How old do your hens REALLY get?

[CloverCottage]

I've run into some early deaths of young chickens and a lot of it to me seems to be the lack of selective breeding for hardiness and health in companies that breed the chicks most of us end up with. They're not taking feedback from buyers or tracking what line had problems etc. etc, just churning out the cute baby chicks for profit.

Unless you're buying them from a farmer or hobbyist who takes pride in improving the line/breed, the health of the chick is a crap shoot. And you can still get a wild card bird that just isn't developed properly, but may look fine externally. I read a lady's account of a young pullet failing that just stumped her. She was knowledgeable enough to do a home autopsy and there was this enormous tumor in her organs, as young as the chick was. What can you do about that?

Though I will admit one avoidable failure that I was ignorantly guilty of that caused a loss of several birds when I started keeping them: where I live I have to have a covered run, they can't free range or chicken tractor. So I would gather nice wild greens for them to snack on, pull them up and throw them in the run. But because they're rootless, the chicken can't just nibble a bit of it, if there's any stringy green in there, they will slurp it up whole like spaghetti and it will cause a hard blockage in their crop. If not spotted early enough to treat, they will go down in short order. I felt so bad that the Xtra care I thought I was giving them actually caused their demise.

It doesn't sound like that's your particular issue either, but in case someone checks this thread down the line...

Having admitted that, sometimes chickens seem to have a death wish! I posted recently about one gal, with plenty of good food and grit, decided to eat the straw in the run, almost exclusively. I tried mightily but there was no helping her. Autopsy revealed a a twisty birds nest of just yellow straw. I mean, why?

There is a heartbreak and hard calls to having chickens that many people don't realize going in. If you see them as more than "stock" anyway...

 

[andread]

I was mostly talking about specifically bred hybrid hens, that are bred to optimise egg production. But I am sure with any kind of bird there will be many exceptions where some lucky ones have lived nice long lives!


I sincerely apologise if I am mistaken. My vet did say that for hybrid hens like mine, the average lifespan was 2-4 years. Also I did cross check this information with the following resources before posting:
- This says a hybrids lifespan is 3-5 years
- this says it is 2-4

Although checking again, I have now found some other sites that say it is more like 6-8, so I guess it varies? From my limited experience 2-4 has been more accurate, but I absolutely do not claim to be in any ways an expert and I was only speaking from my own limited experience and knowledge. I'm sure you are probably more experienced and qualified to answer this question than me, so I do apologise if the information I provided was wrong, I was just trying to help out and share what I have heard

according to all info i have read and real experiences , it varies wildly by breed. we have some isa browns and amberlink that have 2-4 years for life expectancy

 

[jessejeanne]

I’ve had chickens when I was a kid/preteen 2 times before I got my new flock 1,5 years ago and both times they were hybrid laying breeds.

The first pair we got died after 2 years because of parasites and we sadly had no knowledge about parasites at all so we were far too late to try and rescue them. It was honestly traumatising for both my parents and I, after that, we looked up a lot of things, got some books about chickens, and waited 2 years with getting new ones.

The ones after that were two rescues from an battery-cage factory, obviously it would make sense for them to be more sensitive for illness and parasites etc...
They were around 2,5 years and died after 1 year being with us.
After that… my dad didn’t want any pets anymore as broke his heart.

Sooo… we’re 6 years later and chose pure breeds, which are easy to find in my country.
Not from a hatchery though. They’re now around 1,5 years old, and except for coccidiosis, we haven’t had any other issues with them, so hopefully they’ll live longer than just 3 years :’) I also know people who have hybrids who did become 6-7 year old chickens though.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I've run into some early deaths of young chickens and a lot of it to me seems to be the lack of selective breeding for hardiness and health in companies that breed the chicks most of us end up with. They're not taking feedback from buyers or tracking what line had problems etc. etc, just churning out the cute baby chicks for profit.

Unless you're buying them from a farmer or hobbyist who takes pride in improving the line/breed, the health of the chick is a crap shoot. And you can still get a wild card bird that just isn't developed properly, but may look fine externally. I read a lady's account of a young pullet failing that just stumped her. She was knowledgeable enough to do a home autopsy and there was this enormous tumor in her organs, as young as the chick was. What can you do about that?

Though I will admit one avoidable failure that I was ignorantly guilty of that caused a loss of several birds when I started keeping them: where I live I have to have a covered run, they can't free range or chicken tractor. So I would gather nice wild greens for them to snack on, pull them up and throw them in the run. But because they're rootless, the chicken can't just nibble a bit of it, if there's any stringy green in there, they will slurp it up whole like spaghetti and it will cause a hard blockage in their crop. If not spotted early enough to treat, they will go down in short order. I felt so bad that the Xtra care I thought I was giving them actually caused their demise.

It doesn't sound like that's your particular issue either, but in case someone checks this thread down the line...

Having admitted that, sometimes chickens seem to have a death wish! I posted recently about one gal, with plenty of good food and grit, decided to eat the straw in the run, almost exclusively. I tried mightily but there was no helping her. Autopsy revealed a a twisty birds nest of just yellow straw. I mean, why?

There is a heartbreak and hard calls to having chickens that many people don't realize going in. If you see them as more than "stock" anyway...

I had a hen (barely, she was like 12.5 months) that passed rather suddenly. Looked inside, and her heart was quite a bit smaller than it should have been. Never would have guessed that issue, let alone any issue for her

 

[chickyturkeyemulady]

I've had hens live anywhere from 1-10 years, mostly SLWs. My SLW roosters typically live 6-10 years, although I had one very special rooster named Trough who lived to be a whopping 15 years old! The majority that died before about 5 were due to predators.
I now have some Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers and Chocolate Eggers, the oldest of which are coming on 3, so we will see how they fare. So far all are healthy and still laying.

 

[Mrs. K]

I always worry when people have posts like these. It is almost like a competition. And really unrealistic. Look at the old people around you, some die at 60 and some at 100.

I think it is mostly the luck of the draw. I have had two that reached 5 years of age. Currently I have Gramma feathers, she has to be 5 going on 6, and has raised lots of chicks for me. She can stay. I would not be surprised to find her gone any time, but she is active now.

However, I would not want a flock full of old birds. I like when some go on, cause then I have room for chicks. It is the circle of life. But I don't keep individual chickens, I keep a flock.

Mrs K

 

[gimmie birdies]

I had a silky make it to 10 but then a skunk got her.

 

[chickyturkeyemulady]

Mrs. K - I don't see the competition aspect. It's just a bunch of replies that show that there's quite a bit of variation in how long hens live. It's everyone's choice if they want to keep their old hens around until they die a natural death or move them along to the stew pot when they're no longer laying.

 

[KyloChicken]

My sex links and Easter egger are 10 years old, my Cochin is 11 years old. They have passed the age where I have to worry about the reproductive issues people talk about. I've never experienced that in my flock, but I don't feed them just commercial feed either. Noticed early on they needed more protein, so upped that to 22%. Also believe a diet of nothing but commercial feed is like feeding your kids nothing but processed cereal cuz it is "vitamin enriched". These girls have from birth had feed available 24/7, plus a pie pan filled with mixed greens, fruits and veggies. Free ranging daily to round out a diverse diet. I believe its what has enabled them to have long healthy lives. Hope this helps.

I can’t wait for the age where the risk of reproductive issues decreases! Thank you for sharing!

 

[KyloChicken]

I had a silky make it to 10 but then a skunk got her.

I've run into some early deaths of young chickens and a lot of it to me seems to be the lack of selective breeding for hardiness and health in companies that breed the chicks most of us end up with. They're not taking feedback from buyers or tracking what line had problems etc. etc, just churning out the cute baby chicks for profit.

Unless you're buying them from a farmer or hobbyist who takes pride in improving the line/breed, the health of the chick is a crap shoot. And you can still get a wild card bird that just isn't developed properly, but may look fine externally. I read a lady's account of a young pullet failing that just stumped her. She was knowledgeable enough to do a home autopsy and there was this enormous tumor in her organs, as young as the chick was. What can you do about that?

Though I will admit one avoidable failure that I was ignorantly guilty of that caused a loss of several birds when I started keeping them: where I live I have to have a covered run, they can't free range or chicken tractor. So I would gather nice wild greens for them to snack on, pull them up and throw them in the run. But because they're rootless, the chicken can't just nibble a bit of it, if there's any stringy green in there, they will slurp it up whole like spaghetti and it will cause a hard blockage in their crop. If not spotted early enough to treat, they will go down in short order. I felt so bad that the Xtra care I thought I was giving them actually caused their demise.

It doesn't sound like that's your particular issue either, but in case someone checks this thread down the line...

Having admitted that, sometimes chickens seem to have a death wish! I posted recently about one gal, with plenty of good food and grit, decided to eat the straw in the run, almost exclusively. I tried mightily but there was no helping her. Autopsy revealed a a twisty birds nest of just yellow straw. I mean, why?

There is a heartbreak and hard calls to having chickens that many people don't realize going in. If you see them as more than "stock" anyway...

Thank you so much for your detailed response! my personal impression very much aligns with what your saying in regards to selecting for hardiness! The few chicks that we hatched from barnyard mixes are indestructible compared to some of the hatchery ones!