How old was your oldest chicken?

[SkyAJK]

My first flock of chickens are Isa Brown and they did not live past 3 years of age.

At the moment my oldest hen is an Isa Brown and she is 5 years old and I do my mighty best to keep her around more keep her healthy and well.

It is so nice to hear that many chickens live a long good life.

 

[FrappcinoObsession]

She was an exceptional mother and was always going broody

I’ve noticed from my experience hens that go broody tend to live longer. I’m assuming because the hens body gets a break from the egg cycle for over a month, hence why they live longer.

 

[CombNWattles]

I’ve noticed from my experience hens that go broody tend to live longer. I’m assuming because the hens body gets a break from the egg cycle for over a month, hence why they live longer.

woah, I never thought of that
It does seem like all the oldest chickens are super broody bantam hens.

 

[FrappcinoObsession]

woah, I never thought of that
It does seem like all the oldest chickens are super broody bantam hens.

Unfortunately every bantam I’ve owned has been eaten by predators. So I just stick with bigger breeds

 

[jenlt]

Hi everyone! I just wanted to start this thread because I know there are a bunch of people out there with crazy experiences with chickens, so I'm wondering-How old was your oldest chicken?

Mabel, an Easter Egger, was hatched on 05/18/12. If she makes it, she will be 14 years old. Poor old girl is not looking so good & she's got water belly that I am relieving a bit every few days. I have kept her in the house here & there over the past month, weather depending or how she happens to look that particular day.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to put her down soon, it's going to break my heart. She has lived at least 2 chicken lifetimes.

She is still to this day the best layer I have had, laying nearly every day of the week, laid like that for at least 6 years, then started tapering off, but continued to lay until 8 years old & even started laying again very sporadically for about a 4 month period when she was 10.

Genetically, she would have been fantastic breeding stock.

Ginger, a Buff Orphington lived til 9 years old, had to be put down, was egg bound. The egg was attached to an adhesion, attached to her ova duct. Laid til just a few months before becoming egg bound.

The next oldest, still alive, is Helga, another Easter Egger. She's 8 years old. She was still laying pretty much 3 to 4 days a week until fall, when the older layers stopped laying for the season. We'll see if she gives me lays again in the spring. I think she may live a very long life as well.

 

[TXchickmum]

10

 

[Vicker]

I replace birds every few years and lose track of how old they are. I can go through pics in my album to date some of them. I think 8 or 9 years is the oldest I've had.