# Chicken question?



## Rhandi (Mar 7, 2014)

how long do chickens lay eggs? how long is their lifespan? and lastly...are you really supposed to butcher them after they finish laying eggs? i don't think i can do that!


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## LittleWings (Jul 15, 2013)

It depends on the breed of chicken. Chickens like leghorns lay often but hit their peak egg-laying at around 18 months and then start tapering off. Other breeds may not lay as often but will be lay for years. 
You don't have to butcher them after their finished laying, it's just good economics.


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

All questions depend on breed and preferences.

For you, I would *get a egg laying heritage breed* tho. They generally have a long laying period and have laid into their 20s (oldest ever I have heard).

*Question 1*. Depends on breed. Production hybrids lay for 2-3 years and then nothing (They also can have more problems than heritage and are not good for beginners). Heritage egg laying can lay forever but it drops off by an egg a week when they get older. The lawn ornament types you wouldn't really ever get eggs from.

*Question 2*. Depends on the farmer. Typical is 15-20 before dying of old age.

*Question 3*. Depends on the farmer but no you don't have to. Older hens kinda taste bad too.

For the backyard hobbyist, most don't kill off their chickens but it's kinda like goldfish. Sometimes things go wrong (unless you have the most predator proof disease proof set up there ever was) Your chickens may die of natural causes and you will be sad. The only reason backyard hobbyist would kill off a chicken is severe circumstances.

I'm assuming you want something like a dog in personality or do you want them to be good at free ranging and escaping predators? It's hard to have both.

*Avoid Meat Birds* They will eat you out of house and home if you don't kill them for food. They also don't lay well.

*Avoid the Ornamental Group* They are pretty but lay bad and take forever to mature.

*Go for Dual Purpose (aka meat and egg) or Egg Production heritage breeds* because it sounds like you are after eggs.

For puppy dog like personality, I'd go for Buff Orpington, Barred Plymouth Rock or Black Australorp.

For free ranging (more like cat personality, very skiddish but friendly cat), I'd go for leghorn (think the looney toon character) or hamburg

The reason I suggest these is because they are easy to find, fairly cheap to obtain, hard to kill as an adult, and reputably fairly decent layers.

Tools
Heritage Chicken breeds
My pet Chicken Breed Quiz


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## Rhandi (Mar 7, 2014)

great, thank you!


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

Why would you have to butcher them just because they quit laying eggs? They still do a great job of keeping down the insects/rodents and keeping the gardens nice with their foraging for bugs in them and working up the dirt. Butchering them is a personal choice. Something you do if you have them for the purpose of being a meat source besides egg source. Mine will die of old age then be buried with the rest of our beloved pets being we got ours for the soul purpose of being pets. Eggs for us are the bonus. I've been told that once they reach 2 years of age, that their eggs aren't as good that the eggs get tough. Some of my girls will be 4 years old this May and their eggs taste just fine to us.


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

7chicks said:


> Why would you have to butcher them just because they quit laying eggs? They still do a great job of keeping down the insects/rodents and keeping the gardens nice with their foraging for bugs in them and working up the dirt. Butchering them is a personal choice. Something you do if you have them for the purpose of being a meat source besides egg source. Mine will die of old age then be buried with the rest of our beloved pets being we got ours for the soul purpose of being pets. Eggs for us are the bonus. I've been told that once they reach 2 years of age, that their eggs aren't as good that the eggs get tough. Some of my girls will be 4 years old this May and their eggs taste just fine to us.


Their eggs are actually more consistent when they get older. They just lay less or none at all depending what breed.

*Reasons to butcher*

Feed efficiency. (feed it takes to make x amount of egg or reach certain goal)

Or that was the intended purpose like meat chickens.


The farmer who has 50 to 100 chickens can't really afford a bunch of unproductive ones.

I'm kinda used to the idea of it becoming tasty soup/stew but that's because My husband and I was raised with the idea. I'm the farmer's granddaughter.

Forgot to mention in the earlier post hamburgs are noisier than foghorn leghorn.


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## TheChickenGuy (Jan 29, 2014)

To butcher or not to butcher will depend on how attached you are to the chicken and on how many chickens you have. So if you see them as your pets, it would be hard to butcher them. And if you just have few chickens, you can afford not to butcher them if they're your pets. On the other hand, when you own a lot of chickens, it would be an economic disaster to keep and feed them indefinitely.


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

The eggs do not get tough the older the bird. However the bird does get tough. Old laying hens are very stringy, however their flavour is wonderful. For both these reasons, the old layers make fantastic soup. 

Most of my older layers I slaughter, just because it's not economically feasible for me to keep feeding them. That being said, my production bred layers are 4 years old now and still fairly consistent. I have had heritage breeds that were 6+ years old and still giving 1-4 eggs a week. Usually I end up slaughtering because the hen itself is just not doing well anymore, so my production bred hens lost a lot of vigour going into this winter and most just didn't pick up after their molt. I kept a few for soup but most went into the dog dish. Chickens have the potential to live over 20, but usually by 10 they are pretty ancient looking and have lived a considerable life. That's the unfortunate side of selective breeding over time, for everything gained there is something lost - usually a prime that is over with a lot sooner than it should be.

There are so many reasons why a bird may or may not be culled here. Hens usually get culled for health issues, roosters because they're not breeding quality. Some get culled for temperaments. Some don't lay eggs anymore but are broody and hatch out all the time, and some are pets, and some have just earned their keep through long prosperous lives, those birds will live on here until they succumb to their age.
It is a very personal decision, for sure, and there is no right or wrong way to do things.


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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

Hello I have a question is my pen big enough for 5 bantam it's 4 ft wide and 8ft long 

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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

This is the pen 

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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

I'm trying to put up a picture 

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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

And these are my bantams any idea on the breed and is the red one a hen 

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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

Is something wrong with my bantam and can you tell the sex 

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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

This one same as the first red one 

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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

I'm not sure what the question is asking exactly so I will try to answer the best I can...

If you are talking about a chicken coop (the house where they lay eggs, are fairly safe from predators, sleep at night and stay in bad weather) alone is (4 ft x 8 ft) 32 sq feet. You have more than plenty of room for 16-32 bantams let alone 5.

If you are talking about a chicken run (A structure where they run around outside that allows moderate protection from predators), then I think you have room for 6 

More space is not a bad thing. The birds will be happy and healthy

My chicken math is for bantam chicken
1-2 sq feet per bird in a coop 
5 sq ft per bird in the run 


Either way you have plenty of room.

I'm not good at the breed/gender game


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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Rett, if your whole setup is the 4-8 space pictured with the dog house for sleeping quarters, I would say you have plenty of room for your 5 bantams but I wouldn't add much else to that flock.
The two birds you pictured are male.
I can't tell what's wrong with the bird from a single pic, maybe start a thread and list symptoms?


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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks and also my smaller one keeps his eye closed a lot and it's watering what should I do 

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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

It could be an infection or an injury to the eye. Hard to tell but I'd certainly be looking into antibiotic drops. 
Can you post your own thread in the appropriate forum so it gets the attention that it needs?


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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

Sorry putting it in the wrong forum and how do I make a thread on a phone 

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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

I'm not sure. My mind is a little fried from my cold. I am guessing some sort of eye infection and I can't remember treatment.

It may help to create a "help me chicken eye problem" thread because then tons of people will start to jump in and help more quickly. This may help resolve your issue faster. If you go to the forum button at the brown bar at the top of your screen that will take you home. Select the forum part you want to go to and then there will be a "create new thread button". I would post this in health and wellness. 

Your not in the wrong forum. It's just the title and place may not get a lot of the responses you are looking for.

This is a very nice helpful forum and if we know your trouble we'll help to the best we can.

I'm really sorry your bird is sick.


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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks for you caring 

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## Fiere (Feb 26, 2014)

Hmm, every phone is different and so it might be different for you than me. When I want to post a thread on my phone I go into the appropriate forum and press the button on my phone that opens settings, that brings up a menu that has the option "New Topic". I don't know what button that is on your cellphone model, unfortunately. You could also open it from the website and just follow it with your phone.


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

I just use the computer. I could create a new topic for you if that would help?

I don't understand the phones.


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## Rett99 (Mar 11, 2014)

Thanks I couldn't find the button though so it would be great if you could open one 

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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

I created a thread for you called help me chicken eye problem and have a link going to this one. The thread is located on chicken health and wellness. Link below

Help me! chicken eye problem


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