Looks like I will be discontinuing my chicken flock after this one is done.
It is frustrating to read various books and see vids and articles on blogs (not anyone on permies necessarily) where people imply they can have eggs all year round and then leave out the significant down time. For half the year my hens make from 4-6 a day. Too many for us to eat. For almost half the year I have to buy feed for chickens that are not making eggs. So they go from producers to pets. If there was a low cost way to preserve those extra eggs that might help some with spreading the eggs through the year.
I have helped with slaughtering chickens before and found it unpleasant. Not looking forward to doing that when these hens retire. Was initially planning to get new chicks this spring, but then realised they would have the same issue and I would have to do the "rolling flock" method. This means slaughtering chickens in the fall as they wear out, and doing this every year instead of every two or three years.
Is there some "trick" I am missing that these chicken gurus are leaving out of their vids and articles?
