Suggestions for ISA Brown longevity

[Weeg]

Thanks! I’m hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year, so calling vets about chicken hormone implants has taken backseat to sprucing up the house.

I feel your pain! Cooking Thanksgiving as well.
Hopefully now more people will be able to see this thread since theres been more posts. Happy Turkey-eve!

 

[Solanacae]

I have had many production birds and always liked them. They are active, lay beautiful eggs consistently and fun to watch. I have never had one die from a laying disorder that I was aware of. But they did die somewhere between 3-4 years, I had several birds make 3 years, and some almost 3 years, I think one actually made 4. Then they just died suddenly.

They had a great life, so I don't worry about it. I know some people on here have birds of amazing old age, but I don't. I really don't like real old birds, because they look so stiff and cranky. I rather go with the idea, of circle of life, and I plan on loosing some birds each year, and adding birds each year. I keep a flock.

So I would not worry excessively about them. Give them a good life, and enjoy them while you got them. I would not dose them or add hormones, but I keep my chickens with minimum interventions.

Mrs K

I read one article that talked about how the author’s friend raised Great Danes, knowing that they would have a short life because that’s inherent to the breed/size of the animal. The dogs had such great personalities and she loved having them. The author then said that her red sex links were like that for her - she knew they would have a shorter life but they were such sweet, friendly birds that it was worth it to her. It definitely changed my perspective on the two little ones I have, although I think I’ll still call the local vet offices and see if they have the hormone implant just for curiosity’s sake. They will have a good life here, I try hard to make sure that my birds are healthy and happy, but not spoiled. Having chickens has been a great way to teach my kids about life cycles, including sickness and death, as hard as those topics are.

 

[vantain]

I started my flock off with 4 ISA Browns. Three died of reproductive issues. The last one left is 3 years 8 months old. I have 6 other mixed breeds I added about 1 1/2 years ago. The remaining ISA stopped laying eggs about a year ago. She has had numerous bouts with unknown illness, but always seems to bounce back from whatever is ailing her. She is also the boss hen, despite the fact that she’s a LOT smaller than all of the other hens I have.

The ISAs were (are) all sweet hens to me. That said, I don’t think I would get ISAs ever again, due to their susceptibility to reproductive issues.

 

[Solanacae]

I started my flock off with 4 ISA Browns. Three died of reproductive issues. The last one left is 3 years 8 months old. I have 6 other mixed breeds I added about 1 1/2 years ago. The remaining ISA stopped laying eggs about a year ago. She has had numerous bouts with unknown illness, but always seems to bounce back from whatever is ailing her. She is also the boss hen, despite the fact that she’s a LOT smaller than all of the other hens I have.

The ISAs were (are) all sweet hens to me. That said, I don’t think I would get ISAs ever again, due to their susceptibility to reproductive issues.

Thanks for your perspective!

 

[vantain]

Thanks for your perspective!

I should have finished that by saying….

…enjoy the time you have with them. I found them all to have pretty good personalities. I only wish the other three had lived longer.

 

[Solanacae]

I should have finished that by saying….

…enjoy the time you have with them. I found them all to have pretty good personalities. I only wish the other three had lived longer.

Earlier on this thread, someone commented that ISA’s are kind of like the Great Danes of the chicken world. They won’t live long but have such wonderful personalities it’s worth it to that person to keep them year after year. I don’t plan to get more ISA’s, but I liked her perspective and decided to have the same mentality with mine - enjoy them while I can.

 

[vantain]

Earlier on this thread, someone commented that ISA’s are kind of like the Great Danes of the chicken world. They won’t live long but have such wonderful personalities it’s worth it to that person to keep them year after year. I don’t plan to get more ISA’s, but I liked her perspective and decided to have the same mentality with mine - enjoy them while I can.

Mine is actually ill again. She had something recently that lasted about 8 weeks, then she bounced back and had been doing pretty well for the past couple of weeks. But she is off again, not eating, and just being lethargic. Sigh…wish I could figure out what is wrong.

 

[Solanacae]

Mine is actually ill again. She had something recently that lasted about 8 weeks, then she bounced back and had been doing pretty well for the past couple of weeks. But she is off again, not eating, and just being lethargic. Sigh…wish I could figure out what is wrong.

I’m sorry to hear that, it’s never fun to see one of your flock struggle.

 

[Weeg]

Hey @Solanacae, I've been doing some research on immune boosting plants etc for poultry, and am wondering if antioxidant containing plants, seeds, nuts, etc would benefit your hens.
Antioxidants reduce oxidize stress, slowing the aging process. Maybe if you fed lots of antioxidant containing foods it would help our hens?
Heres an article that further explains antioxidants- https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.c...aD4r2NpNcGSykQ3C9EWU3u1wEVaZ5OFDlIE44=.C4YyV9
Its talking about dogs, but you still get the idea.

 

[Solanacae]

Hey @Solanacae, I've been doing some research on immune boosting plants etc for poultry, and am wondering if antioxidant containing plants, seeds, nuts, etc would benefit your hens.
Antioxidants reduce oxidize stress, slowing the aging process. Maybe if you fed lots of antioxidant containing foods it would help our hens?
Heres an article that further explains antioxidants- https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/antioxidants-for-your-dog/?utm_source=klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Assorted Nov 19 (TKLVLw)&_kx=aLpu1CaD4r2NpNcGSykQ3C9EWU3u1wEVaZ5OFDlIE44=.C4YyV9
Its talking about dogs, but you still get the idea.

Interesting article, @Weeg! Thanks for thinking of me. It’s interesting that eggshell membranes are on that list. It drives my husband crazy, but I rinse and air dry all the egg shells I get, then crush into small pieces to give back to the ladies. Free calcium, in my eyes. Even better if the membrane is beneficial, I just figured it would be a small protein boost.

As far as other supplementation goes, I think it’s easy to go overboard and make things more complicated than they need to be. While the things listed in the article are potent sources of antioxidants, I only have easy access to two of those on the list. A friend who is a nurse practitioner pointed out to me once that all fruits and vegetables are also sources of many different antioxidants, which is one reason why we humans are encouraged to eat a wide range of them. While certain ones come and go as the latest ‘super fruit’, she said it’s more beneficial to focus on variety than loading up on just one. My ladies get the peels, seeds, cores, etc from the kitchen and they get to forage in the backyard when it’s not covered in snow, so that’s got to be a good start, least.

I’d love to learn more about what you’re reading up on - chicken physiology and their nutritional needs are quite a bit different than humans or dogs, so there may be somethings that are more helpful (or decidedly not) than others.

I read another article recently about a Danish research study that found that there was an alarmingly high percentage of commercial production hens with keel bone fractures. Their conclusion was that the young age that the bird starts laying was partially responsible - since their skeletons are still hardening, diverting calcium to eggshell production means it’s not going towards the pullet’s skeleton. That compound by a disproportional egg size to hen size ratio and the high rate of laying (almost daily) would also cause those fractures and prevent said fractures from healing quickly because they keep re-injuring the fracture every time they lay. Their solution was pretty simple - delay their egg laying onset via a hormone implant - and see if that helped the incidence of fractures.

I haven’t had a chance to call the local vets about an implant, but this gives me a little more motivation to see if it’s available. My chicks - juveniles now - are about 12 weeks and will be laying in 4-8 more weeks. I told my two 8 month Sultan crosses yesterday that it would be pretty embarrassing if the little babies started laying before they do! However, my oldest lady (a Marans, 2.5 years old) started laying again today after taking an exactly two month break, which I was a little surprised by. I thought she’d take longer to get going again, since winter solstice was not that long ago, and I don’t supplement with light. Not that I’m complaining, but hopefully my Sultans will also be triggered by lengthening days soon.

But I digress. I think a healthy diet is a very key factor in the health of birds that are predisposed to problems, though there’s definitely a limit that genes will put on them as well. Please feel free to share any interesting articles you read with me!