To kill or not to kill....

[adoptedbyachicken]

I kept one hen that tore herself open on barb wire when she was about 6 weeks and I sutured up since she was too small to finish the job she started. Had not healed by the time everyone was to be butchered and I was not sure the wound had infection or not so she got spared. Then it became a curiosity thing, will she do OK, will she flip, I just put her in with the layers and let things be. She got huge, she got around OK but could not keep up, she was not wise about what to eat and got impacted crop free ranging so her second surgical experience with me was fixing that, she recovered fine. She stayed penned following that. She lived 3 years, laid every 3 or 4 days a very small egg, almost bantie size and seemed healthy right till I found her dead.

Personally I would not bother keeping another one, but I don't regret doing it once.

 

[birdaholic]

We raise chickens, quail, pea fowl and turkey, and we have one turkey that will live a full, happy life on our farm. Her mom was freaked out one afternoon when a hail storm pounded the tin roof of the barn, and took all her chicks out into the hail where they were all killed. Under her wing was one chick that survived. We raised her in the house, and she is our favorite, and still adores her attention!
Sometimes you gotta smile upon the under dogs.

Here is "Barn" our favorite turkey hen...she is very macho!

 

[Blackbird]

We just did this recently and the boiler lived to a year. Then we found her dead, heart attack. She was an excellent layer though!

 

[Farmfresh]

I say KEEP HER! I agree with Bee she might make a good breeder!

I actually kept on of mine a few years back and man o' man what a layer she turned out to be. (MUCH to my pleasant surprise) She laid soft brown eggs like a White Rock and laid one almost everyday! Winter didn't even seem to slow her down much. She DID require a lot more care during hot spells however. This hen did have nice straight legs and was also quite athletic for a Cornish Rock. That helped I am sure. The reason I kept her was that she was raised by a broody Spangled Hamburg and just grew up in the flock.

I kept her for two years and then culled her as I normally would any layer. What a soup hen that was! She weighed 9 pounds!!

This is her beside a rather large Welsummer hen.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Who says chickens can't be pets? What is the difference between a parrot and a chicken, anyways?

About $2998!

ha!

for the record no self respecting pirate would be caught dead walking around with a chicken on their shoulder.... but that would be hilarious.

A - if you like her cuz you like her then thats fine. we kept 2 of our red broilers from last summer and they are still going strong.

but

they are not great layers and our hopes of having free red broilers didnt work at all.

we had one little hen that flopped over dead one day after we had her about 3 years. then when we got the broilers we realized... thats what she was! we called her Fire Engine b/c she was red, fast, and loud.

remember we kept Legs - the roo from that batch of broilers b/c he was too creepy to eat. we finally dressed him this summer and he was so tough and gross that the dogs barely wanted the meat.

so if you like her cuz you like her - than fine. but dont have super high expectations. sometimes you just like certain hens b/c they become a fixture in the barnyard.... and that is fine too.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Ok, Free and OFG. The image of a chicken sitting on a pirate's shoulder has me cracking up this mroning!

I think we'll keep her. And Bee, I'll put her in with a nice rooster come spring and see what happens!

The rest of the broilers are going on Saturday. I have some pretty puny ones in that bunch rolleyes so I'll keep a few back and they can live with the layers until they fatten up. Then I'll just harvest one now and then to put in the freezer.