Official Poll: How old is / was your oldest chicken?

[magicpigeon]

haha, my oldest were only 5 or 6 but my pair of ringneck doves, out of interest, are still alive and eating at 16

 

[write2caroline]

Mine don't count either - my oldest Dot a GLW hatched in May 2009
Caroline

 

[maurerwerks]

If we really want to learn about lifespan I would think that the question should be "how old was your oldest chicken when it died." Otherwise, I can already see that we've got lots of folks with 5-10 year old chickens, most of which are still living, hence we don't know how old they will get. The 16+ range is pretty interesting anyways.

 

[Gersbud]

I started out with 25 aracauna (spelling error

) little over 8 years ago. I still have 4 of my original 25. They do not lay eggs very often anymore, maybe once a month but I do know they are their's by the color, they lay an awesome shade of pale green. The younger chickens I have do not bother the 4 elders, guess they all know better or atleast have some respect for their elders.

. I will miss them greatly when they do pass away.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I just started with chickens 5 years ago, so that is how old my oldest is. The only one I lost was a RSL that became an internal layer. There wasn't anything I could do. My oldest EEs still lay pretty regularly, the RIR not so much.

 

[Pickaduck]

I am loving the stories about all of these older chickens! Some are so sweet!

I hope more folks post pictures - I love seeing them!

Unfortunately I don't have any currently (lost the whole flock in the april 27th tornadoes) but my oldest then was 4 almost 5.

 

[wowmanacat]

Since I was given my roo and he is just now a little over a year old(I know when he was hatched give or take a few days) and the two hens I have were bought at a auction and started to lay about 3 week after I got them but that wait time could have been stress so I am not sure how old they are. I have only had them since 2/19/11. Every one else here is 6 weeks are less.

 

[duckluck]

I don't keep chickens, so I voted for my oldest duck.

 

[SeramaLife]

My oldest so far was 11, but a friend had a chicken that lived to 18.

 

[LarryPQ]

I would like to know the average time people have been keeping chickens in conjunction with how old their oldest chicken is.