Posted by Ben Ruesga on September 17, 2008 at 9:09pm
I found this ad on craigslist. Should I be paranoid about bying these? I called and they said they were about 12 months old. I just don't want to get chickens that are full grown and almost done laying or something. Should I just stick with getting some chicks? Here is the link. Any advice is appreciated.http://phoenix.craigslist.org/nph/grd/838921335.html
You need to be a member of AZ Herb Forum to add comments!
By looking at the list of available breeds it looks like it's just someone cycling their flock, or maybe getting rid of them because they're moving or something. 12 months old is AOK, my 2 year old chickens that are still laying 4 eggs/week, sometimes more in peak season. I think it's just a larger 'backyard' hobby flock (not production rescues or anything) because no one would get those fancy breeds for production. If you are interested you should go take a look and see if they look like they've been taken care of. Let us know if you do!
Remember when you adopt already laying hens, it will usually take around 2 weeks for them to get adjusted to their new homes before they resume laying. But you're saving yourself 18 of the standard 20 weeks it takes from hatch to first laying. :)
Well, there's advantages and disadvantages to buying full grown ones.
Advantages: they are already laying -- even after two years old, they still lay, they just don't necessarily lay every 27 hours or whatever the timeline is. I know several people with hens 8 yrs old still laying extra large eggs a couple times a week.
Disadvantages: they may be diseased. They may not be tame enough for a backyard flock. They may not lay like younger hens (but they generally lay larger eggs).
So I guess it's whether you want immediate eggs, or you want hand tamed birds if these are not -- I would guess that if they're on craigslist they probably were production hens and if they're not laying every day they're not productive enough for money making. For a family they should lay plenty enough.
Oh -- and BTW, I did end up getting my chicks from Pratt's. The littler ones they have are healthy looking (and mine have been very healthy so far) it's only the older ones and full grown ones that look rather ragged and stressed.
Replies
Remember when you adopt already laying hens, it will usually take around 2 weeks for them to get adjusted to their new homes before they resume laying. But you're saving yourself 18 of the standard 20 weeks it takes from hatch to first laying. :)
Advantages: they are already laying -- even after two years old, they still lay, they just don't necessarily lay every 27 hours or whatever the timeline is. I know several people with hens 8 yrs old still laying extra large eggs a couple times a week.
Disadvantages: they may be diseased. They may not be tame enough for a backyard flock. They may not lay like younger hens (but they generally lay larger eggs).
So I guess it's whether you want immediate eggs, or you want hand tamed birds if these are not -- I would guess that if they're on craigslist they probably were production hens and if they're not laying every day they're not productive enough for money making. For a family they should lay plenty enough.
Oh -- and BTW, I did end up getting my chicks from Pratt's. The littler ones they have are healthy looking (and mine have been very healthy so far) it's only the older ones and full grown ones that look rather ragged and stressed.