What do y'all do with older hens?

[2 many chickens]

Love this - keep them till they pass!!! Love them for life!!! Doris is 15

How do you have a chicken that's 15? I didn't think it was possible for them to live that long? My oldest 2 are 5. They are still the top of the flock, delightful old hags. Love them.

 

[SeaChicken]

Our oldest hen passed recently - at nine years old! Last one from our original starter batch. Bantam Brahma. She survived Marek's! RIP Sita. I don't name them any more I feel I have a duty to take care of them regardless, but we only have a small home flock... I'm afraid we'll be stuck with our nasty Fayoumi forever

 

[LozzyR]

Our girls are our pets, once they stop laying they will have earned peaceful retirement. I would love for them to reach the age of fifteen, but two of them are Isa Browns so that’s unlikely. I will love them for as long as they live!

 

[SarahGfa]

I don't have a lot of space, but I keep all my hens until they die of natural causes. I only hatch if the flock size goes below 8. Each broody gets two eggs. Right now there are 8 hens so I might hatch a couple more next year. If I had bigger space I probably would have a million chickens by now, so it is a good thing my coop is small.

 

[Jamited]

Not gonna happen. It's improved, a tiny bit, but still abysmal conditions.

That's a shame -I don't understand why any creature should be kept in such a way, especially now, when people are so aware of what's happening and what they are eating. Let's hope the tiny bit keeps improving aye!

 

[Jamited]

My rhode island girl is now fifteen and still lays me beautiful eggs. I give them the best I can afford feed and home wise and they reward me continually.

Just goes to show that every living creature responds to love and kindness and they cost nothing!

 

[Folly's place]

@Gab1 , that's exceptional, especially for a RIR! My oldest hens have died at age nine, still pretty good.
I talked to a Cubalaya breeder who said many of his birds lived into their teens, and that makes them interesting, although I don't have any.
Mary

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Everyone's situation and conditions are unique. One size doesn't fit all.
I'm attached to all my animals but they are livestock. I always planned on processing hens when they quit laying but none have lived that long. The oldest hen I've had was an Ameraucana still laying eggs at 7. A mink got in and killed her. Just this week about half of the birds in two different buildings decided they wanted to sleep outside up in trees.
A raccoon got one of my oldest hens last night - about 6 years old.
All my birds free range over a large area and though predation isn't frequent, coyotes took two roosters in the last 2 weeks.
So, to make a long story short, I haven't had to deal with old hens yet.

 

[slordaz]

I hatch chicks out then rehome the chicks, rarely get rid of my older ones , but as have same rooster and hens don't keep the stock I trade it to others that breed the EE cross so we keep new blood coming in if we need to replace any that were lost for some reason during the year, get the best of both lol

 

[JoCoKS]

I had my Rhode Island Reds (2) stolen after I had a tree trimmed in my backyard that was not visible from the street by some illegals. For 3.5 years I never lost a hen to anything not even decease. I was almost killed by a drunk with a suspended license for drunken driving 4 years ago and my girls were my "comfort pets" since I am still recovering from being rear ended after 7 surgeries with a pump in my back to help care for pain. Before the accident I had perfect health but not now, my father was in much better shape at 90 then I am at 70 years old. They brought me a lot of happiness and it was so much fun caring for them since my #1 hen was a real character nipping the back of my slacks when she wanted more meal worms and squatting down to let me know she wanted me to pick her up and spend time with her. They were suppose to not lay as much because of their age but that did not stop them from laying like young hens. It is hard enough to loss them to a predator animal but it is extremely hard to think they became so human garage's dinner. My wife of 42 years does not know what to do since she can see I am getting very depressed. I planned on keeping my girls healthy and happy as long as they lived so this has really brought me down big time. I have looked locally to see if any one is selling hens (they probably never be like my girls) and could not find any which is probably best since the drunk left us with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills so we really have no money to buy chickens. Feeding was not a problem see they got stuff from our garden, remains from diner, etc. along with their feed they really did not eat much of. To add to my stress and my wife's stress she may have breast cancer (we will find out next week) and we both enjoyed my girls for all the joy they brought us. My wife would make spaghetti for them and make special treats and got a go laugh watching them chase after me or come running when they saw me and it is now all over because the tree trimmer brought a bunch of people with him and they stole my chickens by lifting up the roof of their coop and grabbing them. I feel sick all over, all this is way too much for me to handle.