A Funny and a question...

[tweetysvoice]

Now, my question. I've read several places that a chicken will stop laying at about 3 years of age... BUT I can't find where it states how long they actually live.

I'm planning on only having four for laying eggs and aren't going to butcher them at all, so how long after they stop laying can I expect them to still be an active part of the flock?

 

[sourland]

Egg laying 'life' is largely dependent upon the breed and source the hens come from. So called 'production' birds drop off in egg production after their second year, but many continue to lay at decreased rates for many more years. A well cared for hen can live into her teens, but most are lost by predation or to illness prior to that.

 

[tristancolli]

Dont listen to that at all. I have a seven year old White Leghorn who has just stopped laying in the last 4 months. so that three year stuff isnt always true. i also have a 9 year old leghorn male. I think how long they live depend on how their life is. i baby these two chickens. They are like family to me. Im not looking for the point where it is their time togo cause its going to be hard..... But as i said the 3 years stop laying isnt true also depends on how they are treated and life life does to.

 

[tweetysvoice]

Awesome. Thank you very much.. this is exactly what i wanted to hear! I know I'm going to be babying my girls, so i hope that I can get as lucky as others and have them live a long happy life!

That's one of the reasons that I don't do most small rodents as pets - too short of a life span. I don't mind that they won't be laying till then end either..

Interestingly enough - the book that I read that in was "Raising Chickens for Dummies" - written by the guy that owns backyardchickens.com. LOL

 

[Kedreeva]

I'd agree, the "stop laying" doesn't mean "stop laying eggs altogether". It's usually in reference to when you can expect chickens to decrease production from an egg a day (or about that) to an egg every couple days, or even once a week. As for their age, if they're well cared for and not lost to predators or illness before then, they can live over a decade depending also on breed. But if you're keeping them as a practical flock and not a pet flock, you'd probably want to rotate stock every 3-4 years or so to keep up egg production and for meat that isn't stringy/gamey.

 

[spacecowgirl]

Henopause!! I love it!