Sorry But Chickens Die

[rufus2]

great post

 

[WoodlandWoman]

You make a lot of good points, but I think the life span of a chicken is closer to that of a dog or rabbit, than it is a gerbil, which is only two to four years. Goldfish also have very long potential life spans, longer than dogs. They only die at such young ages because people don't take care of them properly.

Sometimes even good keepers lose chickens, but a lot of chickens do die because of things their keepers did or didn't do. That's just the way it is, too. Plenty of dogs have died at a young age because of their owners, not just chickens. People don't get parvo vaccinations for puppies, they let them run in the street and they get hit by a car or they let them go kill a neighbor's livestock and they get shot. To me, it's the same sort of thing. Sometimes dogs die from things that couldn't be helped, sometimes it was the owner's fault. People take care of the creatures they're responsible for in different ways. It's the same with chickens.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
I have three very ancient birds, over five years old, but two of them still lay and have no health issues. Then, there are some only slightly less elderly in the flock and they are all laying. Even with the best of care, you lose them. It's the nature of the hobby. I think the folks who are most upset when a chicken dies are the ones who have really seen what they can be like in personality, even showing affection like a dog does. I've seen what they are really like and I love these birds, though I know it's just a fact of life that you will lose them if you have them. The alternative to experiencing the pain of loss is not having them at all, and to me, that's not a good alternative, so I take the bad with the good.

I've got a couple that are going for 7 and may or may not be laying but that is more exception than rule--I'd have more if a weasel hadn't gotten in and killed most of them. Back when I was into tropical fish I knew people with 10+ year old goldfish too but again, there weren't a lot of them. The point is there are so many things working against them living that long that one shouldn't feel like a failure if they don't.

 

[speckledhen]

The point is there are so many things working against them living that long that one shouldn't feel like a failure if they don't.

I agree. Even with stellar care and safeguarding, they still pass on, most of them far too soon. I've lost most of mine to internal laying, their own bodies betraying them. Not one thing I can do about it. I hope I don't have many more like that, but if I do, then I do. They have added so much to my life, I don't want to be without them, even with the hard stuff.​