"Hentirement"

Thank you so much ~ loved this article!
You have a lovely and lucky flocks of hens!

Well written. Thanks!

I absolutely LOVED your article. I wondered what to do with my chicks when they became ilder and killing them was mot an option. Thank you!

I loved reading this article!

Thankyou for the great article! Would love to know how you got them to age 10 and so many? Over the last year we lost three. they were only 3yrs. Your chickens longevity is a testament, I think, to the care you must give them.!

I'm glad I'm not the only one with an "old lady" flock. I still have the first chicken I got, a cuckoo marans hen who gave me lots of eggs and raised lots of chicks. She is 7 this year and not laying. She is the flock leader and keeps everyone in line. I have some 6 year olds too that will have a home forever.

I have been wondering about this exact topic.

I have been raising chickens for about 12 years starting in Ontario, but moving from job to job (and country to country) forced me to give my girls to other backyard hen enthusiasts. Right now, I have nine 3-and-a-half-year-olds out of my initial day-old purchase of 15. They are laying just about as frequently as ever. Included is a buff Orpington, a black Australorp, a Delaware, a New Hampshire Red, three Easter Eggers and two Golden Buffs (which I hadn't heard of previously; Meyer Hatchery touts them as their best layers).

So, I was wondering about my middle-aged girls, their laying future, their lifespan, and so forth. This article was just what I needed to read.

I am glad to say that I don't need to wait to have a lap chicken. Two of my girls insist on being picked up every morning, the rest range from moderately friendly to very shy. Thanks again for this story.

This article is the business. It really heightened this chicken neophyte's respect for the ladies. I am so new at this that culling hens strictly cause they are old had not occurred to me. Now I think it won't occur at all for the reason of age. Thank you very much.

Thank you for such a warm and lovely article. Perhaps I am biased because you've reflected my sentiments so closely for not just our hens, but for our human companions, too. Too often we deem other living things as no longer valuable once they are past their "prime" -- instead of seeing their value increase in new ways. In any case, thanks for sharing your kindhearted perspective.

One of the best articles I have ever read. Glad to know the whole human race hasn’t turned into callous rocks!

Lovely to see other people getting rid of the myth. My older ladies are now part of the family. No they don’t really lay eggs anymore but they bring personality and adoration. They look after everyone else and become the teachers and the chastisers of the sillier younger ones, to keep them out of trouble.
Grace likes to have a cuddle and tell me what’s gone on during the day. She’s a great conversationalist! Fudgy is the singer of the group. Mila is bossy but shows others who is to be respected and keeps order. Kaye the cockerel is watcher and protector. Everyone has their place. To get rid of them because of a silly thing like laying an egg would be unthinkable!

I loved reading this article, in part because it was so well written it read like a fairy tale with a sense of humor. The photos made it very lively. And it went against a few stereotypes ! Now I would like to know more about these five senior ladies, if they have required special care, and if and how they have passed since this article was written.

Nice article to read about older hens and their worth

Great Article on the value of a hen's retirement years! My own older ladies are the kingpins (queen-pins?) around which the flock dynamics rotate. It's not the rooster bringing cohesion to my flock ... it's the senior hens!

A couple of my best middle aged hens died last year, not from old age but from predation and human stupidity.
One of them had never laid an egg in her life but was the rock that the rest of the tribe leaned on.
A free range dual purpose hen should have an average live span of 10 years given decent genes. Smaller lighter breeds that have had less human interference by breeders and hatcheries can live to 12 to 14 years old.
My last senior hen died at 11 years 4 months old.
Great article which I completely agree with.

Lovely article!