My mother has some 4 and a half year old hens. How old have your oldest hens been? Do you know how long they can live?
How old are your oldest chickens?
My oldest was a 9 year old dark Brahma hen
she died 3 years ago but I loved her......
Wow! That's really old! What's your secret :)
Man, I cry like a baby when I lose a chick, you must have been really sad. That's like losing a dog or cat!
oh but I have around 200 chickens....she was just special,and like a pet
But no secret,she just hung out,freerange......
I can't cry over all my loses........I'm more upset when a predetor get them than when they die a natural death
That's true. I'm more upset when they die and I don't know why, or something stupid gets one, like a dog or cat. If one of them gets eaten by a hawk, etc. I am sad, but hawks have to eat, too. And chickens are like little meals on legs! LOL! When some dumb neighborhood pet is sniffing around, I get annoyed. They have food at home! But I also just have nine pet hens....and one brand new rooster! He just showed up yesterday from the neighbors! LOL!
Mine live on an average of 7 years....but seriously, I'm trying to think of when one 'died naturally'.....until recently, we've always had Great Danes & it seemed like whenever a hen was getting older, she'd get out of the coop somehow & well, you can imagine what happened in the yard. So now, with no Great Dane in the yard, who knows how long these girls may live.....at present my oldest hens are about 2yrs old.
~Kim
My oldest hen was an Old English Game bantam who lived to be 13 years old. She had even laid one egg the year she died. I had to put her a nest box on the floor to sleep in as she couldn't manage to fly onto the perch and I put an extra brick for a step so she could get into the hut. Sadly, she finally died from a heart attack when my son chased her out of the vegetable garden when she had sneaked out of the hen run.
My oldest hens at the moment are a 7 year old Araucana and a 6 year old Silver Laced Wyandotte who are both still laying and look great.
How often does a hen over 3 years old lay eggs?
The two older ones lay for 12 days or so then have a little rest or go broody and then start again. These two breeds don't lay as many eggs a year as some of the other breeds, and certainly not as many as the very productive hybrids even when they are young, but I do love the Araucana's little blue eggs.
My favorite chicken is an americaunna that lays sage green eggs. I usually refresh my hens every two years with some of the first years carried over to the next. That way I always have a good mix of large and medium eggs and somebody is always laying. If I got a good broody hen, I'd keep her as long as I could. I hae a few silkies that I hope will go broody, but as yet they aren't even laying. I had 4 and I thought that most of them were laying, but a little boy new to chickens fell in love with the one silkie hen and I sent him home with her and a rooster. Little did I know she was the only one laying! So either they others haven't started yet or they are hiding them really, really well. So, we'll see....