MamaSheepdog
Well-known member
Listen up, everybunny! If you don't have a copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery, run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore.
From the above mentioned book:
As a hen lays she loses her yellow coloration. If all her yellow is there, she hasn't started laying at all. After a few weeks of laying the yellow will be faded around her vent, eye, and earlobe. After producing for a couple months her beak's yellow will be faded also. After 6 months of egg production her feet, toes, nails, and shanks will also be faded. When hens quit laying the color comes back in the same order it left.
I know. :x
I culled a hen that was doing poorly last week and just gave the entire bird to the dogs. They can pluck their own chicken!
Hens will lay tolerably well for 7-10 years, but your cost per egg goes up exponentially. Of course, if they are pets as well as producers that is okay.
From Carla's book again:
A hen that laid 240 eggs her first season will lay about 190 in her second, and about 150 in her third. For peak laying efficiency the longest you would keep a hen is three laying seasons.
mystang89":esqrflcj said:I thought a hen had stopped laying so I butchered it and was going to use it in a soup. Turns out I was wrong and the chicken had a few yokes in her.
From the above mentioned book:
As a hen lays she loses her yellow coloration. If all her yellow is there, she hasn't started laying at all. After a few weeks of laying the yellow will be faded around her vent, eye, and earlobe. After producing for a couple months her beak's yellow will be faded also. After 6 months of egg production her feet, toes, nails, and shanks will also be faded. When hens quit laying the color comes back in the same order it left.
mystang89":esqrflcj said:Chickens wreak when process.
I know. :x
mystang89":esqrflcj said:Plus the defeathering process takes f o r e v e r....they have lots of feathers.
I culled a hen that was doing poorly last week and just gave the entire bird to the dogs. They can pluck their own chicken!
amybart4570":esqrflcj said:Plus the rumor that chickens just stop laying at 2 y/o is soooo NOT true!
Hens will lay tolerably well for 7-10 years, but your cost per egg goes up exponentially. Of course, if they are pets as well as producers that is okay.
From Carla's book again:
A hen that laid 240 eggs her first season will lay about 190 in her second, and about 150 in her third. For peak laying efficiency the longest you would keep a hen is three laying seasons.