# After they stop laying



## thepoleys (Aug 18, 2012)

My wife is not a fan of using the chickens for "meat". Is there any problems caused by leaving them in with the rest of the flock when they stop laying, and letting nature take its course?


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

not as far as i am aware. they should enjoy their retirement after supplying us with all those eggs.


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## thepoleys (Aug 18, 2012)

*thanks*

That's what I figured and had seen so far, thanks.


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## Apyl (Jun 20, 2012)

No problems as long as you don't mind spending money on feed and they give nothing in return.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

thepoleys said:


> My wife is not a fan of using the chickens for "meat". Is there any problems caused by leaving them in with the rest of the flock when they stop laying, and letting nature take its course?


Yes..there is. Often when "nature takes its course" it is not an easy, lovely going to sleep and not waking up kind of death. Laying chickens often continue to lay occasionally and have some egg misfires in their menopausal years that can cause pain and eventually death.

Also, as they age, they are more susceptible to parasites and disease as their immune system declines with age. This can all lead to suffering as well. Not very often chickens will just age gracefully and then die suddenly....it happens rarely with humans and it happens just as rarely with animals.

But..with humans there is medicine to treat pain, infections and other discomforts...with chickens, they cannot often be diagnosed properly to help treat these things and..they ain't talkin'.

It's a lovely thought to let chickens totter along until they die...it presents a nice picture. But ordinarily that's all it is..an unrealistic expectation and a picture we have in our minds only.

I'm facing this issue presently with some birds that are 6 yrs old. I've had older and still highly productive birds in the flock, but each ages differently. Two of the old girls are showing signs of age in the way they move, their general body appearance, their nonverbal signs of discomfort in the joints, their hygiene, etc.

I know the next step to that stage and I won't let them go so far that I keep them around because it hurts to lose them. It's not really about ME, it's about them and their needs and not letting them suffer. That's all wrapped up into good stewardship and true love for an animal...how long is too long when the quality of life is lowered?

That's a decision we must each make according to our own ethics on animal husbandry.

But, base it on reality, if you can....not very often is old age pain and suffering free and not often is nature kind in its course. Natural death is often very painful and really needless when one has the power to circumvent it and has a duty to provide a quality life for the animal. And a quick, merciful death.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

Well said Bee!! I'm a vet tech and so much more often than not we get clients in with their pets and we murmur to each other how in the world could these people let their animal go that long?? Skeletal pets, not able to defecate properly or keep themselves clean, terrible digestion-vomiting acidic bile to the point of causing mouth sores, leaky eyes, no muscle mass etc. it is ten times sadder to see them living like that than the euthanasia procedure itself. People have so many "good intentions" yet the only good it is for anyone is for themselves! I've whispered into so many pets ears that I was sorry this happened to them. Yet, the owners don't see it, they tell their friends they loved that dog/cat/rabbit/chicken sooo much and it "lived" for soooo long under their care. To me, that's not living. So to the op, I think it's ok to keep chickens past their laying years, as long as you can keep a clear eye and do what needs to be done at the first sign that it has to happen.


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Most definitely... I'm a nurse and have whispered the same thing to patients in my care. What their families will do to keep them living is sometimes quite monstrous to watch and such a heart ache that I have cried all the way home more than once, praying for mercy for my patient. Just.._mercy._

What people do in the name of love in this world continues to mystify me...I just can never see it past the suffering that is caused. Humans won't _let_ their loved ones die and they won't _help_ their pets die...I think it's a subconscious effort to deny that everyone and everything dies, so they can convince themselves that they won't die one day too.

It's an odd world in which we live...


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## hennypenny68 (Apr 30, 2013)

We all have a our opinions and they are all good in there own way for me I have three separate pens. My first is the nursery were all my babies and young birds grow second pen is we're all my mature laying hens go and they are my daily producers and then I have the retirement pen that's were all my old girls go and enjoy there final days now don't get me wrong I don't believe in suffering either I'm a nurses aid and I've done palliative and even been with both of my parents and many other family members as they passed and I don't believe in suffering. If my girls look like they are suffering or are sick then I do put them down but if they pass peacefully and they do pass like that then I feel that I have done them right in doing so and gave them the best of there last days it is a choice made by each individual person am I hope I'm right in saying so


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## thepoleys (Aug 18, 2012)

Wow great info lots to think about, thanks for all your input.


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