13 year old hen

[bruceha2000]

I agree that moving her in with unknown birds now would be a bad idea. Even my top of the flock birds cower and hide when they are moulting. They get all brave again when they have finished their moult.

Is the new coop "nicer" from a chicken perspective or a "human" perspective? Chickens don't really care if their lighting is Tiffany or Walmart What are the improved amenities from a chicken perspective? Can you let her have access to both coops simultaneously? She might take a few days to decide the new one is preferable, though if (for example) the old one has more daytime ground level drafts and the new one doesn't she might choose to inhabit the new one.

And yeah, THIRTEEN years?!? That is a 100+ year old equivalent for sure. I don't know how long a girl that old will take to moult, my oldest 4 are only 6.5 years old.

 

[centrarchid]

When they get to advanced age the molt gets out of wack. Consider upping her protein a little. Older hens for me sometimes molt in a manner where the sequence of feather replacement gets messed up. It is most apparent in the tail. When we had those older birds which sometimes could involve a rooster (both sexes sometimes show some degree of fertility even at such advanced ages which is why they were kept), we made so accessing roost was easier. A bale of straw was placed under roost. What you may see is she will have inner ear issues where her balance with be off making staying on roost a challenge. I remember one old hen that would fall over in pasture and lay on her back all day, but could walk and feed fine when righted.

 

[Alley]

We live on the far north coast of California and we had a big storm the took most of the roof off of her old coop. My husband put some plywood down and a tarp over that to keep her dry. The new coops is much smaller and will be lower to the ground and easier for her to maneuver around in. Pics of 13 year old Ethel Sue to come later! She's still beautiful even though she's old and in molt!

 

[bruceha2000]

Sounds like the new coop will be good for her. Kind of like we older people planning for living with no stairs.

 

[N F C]

We live on the far north coast of California and we had a big storm the took most of the roof off of her old coop. My husband put some plywood down and a tarp over that to keep her dry. The new coops is much smaller and will be lower to the ground and easier for her to maneuver around in. Pics of 13 year old Ethel Sue to come later! She's still beautiful even though she's old and in molt!

Looking forward to seeing your pictures!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Wow!!!!! 13 years??!?! That's fantastic! You must be an excellent chicken parent- something I aspire to be!


I, too, would love to see pics of Ethel Sue!

 

[Alley]

Here she is... our girl Ethel Sue... I think she looks pretty good for 13 and in molt

 

[N F C]

Here she is... our girl Ethel Sue... I think she looks pretty good for 13 and in moltView attachment 1629308

Thanks for sharing her picture!

 

[MissChick@dee]

Awhhh. Bless her heart. She’s a pretty little girl. I should be so lucky to have mine as long. Thanks for sharing

 

[Alley]

More pics of her in our little yard. She's a backyard girl that lives with an English Bulldog, a French Bulldog and a cat. We have one big happy family!