens that have been hanging out in our coop a couple years too long now. We missed our window once again so it looks like they get to spend another winter of fattening up on our grain. 😉
Peacock Orchard
I find mercy killings to be harder. The easiest killing is the mean ones, of course. I don’t all that attached to most of my birds so culling is usuall ok.
Katie B. of Housewife How-Tos
I think this would be the most difficult part of raising chickens for me. My town just legalized backyard chicken-keeping (though my HOA still won’t allow it) and I wonder how many people will wind up losing hens to winter cold because they kept more than they could feed.
Teri Vogeli
I want to move our dogs to an all meat diet too. AND I need to do some flock culling. (25 hens and 7 eggs a day? Really, ladies?) Do you just butcher and divide into doggy sized meals for the freezer? Is there any part, besides feathers, I should leave out?
Shaye Elliott
I let them choose what they want to eat and not eat 🙂 So we give our hens whole to the dogs.
Sara S.
Feathers and all? Do you just bleed ’em and freeze ’em?
Jim
High my name is Jim and my wife is Tomika. Just by chance we share the last name Elliott. As a proud carrier of that name it was a nice to see your posts showing up regularly here. You guys hold similar values. We are gradually taking the 2 acres we have and homesteading. The farm our property is on was deeded from 79 original acres my dad and his siblings inhereted. I was lucky enough to be raised on the property and was taught directly alot of old schools skills. The homeplace was built in 1892 and although not livable still stands. Would love to share some pictures of the old home sometime. We are from Cleveland county NC.
candi
UGH.
We have about 10 roosters who need to go. They were part of a “straight run” purchase & are costing me money.
I don’t have it in me to feed them to the dog…. I’ve been feeding those cocks non-gmo organic feed – way too much invested. Those birds need to go into my kids bodies not the dog. LOL.
I have rooster project in my future.
Layer birds are a pain to process – broilers are sooooooo much easier.
Wish me luck!
Emily @ The Southern Belle's Blog
Great post. This is something that we haven’t had to encounter yet (thanks to hurricanes and acts of dog, our chickens tend to not make it past two years) but I know once we will probably get to that point in a few years. While I would love to keep all of them, I know that my boyfriend would kill me so I know I will need to make some hard decisions.
Delia
I’m concerned that our guard dogs will then start killing live chickens if we feed them the culled ones…you obviously aren’t.
Jared
This was my same thought!
Candice Christensen
I really needed this today. Even though it’s Spring I need to decide if my first ladies are going to be butchered by me this Fall. It hurts my heart. What age do you usually butcher? I know they are laying really well right now but this Fall will be their second molt. At the moment they look young and beautiful so it’s hard for me to make that call.
Mary
The hens who are the most “bleached out” are your best layers!
Shannon Klingman
I find my old birds are still great gardeners! I keep them around and they really don’t cost that much when you consider all they have given and do. I don’t waste a scrap in the winter and I like to make fodder and oatmeal for them. I dread the day I need to make this decision but know the day is coming.
sheri padilla
Hi
I have 5 hens laying really good now, that are 3 years old, at what age do you cull your older birds?
Lindsey Pillow
2 of my 6 hens are no longer laying. A 3rd only lays about once a week.
I don’t have the heart to cull them, but want to open up space for some younger birds.
Advice ??
Chasity DeKay
Stubbled across this as I am contemplating the same tasks……. Oldie but goodie!
Thanks Shaye!