life span of a pet chicken

[yinepu]

Quote:
I think the "newer" hatchery birds aren't as sturdy as the ones I had back in the 60's and 70's. The birds then may not have been as inbred as current ones. I do believe that the more you try to refine a breed the more you have to sacrifice to get the qualities you want. It's like in dogs, purebreds that have been heavily inbred/linebred tend to have more health issues than your average Heinz 57.
I have also found that my "mutt" chickens tend to be healthier and live longer than a refined hatchery bird. If you look at some of the meat breeds.. they have health issues and a very short lifespan compared to your ordinary every day chicken coop "mutt"

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Any other thoughts?

 

[Goldenseal]

I had a bantam buff cochin rooster ( roy) that lived to be 8, he was in great
shape, until he met my bullmastiff puppy.

right now I have meat broiler rooster that is over a year old, he is HUGE
he escaped when we were catching for butcher last year, so we just let him be.
He is a big kind old bugger.

 

[rapturecidal]

most of you seem concerned with how long your hens will live

4 years ago this august i got Pedro. he was born on July 11. He is my chicken. i love him. he has survived alot. last week he was attacked by 3 dogs. i took him to the vet. it cost me 90$. if one of my other chicks got hurt that bad i would kill them and throw them them trash. Pedro i will bury.

i want to know how long i should expect him to live. he will have an heir. the rest of my chickens are Pedro's. he is for me. they are for him. all three kinds.

so anyone know how long i should expect an old English bantam / American game bantam cross to live?

 

[rapturecidal]

Sorry hes the "Old English Bantam" and i can't edit on my phone.

 

[SHunterH]

3 years top's in the country

 

[Mrs. K]

I know many people on here have some very old chickens, I do see a lot of them live in CA where the weather is mostly nice. But truthfully, if everything goes very well, I think once you are past the first few weeks, you can reasonably expect your bird to live about 3 years. You may get lucky and have them live longer, but a lot of them are gone between the 3-4 years. However this is no guarantee, a lot of chickens under reasonable care, will not make 3 years old. Some will live longer. It is a crap shoot.

If having the same pet for years is your goal, I don't think chickens is for you. It is better to think of having a flock for years to come, but the chickens in it will change.

Mrs K

 

[FlyWheel]

Just an uneducated guess, but I would think that chicken breeds that are bred for meat production would tend to have shorter lives that layers, as the most important thing is good meat, a lot of it and fast maturity to slaughter age/size. I wouldn't think anyone who breeds for such qualities would care much how long its life span was after it has reached that point.

But that's JMHO.

 

[texsuze]

All my hens are pure pets. In May 2010 I purchased 4 day-old black australorp chicks from a commercial hatchery. I have two of those girls remaining (my Big Girls). So that puts them at 6 1/2 years old right now. They are both still laying, although very sporadically, and not great egg quality. Of course, no one is laying right now with winter, etc. I am hoping they will both reach their 7th birthday next May!

My other hen, Betty the Ameracauna, passed away on Earth Day in April this year. I believe she was an older hen. Adopted her as an adult, and during the 4 1/2 short years she was with me, she never laid an egg. A vet commented once on X-rays taken of Betty when she was sick once; he noted that she looked like "an older bird". Who knows how old she might have been?

I do feel that if it were not for (1) predators and (2) serious illness, both of which we've experienced, that I'd still have some of my other hens who have since passed away.