Ode to Old Hens... Pictures of the Seniors in Our Flock

tlcmurphy said:

You are most certainly doing everything right to have such long lived birds. I’m very sorry for your loss

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speckledhen said:

Reporting another old hen gone. My last Belgian D'Anver, Mina, has passed on. She was 12 1/2 yrs old. Her last couple of months was plagued by daily seizures, but she'd get back on her feet and do her threatening head bob thing with those of other flocks. She was left as the lone survivor of all the groups she'd been moved into and because of her age and condition, could not be with other birds without a barrier between them. I have never seen such a strong little hen in all my life. I will never have Belgian D'Anvers again. Three had neurological disorders including her aunt and her son. And they just do not lay after age two, or the line I had was not productive, though Mina did lay one egg two years ago. Plucky little thing, she was. Will have to add a picture when I'm on my main computer. Sure will miss that tiny hen, feisty as heck she was up until her last days.
I did lose an older Brahma hen right after Mina, Bonnie Blue, who would have been 8 in June, but she had a heart issue and on top of that, somehow almost tore her wing off and was healing from that devastating injury. She was at the end of her life even before she got hurt, though she was not nearly as old as most of my hens who pass away.

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