Ode to Old Hens... Pictures of the Seniors in Our Flock

[jwyles]

Anyone for more old lady pictures?
Becca, 9 1/2 and Ameraucana, Gypsy, who will be 9 in November.

Panda, who is 8 1/2, a BR x Ameraucana cross.

Snow, also 8 1/2, very arthritic, can barely walk. She never dust bathes so we have to keep her dusted with DE to prevent pests.

Amanda, 9 1/2, laying on her side to take pressure off her arthritic hock joints. She cannot walk, though she can thump around slowly.

Again, our Panda-bear, named for Kung-Fu Panda, because she kicked the shell across the incubator when hatching. She is the only progeny of my late beloved rooster, Zane.

Ah, Queen Caroline, going on 10 years old.

Snow again. Very vocal.

The Tiny Terrorist. She is not that old, just 6 1/2, but she is mostly blind now. She can see, just not well at all.

Blue Rocks, Neela and Alice, hatched at the same time as Tiny, 6 1/2 years old.

Caroline guarding Snow.

My Alice Blue. Hey, @Cetawin here's your pretty girl.

I know this is an old post but I love that you are still providing updates 4yrs later. So sweet to see how they changed.

 

[speckledhen]

I know this is an old post but I love that you are still providing updates 4yrs later. So sweet to see how they changed.

They were old when I started and most are still with me today, even Amanda, who is 10 yrs 5 mos old and still has laying spurts, though she cannot even walk. Gypsy will be 10 in November and she is fairly spry, though you can tell one hock joint is stiffer than it used to be. I believe Dusty was probably the next in line, age-wise, but she is right in the group with several others.

 

[jwyles]

They were old when I started and most are still with me today, even Amanda, who is 10 yrs 5 mos old and still has laying spurts, though she cannot even walk. Gypsy will be 10 in November and she is fairly spry, though you can tell one hock joint is stiffer than it used to be. I believe Dusty was probably the next in line, age-wise, but she is right in the group with several others.

I'm reading the whole thread now. It's just too sweet. I just got my first 9 in April and I pray I have them as long as you've had yours. You really kind of memorialized them with this thread too. Thank you for sharing these experiences.

 

[jwyles]

@speckledhen my EE Winnie looks almost just like your snow.

 

[speckledhen]

@speckledhen my EE Winnie looks almost just like your snow.

Then, she's a pretty gal! If she talks as much as Snow, well, sorry about that! EARPLUGS! LOL

 

[Ursuline Chick]

We lost a very important lady today. Our last Blue Orpington hen, Dusty, passed suddenly. After coming out with her group, chasing off competitors for biscuits, I later found her laying, feet behind her, in the concrete gutter that surrounds the barn, just off the ramp that goes across it. It was like she was headed back inside or outside, not sure, and just had a heart attack and died. No fluid coming out of her beak, nothing.
RIP, big old blue girl. You were a force to be reckoned with your entire 9 1/2 years of life, loved by both Suede and little munchkin dictator, Xander.

She was truely a beauty, So sorry for your lose, after 10 years I can't imagine how you feel, I have lost hens who were probably 7 or older, but I only had them 5 years and It really hurt. RIP to all the lovely hens and roosters who had enriched our lives.

 

[jwyles]

Then, she's a pretty gal! If she talks as much as Snow, well, sorry about that! EARPLUGS! LOL

Too funny! She's not my most vocal but they all let me hear it when it's time to get out for the evening rounds in the yard.

But yes Winnie is a doll and by far the sweetest girl I have. Nowhere near old yet but I hope I get to watch her grow old.

Btw she isn't dirty she has very fair gold penciling along her back. It turns a richer more mahogany on her chest. It's pretty up close but from a distance she looks stained. She also has splash markings as well. I find this combination unusual.

 

[speckledhen]

She was truely a beauty, So sorry for your lose, after 10 years I can't imagine how you feel, I have lost hens who were probably 7 or older, but I only had them 5 years and It really hurt. RIP to all the lovely hens and roosters who had enriched our lives.

Thank you. She was so well-loved here, raised two batches of chicks in her earlier years, was bossy as heck, but we sort of like those tough gals. She was affectionately known in her last few years as Dusty the Destroyer, a well-deserved title. My RIP list is very, very long now.

 

[speckledhen]

Too funny! She's not my most vocal but they all let me hear it when it's time to get out for the evening rounds in the yard.

But yes Winnie is a doll and by far the sweetest girl I have. Nowhere near old yet but I hope I get to watch her grow old.
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She's lovely. The last time a young family member was here, he pointed to Snow and said, "That one talks a lot.". Kid, you have no idea!!

 

[jwyles]

She's lovely. The last time a young family member was here, he pointed to Snow and said, "That one talks a lot.". Kid, you have no idea!!

Aw! Don't you wish you knew what she was saying?