We are pet lovers and I am guessing our chickens will be here until they die of a heart attack. But I still want eggs in a few years so I thought I just start with 4 chicks and then when they retire in 3 years or so I can get 3 more, etc. Does that sound reasonable? I read somewhere chickens live to be about 10 years. Is that normal. Of the 4 chicks on average how many will still be alive in 3 years, 6 years, etc? Should I get more to start out with? I just don't want to have more than 6 or 7 at any one time. But I also don't want to have just retirees and no eggs!
I don't know how long your will live, but my 14 1/2 year old hen just died this winter. I had an 11 year old hen that was stolen-not sure how old she would have gotten.
I am so sorry that your hen was stolen - what a rotten egg whoever did that. Poor thing The lifespans vary so much it is hard to say. I had a perfectly healthy looking and acting hen who died of a heart attack before her 2nd birthday - it was heartbreaking. Yet my roo is somewhere around 8 and going strong JJ
