Suggestions for ISA Brown longevity

[Chickenmomma9099]

Ooops, just saw this, sorry. Regular oatmeal cooked with a splash of milk and blueberries mixed in. They liked their feed made into a mash once in a while also. Apple cider vinegar with thyme leaves soaked in it drizzled over their mixed greens that I serve every day. Their mixed greens are romaine, cabbage, mustard, kale, beet greens, radish leaves, collard, and shredded carrot. Dandelion, sweet potato leaves, amaranth leaves, nasturtium leaves, plantain and other goodies mixed in when I have them available. Obviously I grow all these things for them. Not sure I could afford such a daily diet if I had to buy it all at the grocery store.

Thanks for that. What brand of feed did you feed them? Do you have pictures of them? Do they go into molt? Mine never went into molt but their wings are all broken off and missing on feathers on their backs from the rooster. It’s been over a year and it’s not growing back. I give electrolytes and vitamins, I ferment their feed during the spring and summer. I do give frozen blueberries, veggies and fresh blueberries watermelon as treat. Mine are brown with white tips on the tail. (See google pics for reference.)
I’m just wondering if I have the correct breed, the feed store where I got them said they are production red sexed links. Does yours look like the ones in these pics? I’m obsessed with this breed! They love to cuddle and purr on my lap. Mine are super friendly. Want them to live a happy healthy long life

 

[Mrs. K]

If they live a healthy happy life, that is more realsitic. Nothing lives forever. The length of time varies for all life forms. Unless they are starving to death, and it certainly does not sound like that from your posts, diet is not the influential.

How long they live is really beyond our control, but rather the luck of the draw.

Mrs K

 

[dirkandlorie]

Thanks for that. What brand of feed did you feed them? Do you have pictures of them? Do they go into molt? Mine never went into molt but their wings are all broken off and missing on feathers on their backs from the rooster. It’s been over a year and it’s not growing back. I give electrolytes and vitamins, I ferment their feed during the spring and summer. I do give frozen blueberries, veggies and fresh blueberries watermelon as treat. Mine are brown with white tips on the tail. (See google pics for reference.)
I’m just wondering if I have the correct breed, the feed store where I got them said they are production red sexed links. Does yours look like the ones in these pics? I’m obsessed with this breed! They love to cuddle and purr on my lap. Mine are super friendly. Want them to live a happy healthy long life

Yes, that's what my girls looked like. They are a very friendly breed. I always have fed a 20% protein all Flock feed, usually purina. When it was not available a 20% chick starter (yes, even as adult hens). They had feed available 24/7, in addition to the treat pans we talked about earlier that I delivered every day. When they went into molt, which they did every year, I added game bird starter (35% protein) into their feed to help with feather regrowth. Strange that yours have never molted, but when they do those feathers will look all beautiful again.

 

[Chickenmomma9099]

Yes, that's what my girls looked like. They are a very friendly breed. I always have fed a 20% protein all Flock feed, usually purina. When it was not available a 20% chick starter (yes, even as adult hens). They had feed available 24/7, in addition to the treat pans we talked about earlier that I delivered every day. When they went into molt, which they did every year, I added game bird starter (35% protein) into their feed to help with feather regrowth. Strange that yours have never molted, but when they do those feathers will look all beautiful again.

Around when did yours molt? I think one of mine who passed recently went into a slow “molt” took her like over a year for feathers to grow back. When I got her she was looking really rough with barely any feathers and had blood in her stool. Poor thing. I think she was an ex battery hen. But I got lucky to got time to spoil her for an over a year and half. Did yours stopped laying in molt? If so how long?

Also the chick starter and game bird feed, what brand did you use?

That is very interesting—The feed you give is very high protein! (I give 16% Nutrena layer plus scrambled eggs, or mealworms, or canned tuna/salmon as treat) Maybe I should start doing that ..bc I read you’re not suppose to give too much protein? I give almost 2 cups of mealworms everyday for 10 hens bc I read you’re not suppose to give too much mealworms or treats. Only small morsels of mealworms. Did you give mealworms?
I scramble some eggs and veggies a few times a week. One time none of the other hens ate it for some reason, I forgot why , but my red sexed link ate the entire thing..like 6 eggs by herself. lol. She ended up laying 2 eggs.. and one soft shell one. Not sure if it was the excess protein or maybe the time and less light (I think was around winter)

About how many years did yours lay and did they even lay through the winter? When did they start slowing down?

Also do you have any advice on how to keep them cool during the summer?
They never had issues with the calcium or soft shells?

Thanks for your valuable information! I’m going to do some research on what you gave me!

 

[dirkandlorie]

Around when did yours molt? I think one of mine who passed recently went into a slow “molt” took her like over a year for feathers to grow back. When I got her she was looking really rough with barely any feathers and had blood in her stool. Poor thing. I think she was an ex battery hen. But I got lucky to got time to spoil her for an over a year and half. Did yours stopped laying in molt? If so how long?

Also the chick starter and game bird feed, what brand did you use?

That is very interesting—The feed you give is very high protein! (I give 16% Nutrena layer plus scrambled eggs, or mealworms, or canned tuna/salmon as treat) Maybe I should start doing that ..bc I read you’re not suppose to give too much protein? I give almost 2 cups of mealworms everyday for 10 hens bc I read you’re not suppose to give too much mealworms or treats. Only small morsels of mealworms. Did you give mealworms?
I scramble some eggs and veggies a few times a week. One time none of the other hens ate it for some reason, I forgot why , but my red sexed link ate the entire thing..like 6 eggs by herself. lol. She ended up laying 2 eggs.. and one soft shell one. Not sure if it was the excess protein or maybe the time and less light (I think was around winter)

About how many years did yours lay and did they even lay through the winter? When did they start slowing down?

Also do you have any advice on how to keep them cool during the summer?
They never had issues with the calcium or soft shells?

Thanks for your valuable information! I’m going to do some research on what you gave me!

The protein I give is not very high, 16% is the bare minimum that commercial poultry farms use . Their way of using chickens is not how I take care of chickens. 20% is much better for them, especially since they're high production birds. Its good that you're giving them some extra protein with those meal worms and eggs. I've only had one flock of chickens that didn't love those mealworms. Mine only get about a tablespoon each of the worms, only because of the high fat content in them.
Yes, they stopped laying and/or slowed way down in molt, late summer or early fall, but did give eggs in winter. By about age 5 or 6 (if memory serves me right) they slowed down on the eggs to just 4 or 5 a week. By age 7 or 8, it was only 2 or 3 a week. No issues with soft shells even though its common with older chickens. As long as I have laying hens I have crushed eggshells and oyster shell available 24/7, and some of the greens they get have calcium in them also.
As for keeping them cool in summer, I place frozen water bottles inside their waterer, I bring them watermelon grapes cantaloupe frozen blueberries all cold watery treats, and I have a fan on their coop/run door. I also keep low tubs of water in the coop/run for them to stand in and cool themselves down.
As for the brand of different feeds, what matters is the nutrients, not the brand. Usually I buy purina, but sometimes not available so I just make sure of the protein. The game bird feed that I mixed into their feed at molt I have no clue of brand name. Whatever was available. It takes a lot of protein to make feathers, so added it to their feed 50/50 to help ease them through the molt. I don't like layer feed because I often have chickens of varying ages. Some need more calcium, some don't, so I let the chickens regulate that for themselves by keeping it on the side.
I hope I answered all your questions, and I hope I've helped some. I believe production breeds need extra care if you want them to live long healthy lives, they do work harder than most other breeds. Its hard to get info that's not geared towards commercial chicken farming, that's where most studies originated.

 

[Solanacae]

I lost one of my ISA’s in March - she was just shy of 3.5 years old. As best I can figure, she was laying internally and went downhill very quickly - within 2-3 days of my noticing she was doing poorly with occasional liquid dripping from her vent to my decision to put her out of her misery. She had stopped laying the October before and had a nice molt but never resumed laying. Her eggs were always huge although the shell quality got poorer as she aged.

My other ISA is 3.5 years old now and still lays but the eggshell quality is often thin despite calcium always being available. She lays 2-3 days in a row then takes a break for a day or two. Her toes are getting knobbly and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has arthritis. The gal who died in March had similar knobbly toes.

Quite honestly, she’s not the sweet hen she used to be. She’s a bully to younger chickens and more standoffish than she was when she was younger. She’s only had one good molt in her life, that was two falls ago and she’s had two softer but incomplete molts the balance of times she’s molted.

I have always given my chickens a higher protein feed (18-20%) and they have access to a large part of my backyard to roam around in. Some people might euphemistically call it free ranging, but they are fenced in and can’t go anywhere they sweet please. It’s 2-3 thousand sq ft, so plenty of space to move around. They have access to deep shade that helps them through the hot summer and I’ll give them melon rinds when we have them too. Sometimes I’ll get fancy when it’s really hot and freeze a bag of veggies in ice for them to peck at.

They have access to the compost pile and whatever veg scraps or weeds I throw on it and I let them into my garden in the late fall/winter to do bug cleanup duty. I have a casual mealworm farm and throw a handful of live mealworms to them on occasion, but it’s not daily or even weekly. Water has ACV or probiotics added more often that not, grit and calcium available 24/7. The feed is locally produced and has whole grains along with some pellets to balance the nutrition. It does not have calcium added, but like I said before, calcium is always available.

For me personally, I am still uncomfortable with hybrid production breeds. I do take egg production into account when I purchase chickens, because I keep chickens for eggs as well as the fact that I like having them around. I currently have a year old Australorp and a same age California White in my flock, both of which lay almost daily and we’ll see how they do health-wise over the years. I don’t know that I will ever buy another ISA though based on my experience with the two gals I’ve had. They have not aged well compared to my other breeds. Hopefully that is helpful as an update.

 

[NatJ]

Hopefully that is helpful as an update.

Very helpful! Thank you for including so many details about the chickens and about how you care for them.