Vorwerks, hens

[AndyP]

I'd never heard of them either but having got fed up with despatching so called hens that had gender changes within weeks of getting them home I decided to buy some thoroughbred hens from a reputable dealer that could guarantee the sex. With shipping costs they were more than twice the price than the farmers specials I could pick up at the markets but anything is better than being woken at 4am.

After a slight hiccup with the delivery (first time in about 4 years that a carrier could not find the address) these two beauties arrived this morning.





Currently separated from the others while they get used to their new home they seemed to have survived overnight transportation without harm.

These are bantams hens, as are our existing hens, so a lot smaller than the usual egg laying hen. This mens they lay low cholesterol eggs. Well the eggs are small so they must have less of it
They are supposed to be be very good layers, poor mothers (so shouldn't spend weeks on end brooding) and a bit flighty so their flight feathers will be cut before they are let loose with the others.

 

[Phil]

Nice looking hens, hope they lay lots of eggs.

An egg a day keeps the chopper away.

Cheers
Phil

 

[AndyP]

An egg a day keeps the chopper away. Phil

Very true, although last week I used the broom handle method, a lot less messy.

 

[chataigner]

My Warren hens have laid an egg per day each for 18m (60-70g eggs) with no more than about 20 days with less than one per hen. They dont go broody, they eat just about anything and they are easy to manage. Too small to be good eating birds so we keep them as long as possible before putting them into the pot. Previous ones kept up the one egg per bird per day for 3 years.

 

[Wizard9999]

How long is a hen typically productive? And then how long would it life afterwards if there were no intervention?

Terry.

 

[chataigner]

It depends on the breed. Hens bred to be layers are highly productive for around 2 yrs then start to tail off. They are typically too small and bony to be good table birds. As for eventual life, I've no idea - never kept one long enough to find out !

Dual purpose birds such as Marans, Light Sussex, Orpingtons etc. are a compromise between egg laying and body weight/meat quality. They are bigger and meatier, but lay fewer eggs. The hens are best raised as layers for a year or perhaps two, then fattened for the table but can be a bit tough and are best cooked as coq au vin etc. They can be kept longer of course, but the older the tougher ! The cocks are typically killed at under one year, they gain weight fast and killed young are very tender for roasting.

Just for comparison, a basic supermarket meat chicken would be killed at under 3m old - too young to have any real flavour. After about 3m the weight gain slows right down but the total food eaten over life continues to increase, so it is more economic to kill them small like that. Good for profits but makes for a dismal eating experience !

 

[AndyP]

How long is a hen typically productive? And then how long would it life afterwards if there were no intervention?

Terry.

In my very limited experience (4 years) the bantam hens lay for 2 years between 4 and 5 eggs a week. When they get broody they can sit for 2-3 weeks doing nothing, then they moult so they go egg free for a month a month every year. We have had 2 die very quickly of what appears to be natural causes. They just stop eating, hand their heads, then fall over in about 3-4 days. All seems very painless. We have never had a hen longer than 3 years, maybe we not ver good at looking after them. They ought to be good for 5-8 years.