How many of y'all have 'senior" hens still laying?

[greenmulberry]

I have two 4 year old mixed breed hens that still lay every other day.

 

[speckledhen]

I have two Barred Rocks, one RIR, one SLW and two Buff Orpington past 3 years old and they all lay several times a week.

 

[jojo54]

Interesting thread. My girls are 8 mo old so its good to know they'll be around along time.

 

[GrannySue]

My production reds laid an egg just about every day once they started, and even with no added light I got several eggs through their first winter.
They're about 3 years old now and started to lay wrinkly eggs last summer.
This past winter? Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero.
Good thing I promised them a long life ...

 

[melody123]

I have a 5-year-old aracauana hen that lays about 5 eggs a week. She's quite a character and will get to die of old age here. (I sell chickens, but she's on the 'special' list.) Every single egg that she lays goes into the incubator, she has adorable chicks. And while she hasn't gone broody, several of her daughters have.

I briefly talked with the hatchery owner that sells to all my local feedstores about chicken longeivity. (Including where I bought my hen. as a chick) They get rid of all their chickens except barred rocks after one year. They keep the barred rocks for one extra year so that they can have larger sex link chicks.

I personally think that is a horrible waste. The chicken dosen't lay for the first 6 months, then they only keep them for the first laying season is crazy. Not everyone needs elderly hens, but they definately last more than one year.

 

[digitS']

When I was a kid, I had a Sebright banty who lived to be 7 years old but I remember she was laying very few eggs during the last year of her life. (I made note of her passing in the family bible

.)

Rose, in Principles of Poultry Science, has a chart of information from a British study on egg production thru 3 cycles:

- During the first laying period, daily production thru the months was between about 95% and 80%.
- The second laying period had daily production between about 85% and 70%.
- The third, production was between about 80% and 55%.

I don't really know personally since, other than Goldy the Sebright, I never kept hens a 3rd year.

Currently, commercial outfits keep about 75% of their laying flocks into a 2nd laying cycle. Department of Animal Sciences, UC, Riverside I can't understand the need to cull an entire backyard flock after only 1 year unless there was some concern about disease. They don't "run out of eggs" but there are other reasons hens may stop laying.

Commercial operations never allow their birds to get to a 3rd laying period. Their profit margins are too narrow. Hens, during their 3rd year, were laying about one-third less eggs than young pullets. And keep in mind, these were production layers in that British flock. I bet the hens were culled as they went along to eliminate, as best as could be determined, the birds that were not laying.

Steve

 

[JoMama]

I have 6 hens. 3 are 8 months and 3 are 9 months. A few of them had just started to lay before winter came and then nothing. I hope that does not count as their first egg laying season!!

I finally put a light on them and got 1 egg last night.

 

[LAMchop]

Aww what a great thread!
Here at the chicken retirement home... we have two girls left from the 10 we captured from a friend's backyard back in 2000- so they are at least 10 years old, maybe more. They're mutts, smallish with barred feathers. In the spring we get a couple eggs from them a week. We have some old girls, but these ladies are pretty ancient.

 

[Mahonri]

I have my rescue EE that gives me two eggs a week.

I have no idea how old she really is but I'm guessing pretty old.

 

[Chieftain]

I've been reading "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" by Gail Damerow, and they have a couple of views on this. (I cannot recommend this book enough! Check for it on Amazon)

If you are raising hens for high egg production, and numbers of eggs really count, it might make sense to replace some of your layers once the come off of their prime laying years, according to Storey's, as early as 2 years. if you are running your own hatching and raising operation that might make good business sense to you, and it depends on the actual numbers on your operating books.

At the same time, they also point out that many varieties continue to lay for years, although at a reduced output. If you have a small flock that cumulatively produces sufficient eggs for your needs, it might be perfectly fine to let your hens keep laying at whatever rate their bodies will allow for as long as they live.

I was amazed to learn that chickens are hatched with all of the ova (thousands of 'em!!) that they will ever need in their lives already in their little bodies, and they will only lay a portion of those as finished eggs. Talk about potential!! I figure the more you spoil your chooks, the happier they will be and they will continue to produce large eggs and lots of 'em for a long, long time.

And there is nothing whatsoever wrong with putting a stewing hen in the freezer where she can do the most good, and replace her with fresh chooks.