When buying a hen how do I tell if she is old?
Last summer I bought 4 hens and a Rooster (all Rhodi's) I was told that they were all 8 months old.
After getting them home I noticed that one of them sat around alot and from what I could tell was not laying at all and never did for the year that I had her. ( She passed away a few days ago). What I noticed different about her is she picked on the other hens a lot, sat around a lot, and had claws that were extremely long and her face coloration was different as well.
I had checked her for illnesses but found nothing. The only thing different in her last weeks was the city was replacing pipes in front of the house and had made alot of dust which did cause irritation in some of the birds including her. The rest of the birds are fine now.
I am trying to figure out if she died from something in the dust or old age.
Thank you for the help.
These are city chickens.
Last summer I bought 4 hens and a Rooster (all Rhodi's) I was told that they were all 8 months old.
After getting them home I noticed that one of them sat around alot and from what I could tell was not laying at all and never did for the year that I had her. ( She passed away a few days ago). What I noticed different about her is she picked on the other hens a lot, sat around a lot, and had claws that were extremely long and her face coloration was different as well.
I had checked her for illnesses but found nothing. The only thing different in her last weeks was the city was replacing pipes in front of the house and had made alot of dust which did cause irritation in some of the birds including her. The rest of the birds are fine now.
I am trying to figure out if she died from something in the dust or old age.
Thank you for the help.
These are city chickens.
