Advice needed

pipes · Post by **pipes** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:12 pm

I asked my cousin about buying a half dozen of his laying chickens, when it came time to switch flocks. He has 20,000 or so. Would it be a good idea to grab a few of them as they go into molt? He said he usually gets about 60 cents a bird at the end of their first year. So I can have as many as I want. Apparently the chicken catchers eat that 60 cent away pretty quickly, so he ends up with almost nothing for the birds. I'll have to wait for November, so my coop will be built long before their arrival.

So what do you think? Free battery hens... Worth the effort? What's the survivability? They'll be indoor for the winter molt probably, but then in runs, and free range under supervision in spring/summer. May even get a standing order of 10 each year and eat them at 2 years old...

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:17 pm

Well, they'll surprise you as easy to keep and productive laying hens. There's a lot of things they've never done: dust bath, outdoors, perching; its kinda heart breaking with their trimmed beaks and likely trimmed claws. But you'll get a charge out of seeing them out on grass the first time.

Survivability will be good and productivity will be reasonable. Given the "stress free" environment of elbow room and normal chicken activity they'll lay well for a year or more after molt.

They'll hardly be worth butchering on the tail end. White or red birds?
I'd take them.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:21 pm

Are they brown layers (red sex link) or white layers (production leghorn)? My experience with ex-battery rsls was OK, but I wouldn't waste time and money on leghorns. Either breed, if kept in battery cages, will need some retraining and adjustment time to get used to their new found freedom, but you will lose a lot more of the leghorns and get fewer eggs for your troubles. Being used to being crowded all their lives, once turned loose they tend to find a corner and pile onto each other, especially at night or in dim light and some will suffocate and die. You may want to keep a light on for them until they learn to roost. Leghorns are worse for this behaviour, as they lay so many eggs that they lose night vision faster than rsls, and while the rsls can see a little bit in low light (dusk/dawn) the spent production leghorns cannot, so will pile up sooner and stay piled longer. Also, a spent Leghorn will lay a lot fewer eggs than a spent sexlink...They are machines for the first 2 years or so but then drop off rapidly...And you won't even get soup meat from them for your troubles. If there's a stringier bird I've yet to find it. A spent red will continue laying more eggs, for longer, and may even set nests and raise chicks as they get older (leghorns almost never will) plus the reds still make an OK table bird with a little prep. Just my own experience! I would take production brown layers again but never again would I take the whites. A 6 year old RSL may give you 100 or more eggs a year, but you're lucky to get 30 from a white the same age. Others may have had better luck with them though!

Bayvistafarm · Post by **Bayvistafarm** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:56 am

I love the idea of giving, if just a few hens, a chance at a normal life. That in itself is worth more than getting a few eggs. However, birds that old, have not even really lived... they have at least another good year or a bit more in their laying career. Treated right, they will surprize you. I used to buy hens like that in my early chicken keeping years, and would like to again... but am leary of introducing birds from other places, now that I have a mostly home hatched flock.

goatgal35 · Post by **goatgal35** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:30 am

We have done both, white leghorns and rsl with good success. Our very first layers at this place were a dozen leghorn "burned" out hens at 10 cents a piece and a white leghorn rooster at 50 cents from an auction. Our kids were young then and they bought the birds with their own money. We didn't loose a single bird for the first year and they laid decent the following year after their molt. We hatched eggs from them under our silkies. For an initial investment of $1.70 we had white layers for many year. I like the rsl "burnouts" better, but our experience with leghorns was pretty good.

Post by **Home Grown Poultry** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:41 am

I have no experience or advice either way. I had about 30 rsls that were pushing 6 years old that already lived at the old place when we moved in. they were amazing layers even for there age, I didnt eat any but I'm sure they would have dressed out all right. I tell ya, the first leghorn I butchered really made me mad at the lack of meat on the carcus, lots of feathers but hardly any meat.

I love the idea of setting battery hens free and giving them another life but I suspect there would be many hurdles to overcome. is there any chance he would sell you some of his fresh birds so they could have a better life from the get go?

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 5:07 pm

Bayvistafarm wrote:QR_BBPOST I love the idea of giving, if just a few hens, a chance at a normal life. That in itself is worth more than getting a few eggs. However, birds that old, have not even really lived... they have at least another good year or a bit more in their laying career. Treated right, they will surprize you. I used to buy hens like that in my early chicken keeping years, and would like to again... but am leary of introducing birds from other places, now that I have a mostly home hatched flock.

Oh, this raises another point to consider...If you already keep chickens and decide to add a few 'spent' layers, you may want to find out what the battery hens have been vaccinated for, and possibly vaccine your existing birds before the new arrivals. Some common vaccines can shed virus and infect unvaccinated birds.

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 5:22 pm

Ouch...some lessons you don't want to learn the hard way. (Misspelled..fixed it)

Jaye · Post by **Jaye** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 7:15 pm

Hardware?

pipes · Post by **pipes** » Wed Dec 28, 2016 9:57 pm

Pretty sure they are white. Haven't been allow in the barn the past few years due to bio-security. I know the eggs are white, as I buy them fresh from his office fridge. Still taste like store bought though. The reason I asked was, I can get 10 free hens if I want them, and they would be my first chickens. So no loss if they all drop dead, except for the education. But if all they will do in their second year is eat and

, then no point in feeding them through the winter, and being disappointed in the spring. According to my cousin they are sitting about 99% production. Meaning 1 egg each and every day. I don't need the same production from them, but I also eventually want some brown and green eggs too.
Thanks for the input so far.