Although I'm sure alot of you are shaking your head at this question, it is one that I haven't come across in my research. I'm VERY new to this website and love it. I have (10) day-olds coming in 3 weeks and I'm happy as an adoptive parent! Any insight would really be appreciated!
How long do chickens live?
- Thread starter livingrn
- Start date
I'm seriously not interested in keeping my chickens forever, and honestly the 20 some years quoted in the original posts would be incredibly unusual. 10 years would be a rare bird.
While I enjoy my chickens, and take very good care of them, talk with them, laugh at their antics, and name them, I also need their eggs for the family and must live on a budget. I can't afford to pay for birds that are not producing well as grain is expensive and my field rotation and space limited. There are a couple that will be kept until they expire of old age, as they have become endeared pets, and my brooding bantams will be treasured until their demise (and mourned at their loss), but most I sell or give away at 2 1/2 to 3 years of age, the time when most substantially slow laying.
In my experience, my commercial RSL play out by year 3 and are spent, even with high quality feed and care allowing for natural molts and rest cycles. Few have made it to year 4 or 5 as strong layers. Barred Rocks are better. My barnyard mixes are the best for overall longevity and productivity. But having said so, most of my birds have succumb to something by age 6 (usually predators or the slow wasting away of cancer).
And honestly, I am not interested in keeping older hens as they are much more susceptible to illnesses as their immune systems slow, which they can pass on to the flock. I value the flock and it is my duty to protect them. In nature, the older, slower birds are picked off by the predators keeping the flock younger and healthier.
I have learned there are many people who will gladly pay a reasonable price for a 2 year old bird, or take a 3 or 4 year old bird for free. I have a friend who likes the larger eggs of the older bird and has a large farm, so a majority of my birds are given to her when they turn 3 or 4 for a lifetime of leisure on her farm. We call it the Happy Hen Retirement Farm.
It has been a good solution for me so that I can keep egg production up, maintain a healthier younger flock, while yet letting someone who enjoys a flock of established birds do so.
But yes, I've also retired a few to the soup pot too (usually young roosters). To my thinking there is nothing wrong with homegrown chicken and dumplings. Since I am not a vegan, I much prefer to eat a bird I know has been humanely cared for and had a brief but happy life (they have no idea it was short) than feast on poor commercial birds that have lived in cramped, unsanitary conditions and never seen the light of day. Better food for me; better life for them.
My choices.
LofMc
While I enjoy my chickens, and take very good care of them, talk with them, laugh at their antics, and name them, I also need their eggs for the family and must live on a budget. I can't afford to pay for birds that are not producing well as grain is expensive and my field rotation and space limited. There are a couple that will be kept until they expire of old age, as they have become endeared pets, and my brooding bantams will be treasured until their demise (and mourned at their loss), but most I sell or give away at 2 1/2 to 3 years of age, the time when most substantially slow laying.
In my experience, my commercial RSL play out by year 3 and are spent, even with high quality feed and care allowing for natural molts and rest cycles. Few have made it to year 4 or 5 as strong layers. Barred Rocks are better. My barnyard mixes are the best for overall longevity and productivity. But having said so, most of my birds have succumb to something by age 6 (usually predators or the slow wasting away of cancer).
And honestly, I am not interested in keeping older hens as they are much more susceptible to illnesses as their immune systems slow, which they can pass on to the flock. I value the flock and it is my duty to protect them. In nature, the older, slower birds are picked off by the predators keeping the flock younger and healthier.
I have learned there are many people who will gladly pay a reasonable price for a 2 year old bird, or take a 3 or 4 year old bird for free. I have a friend who likes the larger eggs of the older bird and has a large farm, so a majority of my birds are given to her when they turn 3 or 4 for a lifetime of leisure on her farm. We call it the Happy Hen Retirement Farm.
It has been a good solution for me so that I can keep egg production up, maintain a healthier younger flock, while yet letting someone who enjoys a flock of established birds do so.
But yes, I've also retired a few to the soup pot too (usually young roosters). To my thinking there is nothing wrong with homegrown chicken and dumplings. Since I am not a vegan, I much prefer to eat a bird I know has been humanely cared for and had a brief but happy life (they have no idea it was short) than feast on poor commercial birds that have lived in cramped, unsanitary conditions and never seen the light of day. Better food for me; better life for them.
My choices.
LofMc
Oh my gosh. I always thought they lived 10-12 years.
It is going to cost a fortune to keep my 59 chickens in feed when they stop laying. I already have 14 that are five and a half years old, and 11 that are over four years old. No way I will eat them...
I will be running the Allen Wranch for geriatric chickens from my wheel chair...
It is going to cost a fortune to keep my 59 chickens in feed when they stop laying. I already have 14 that are five and a half years old, and 11 that are over four years old. No way I will eat them...
I will be running the Allen Wranch for geriatric chickens from my wheel chair...
- Apr 24, 2013
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- 5
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we have 1 rhode island hen left of a batch of 25,,,we got them as day old chicks in 2005,,,in the summer and fall of 2010,,the owls,,,the coyotes,,,and the foxes desimated our flock and Red was the only one left,,,she spent the entire winter alone in the chicken house ,,,,we don't have a heated barn and no electricity out there at the time,,,she slept with the goats and occasionally with the geese,,,,every morning she would make her way over the snow drifts ,,which that year were about 4 ft high,,,and come up to the house to let us know it was food time,,,then she would sit in the sun,,,huddled against the warm backdrop of the dark siding of the porch,,,,she made it thru that long lonely winter,,,and in the spring we got a new patch of white leghorns,,,she taught them everything she knew and when the roosters got big enough to crow she kicked their asses and let them know who was boss,,,,she is 8 years old now ,,,she has never had any disease,,,she is a free range chicken who eats bugs and seeds and has never had an antibiotic ,,,,,she is an inspiration to me,,,I keep every feather she drops for she is my hero!
commercials live a miserable life for about 1 1/2 years.
Pet chickens live to be about 15 years if they are healthy and lucky.
Pet chickens live to be about 15 years if they are healthy and lucky.
This is for Avas who wrote:
Guys - I have a problem. Regarding aging chickens. I won't eat them, I don't eat meat BUT my husband does and he wants to "retire" them when they stop laying. I take care of our chickens and I don't want to lose them, especially by human hands. My husband says he wont support chickens that are not producing. This makes me sick. I have argued and argued. My 9 chickens are going on 2 years old and laying great but I dread the day they stop. Aside from going to the store and planting eggs in the coop for the next 15 - 20 years (which is what I had planned, LOL), is there such thing as a real sancuary for chickens to go? I have no problem keeping mine but I'm worried about what my husband might do.
Don't look to make your dilemma someone else's problem. There are not enough 'sanctuaries' to take in people's chickens because they have husbands who want to kill them. You took on a responsibility to care for them until the end when you either purchased or adopted your girls in the first place. It is no different than having any other pet. Leave the sanctuaries and rescues to take in animals from the truly cruel people such as the factory farms, etc.
Tell your husband he will not have to support them and YOU make sure to care for them until they pass on their own or become ill and need to be euthanized. I am vegetarian and my husband is not. If my husband ever threatened to kill any of my pets (chickens, dogs, cats, etc.) I would report him to the authorities and I would divorce him in a heartbeat. I could never live with or be associated with someone like that. But before anything I would take my pets to safety first.
If you are really "worried about what my husband might do." you better rethink your marriage. I would never trust any person who threatens to kill any living creature simply because it is of no use to them personally. These are your chickens, your babies, not his to kill.
Guys - I have a problem. Regarding aging chickens. I won't eat them, I don't eat meat BUT my husband does and he wants to "retire" them when they stop laying. I take care of our chickens and I don't want to lose them, especially by human hands. My husband says he wont support chickens that are not producing. This makes me sick. I have argued and argued. My 9 chickens are going on 2 years old and laying great but I dread the day they stop. Aside from going to the store and planting eggs in the coop for the next 15 - 20 years (which is what I had planned, LOL), is there such thing as a real sancuary for chickens to go? I have no problem keeping mine but I'm worried about what my husband might do.
Don't look to make your dilemma someone else's problem. There are not enough 'sanctuaries' to take in people's chickens because they have husbands who want to kill them. You took on a responsibility to care for them until the end when you either purchased or adopted your girls in the first place. It is no different than having any other pet. Leave the sanctuaries and rescues to take in animals from the truly cruel people such as the factory farms, etc.
Tell your husband he will not have to support them and YOU make sure to care for them until they pass on their own or become ill and need to be euthanized. I am vegetarian and my husband is not. If my husband ever threatened to kill any of my pets (chickens, dogs, cats, etc.) I would report him to the authorities and I would divorce him in a heartbeat. I could never live with or be associated with someone like that. But before anything I would take my pets to safety first.
If you are really "worried about what my husband might do." you better rethink your marriage. I would never trust any person who threatens to kill any living creature simply because it is of no use to them personally. These are your chickens, your babies, not his to kill.
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I think the first 2 years great
3 year very good
4th and 5th fair
by that time your so attached to them who cares....but they do lay some
3 year very good
4th and 5th fair
by that time your so attached to them who cares....but they do lay some
- Dec 4, 2007
- 865
- 6
- 151
this is so good to know! i would LOVE to have a chicken live to be 15 or 20 years old!!!
the eggs are incidental. it's the adorability that i think is fabulous.
the eggs are incidental. it's the adorability that i think is fabulous.
my buff orpington Goldilocks is 17 this year and she still lays a very special egg every now and then.
She is starting to look haggard right now though so ill be giving her some extra special attention.
Have fun with your new chicks, ill bet you are excited.
Remember to post when you get your first precious EGG!
She is starting to look haggard right now though so ill be giving her some extra special attention.
Have fun with your new chicks, ill bet you are excited.
Remember to post when you get your first precious EGG!
RIP - Beloved Silkie Rooster ~ Morticai ~ May 1st, 2003 - May 1st, 2013. Died ten years to the day he was born. Obit to come soon.
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