Page 32 - ALG Issue 3 2018

General
Tales from the hen house – Part Four
In this instalment I want to cover the downside of hen-keeping: what you might have to do when your hens get sick, stop laying, or become frail from old age. Those of a sensitive disposition may need to turn the page now, but it’s a fact of life and death that hens don’t live forever and are not healthy forever, so all hen- keepers need to think this through before they commit to keeping.
Firstly, many hen-keepers enjoy having their hens as ‘productive pets’ and there is nothing wrong with this. Keeping them for interest, company, and to enliven the garden or allotment, with a few eggs
as a bonus is perfectly fine. If they stop laying it’s not too much of a problem because you may be happy to feed them and keep them for company and entertainment – like we do with our cats and other pets; time will run its course and they will die in happy old age. Other hen-keepers, like me, keep hens for egg production, and when a hen stops laying we want to replace it with one that will lay. Unless you can rehome your hen with someone who wants a pet, you need to ensure you do this humanely and with respect.
Vets are available and are useful if hens become sick, or if you want them to put hens down at the end of their lives. Often the cost of treatment is more than
the price of the hen when you bought it, but that should not stop you seeking help for a sick hen – especially where the sickness might spread to others
in your stock. Where hens do appear to be less than usually lively, off their food, or lose feathers for longer than the usual periodic moult period, the assistance of a small-animals vet or experienced hen-keeper should be sought. I’ve covered bio-security in previous articles.
Our local vet charges £50 to kill a hen. If you are
prepared to take on dispatching your hens yourself (or
if you raise chickens from eggs and need to deal with the cockerels that will be produced) you need to do it respectfully
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and with the minimum of stress and suffering. Several websites are available to offer advice: www.quarteracrehome.wordpress.com and www.poultrykeeper.com, for example, are clear and concise.
I use the neck dislocation method from the latter site and find that
it achieves unconsciousness quickly. Both websites contain clear accounts of how to do it. It is best to get a demonstration from an experienced hen-keeper before you try it yourself. Alternatives, like using a broomstick or an air pistol are described, and they could be considered depending on your strength and confidence.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to ensure the hen does
not suffer and no distress is caused to the other birds you have. Our Chorley ‘Hen-keeping code of practice’ for example, says we must not dispatch hens on an allotment site, but take them elsewhere. I usually bring mine home and kill them in the back yard, out of sight and sound of any neighbours that might be about. If you have any compassion, you will feel a bit ‘down’ after the event, too. I am a six foot well-built
bloke who worked for a butcher and in a small local abattoir for a while in my youth, so I am possibly better prepared
(physically and emotionally) for it than some others. Even
though our hens have always been ‘units of production’ more than pets, I really dislike the prospect of dispatching,
and always feel sad for the rest of the day. It’s important for you as well as the bird that the process is as swift and
painless as possible. When I worked in that abattoir, the moto we used was that we wanted the animals to have had a good life and a good death. I apply that to my hens.
Bill Taylor
Bill is an allotment holder in Chorley, Lancs and was until recently chair of Chorley AS. He has kept hens for about 8 years.
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