I have a rooster that is coming up on being 5 years old now, and a hen that is going to be 4. I was wondering if any of you have a chicken in your coop that is turning a senior citizen as well, or what the oldest chicken you have, and had in the past. I am also curious to know if anyone knows the life expectancy of a chicken is. And then a last question of how a chicken is when they hit "menopause" and stop laying egg all together. Last summer my hen would lay a egg but it was like two or three eggs a week. I know lots of questions but I never had a chicken that is old before, as we used to butcher them out as they got older. Now my duaghter has taken over the chickens and they are now her pets, and are off the menu.
I just got my first hen for an easter gift to myself so she is not even 1 yet LOL but I believe bantymum has a hen that is 16 or 17 and is still laying an egg every once in awhile Julie
Someone on the board had a hen something like 16 or 18 years old that laid this year....can't remember who it was.
I've known my roo BJ for 6 or 7 years now and I'm not sure how old he was before I met him as he just appeared on my doorstep. JJ
i have an old english gamer hen that i have had here for at laest 6 years and my mom gave her to me and she had her for at least 4 years prior to that . i guess you could say she was a house warming gift because everytime i went to moms house this hen would follow me every where and if i went in the house she would either wait at the door or beside my car....i am saying she is at least 10 and don't lay very often anymore but i still love her
Quote:I think that was Bantymum. I only have one old hen. A buff orp that I have had for 3 years and she was already elderly when I got her. She is maybe 7 or 8.
Oh no, all my 4 year old hens are considered elderly? I guess I thought that when they reached 6-8 they would be thought of as "geriatric". Good grief, first me and now my hens. Good thing I'm getting some more in the Spring! Can't do anything about me though, except stay young at heart.
I have a BBred OEGB roo that was the last chicken my grandpa hatched before he passed away. My grandpa passed away January 26, 2001. So the little guy is getting pretty old! He was over a year old when my grandpa died too, so he's around 8 now.
My Rocky is at least 8, maybe as much as 10. She is the one I "stole" from my neighbor so I'm a little fuzzy on how old she was when she moved over here.