Anyone take advantage of free chickens?

[beberly37]

We have backyard chickens for eggs.  It ends up being a wash financially for most of the year and has a slight positive revenue at the end of spring/beginning of summer. Last year in our attempt to expand our flock, we bought "sexed" chicks through the mail.  There was a minimum order number and it was more than what we wanted, so raised them up, kept half of them and sold the rest (for more than we paid for all of the chicks, shipping and feed).  However, one of the ones we kept ended up being in the 2% of the 98% guaranteed female.  As a result, we now have a rooster and fertile eggs. 

This year, when the time came to replace birds, we had two broody hens sit on some "free" fertile eggs. Out of 10 eggs we got 8 chicks, 4 turned out to be girls, 4 boys (go figure).  My family is vegetarian, and though, in the past we have crossed the line and done in old girls that hit hen-opause and made broth for adding protein to rice and such, killing multiple young birds and eat the flesh just seemed to be too much.  I ended up having a "processing" party with a couple of friends, one who likes to be connected to his food and likes to actually kill what he eats on occasion and another who wanted the experience.  They took the meat and presumably had some nice meals out of it. 

The whole thing has me thinking.  I know that in an area where backyard chickens are popular, everyone always has cockerels, roosters and old hens to give away "to a good home".  If one was so inclined, I'm pretty sure you could keep a freezer stocked with meat and broth all year long from free birds.  All you have to do is go get them and slaughter/butcher them yourself. 

Does any one do this?  Is anyone going try it now?

[I'm a red panda]

Our town allows chickens for egg laying, but it is illegal to slaughter them for meat.

Not sure how they enforce this, or what one is supposed to do with aged chickens, but there ya go.


(A friend in another town separates her chickens when they get annoying. The annoying ones get eaten.)

[Rezdent]

Won't be trying this one because folks who are giving away cull chickens are unlikely to want you to eat them, or else they'd have done it themselves.  They are wanting to give chickens to  a "nice home", which means they have an expectation that you would be keeping them alive. It would be dishonest to take them without disclosing your motives, which would cause most people to refuse.
just my experience/opinion.

Now, buying culls at a sharp discount is a different story.  If that opportunity came our way, we'd evaluate the price and either go for it or not.

Side note:  Young roosters are okay, but old roosters are difficult to make edible, even with a pressure cooker and lots of time.  Reminded me of chicken-flavored bubble gum.

[JAYSLOL]

We have done this a few times, but always with the original owner understanding their fate.  They are usually unwanted small to medium size roosters that are only best for making great chicken noodle soup.  Helps that we live in a fairly rural area and my wife grew up raising chickens.

[stripey]

Old chickens (including cockrels) make for the best stock in the slow cooker. Also makes much better chicken hot-and-sour soup.

[kite]

I'll take them if their beak hasn't been snipped because we want them for keeping the tick population down.  I've no evidence, but I think they're better at getting bugs if they have the full beak.  We have just enough local wildlife, that we lose chickens and ducks to raccoons, hawks and the occasional fox. 
One of my neighbors who keeps them for back yard egg production will gas them when they aren't laying and the birds go to the local wildlife center as food for whatever wild animals they are raising/rehabbing. 

[Gone Fishing]

We've put a few unwanted roosters in the freezer, but between the time and gas to pick up 2-3 birds here or there, then butcher them, I wouldn't say it was worth it as a "side gig" just to reduce food costs.

[beberly37]

It would be dishonest to take them without disclosing your motives, which would cause most people to refuse.
just my experience/opinion.

I have trouble with people who insist on passing old birds to a "good home" because its basically like saying, "I've gotten everything I want out of this bird, but I don't want to feed a non-layer for 5-8 more years, so I would really like you to feed this bird for the next half decade."  I probably wouldn't lie about the end game for the old girls, but I would offer to take them anyway (if I were inclined to start eating meat again). 

We've put a few unwanted roosters in the freezer, but between the time and gas to pick up 2-3 birds here or there, then butcher them, I wouldn't say it was worth it as a "side gig" just to reduce food costs.

I guess if you are post-retirement and have gobs of time to fill. The birds we did in dressed out at about 4-5 lbs (i think).  It took 3 hours (counting the time for one of my buddies to recover from fainting).  So at best we got just under 7lb of meat per hour.  Not exactly a well paying gig.

[Miss Prim]

Our layers are over 2 years old now and we are going to be gone for 6 weeks in the fall, so we are deciding what to do with them.  We had a couple of roosters processed a few years ago and they were awful!  So stringy.  So we will probably just dispatch them to the great chicken beyond in a few weeks.  I make stock out of my meat chickens after we eat most of the meat, so I really don't need them for stock. 

I did have a neighbor express an interest in them, but I told her they are slowing way down on laying, so she probably doesn't want them.  We will see.  I think she just wants them for her son to feed and take care of. 

My neighbor shoots them in the head when he is done with them, but I don't have a gun, so I will probably just chop their heads off.  My husband will be far, far away when I do this!  He is squeamish!

                                                                                                              Miss Prim

[Gone Fishing]

Our layers are over 2 years old now and we are going to be gone for 6 weeks in the fall, so we are deciding what to do with them.  We had a couple of roosters processed a few years ago and they were awful!  So stringy.  So we will probably just dispatch them to the great chicken beyond in a few weeks.  I make stock out of my meat chickens after we eat most of the meat, so I really don't need them for stock. 

I did have a neighbor express an interest in them, but I told her they are slowing way down on laying, so she probably doesn't want them.  We will see.  I think she just wants them for her son to feed and take care of. 

My neighbor shoots them in the head when he is done with them, but I don't have a gun, so I will probably just chop their heads off.  My husband will be far, far away when I do this!  He is squeamish!

                                                                                                              Miss Prim

Are they just slowing down to molt? If so, they may fire back up again once they replace their feathers. We've noticed that our laying hens hold up longer than the 2 cycles quoted in most places.  I think it has to do with the fact that we don't push them with artificial light.

[SailorGirl]

Our layers are over 2 years old now and we are going to be gone for 6 weeks in the fall, so we are deciding what to do with them.  We had a couple of roosters processed a few years ago and they were awful!  So stringy.  So we will probably just dispatch them to the great chicken beyond in a few weeks.  I make stock out of my meat chickens after we eat most of the meat, so I really don't need them for stock. 

I did have a neighbor express an interest in them, but I told her they are slowing way down on laying, so she probably doesn't want them.  We will see.  I think she just wants them for her son to feed and take care of. 

My neighbor shoots them in the head when he is done with them, but I don't have a gun, so I will probably just chop their heads off.  My husband will be far, far away when I do this!  He is squeamish!

                                                                                                              Miss Prim

Two year old hens will lay more than enough eggs for most people.  Either get them a sitter or give them to a neighbor.  I've sat for 10 year old hens that are still laying.

[beberly37]

Our layers are over 2 years old now and we are going to be gone for 6 weeks in the fall, so we are deciding what to do with them.  We had a couple of roosters processed a few years ago and they were awful!  So stringy.  So we will probably just dispatch them to the great chicken beyond in a few weeks.  I make stock out of my meat chickens after we eat most of the meat, so I really don't need them for stock. 

I did have a neighbor express an interest in them, but I told her they are slowing way down on laying, so she probably doesn't want them.  We will see.  I think she just wants them for her son to feed and take care of. 

My neighbor shoots them in the head when he is done with them, but I don't have a gun, so I will probably just chop their heads off.  My husband will be far, far away when I do this!  He is squeamish!

                                                                                                              Miss Prim

If they are leghorns I'd believe they stopped laying at 2, if they are anything else, I'd think you had a problem with them.  They could be molting, brooding, or ill.  Ours slow down this time of year, then pick back up a little in fall, I thinks its due to the heat. 

[clarkfan1979]

I have considered this option while sitting in traffic on Kauai. However, I would have to be extremely broke to exercise this option. But at the end of the day, I feel better, because I know the option is available.

[Miss Prim]

Our layers are over 2 years old now and we are going to be gone for 6 weeks in the fall, so we are deciding what to do with them.  We had a couple of roosters processed a few years ago and they were awful!  So stringy.  So we will probably just dispatch them to the great chicken beyond in a few weeks.  I make stock out of my meat chickens after we eat most of the meat, so I really don't need them for stock. 

I did have a neighbor express an interest in them, but I told her they are slowing way down on laying, so she probably doesn't want them.  We will see.  I think she just wants them for her son to feed and take care of. 

My neighbor shoots them in the head when he is done with them, but I don't have a gun, so I will probably just chop their heads off.  My husband will be far, far away when I do this!  He is squeamish!

                                                                                                              Miss Prim

Two year old hens will lay more than enough eggs for most people.  Either get them a sitter or give them to a neighbor.  I've sat for 10 year old hens that are still laying.

There are multiple problems with these batch of chickens.  We bought them when they were old enough to lay from a lady who had too many of them.  They were not the same breed of chickens that we previously had.  These were probably her worst ones.  They get broody all the time to the point of sitting on both nesting boxes, so the other chickens have been laying elsewhere. 

I am constantly trying to keep the broody ones out of the boxes.  They are not providing many eggs anymore, so they are not worth the cost of feed.  I don't get attached to my chickens, they are here for a purpose.  We do meat chickens too, so I am not sentimental about any of them.  My neighbor has expressed an interest in them, so I would give them to her, but I did want her to know that they are not laying as much and she will have to keep them fenced in or they will return home.  So far, she has not built a coop or anything yet.

Not only will we be gone for 6 weeks, since we are retired now, we will be gone for much of the winter too.  We just can't keep layers anymore.  We will continue with meat chickens as they only take 7-8 weeks.

                                                                                               Miss Prim

[Axecleaver]

I wanted to share this vivid dream I had about this very scenario. In the dream I founded a company called "Axecleaver's Totally Safe Chicken Haven." We made a website where people could register to donate their chickens. Then I'd drive my purple microbus around (here's where I figured out it was a dream) to collect all the chickens. I'd sit down at the kitchen table with them and talk about all the wonderful things the chickens would do to live out their remaining days in comfort.

Then I'd take them home, add them to the giant flock of chickens in the backyard, and eat one every night for dinner, while my whole family would sit around the table and laugh and laugh.

In all seriousness though, it's definitely a problem that is yearning for a solution. People get attached to their backyard chickens and just can't get to a place where they're willing to eat them. Maybe a good story, a couple of articles in the local paper, and a dropoff location for unwanted, healthy chickens would work?