Chicken lives

[Weaverfinch]

Stupid question. How long is a chickens' life span, normally?

 

[DobieLover]

Stupid question. How long is a chickens' life span, normally?

It depends on the breed and how they are kept. Some birds won't make it past a year or so (much less for Cornish cross) and some have lived well into double digits.

 

[Kiki]

My chickens are 6.5 years old.

 

[lilmillefleur]

my chickens usually gave out around 8 or 10 years, but even then it was usually illness
commercial or production breeds would be lucky to live half that long.
Cornish cross aren't bred to live past one year.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My first birds made it to 8 or 9, I just lost a 10 year old pair this winter. However the more recent ones have been dying younger, often before 4. Same coops and better feed, I'm thinking genetics are just growing weaker in hatcheries

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

My mom's chickens regularly live to be ten. I don't know how she does it but if she loses a bird it's more likely to be to predation than illness.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Lifespan is between 8 - 10 years. Oldest chickens I've had died between 8-9 yrs. Both were Mille Fleur D'uccle hens.

Got a couple really old roosters, an OEGB that's around 9-10 yrs, & a Silkie that's about 8-9 years old, along with a hen the same age.

 

[Folly's place]

My oldest have been ten, one d'Uccle, and two small Jersey Giants, all hens. We had a very bad predation event a few years ago, lost 28 birds out of 45! That eliminated many who might still be alive, so our current oldest are almost five and six years of age. The lucky survivors!
Almost all chicks, hatchery or otherwise, are raised from hens one or at most two years of age, and generally also your roosters. It's because that's the most economical way to produce chicks, when the hens and roosters are most fertile and productive.
So, there's no selection for birds who could live healthy long lives!
There are exceptions to this, but they are exceptions, usually in small breeding operations, and certain breeds. Cubalayas, for example. @troyer , did I spell it right?
Mary

 

[Painted Calls]

My bestie's Orps are both 12 years old.

 

[texsuze]

Jolene, my "Grasshopper Queen" black australorp was my oldest so far and lived to be 9, but was frail at the end. My oldest now is Vashti, my Dominique hen, age 8, sadly battling a flare up of MG.