flock age and health

[Afterburner]

Recently, yesterday to be exact, I lost my 2.5 year old PR hen. She died suddenly. The rest of my flock is 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 years old. As a general rule, is my flock reaching an age where death is becoming increasingly likely? The reason is, I am wondering if it may be getting time to renew teh entirte flock instead of just getting a pair of new hens.

 

[Judy]

They should live a few more years, but laying will slow or may even stop in an individual. I believe they generally live 8 to 10 years. I would guess the PR had some sort of medical problem, maybe a heart attack or stroke, a cancer, etc., or an undetected problem with the egg laying system.