The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Ben94 on June 05, 2017, 08:19:04 pm
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Does anyone know where I could get 100ish ex commercial hens in Hampshire area? Wanting to see if they will lay again and size of eggs and how many the lay.
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You usually see loads on FB or the British hen trust are always looking for new homes.
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Just google 'rehoming comercial hens' there's a few national charities. I think after 18 months the quality of the egg and shell starts to vary, so the eggs cannot be sold commercially. They should go on laying for years tho, eggs should be large.
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Just google 'rehoming comercial hens' there's a few national charities. I think after 18 months the quality of the egg and shell starts to vary, so the eggs cannot be sold commercially. They should go on laying for years tho, eggs should be large.
It's because the hen's producivity drops and she doesn't lay as much compared to when she was younger. My ex free range hens have always laid good quality eggs just not very many as the years go on.
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Commercials lay around as many in a year as native breeds do in 18 months, depending on breed, so they get clapped out very quickly and it's not worth feeding them through the moult. The shells become thinner the larger the egg and they're eventually too fragile to withstand the washing, packing and transporting process. They may, depending on early life, have nasty habits with regard to feather pecking, have been vaccinated and be carrying diseases such as mycoplasma, so beware of mixing them with other, unvaccinated, birds.