What is the longest living breed of chicken?

[missychicky]

To start off I recently lost both my sex links to similar egg laying problems. I loved them both very much and it is really sad for me becuase they were both only 3 years old. It probably makes a diffrence that all my chickens are hatchery birds but I hear that sex links are especialy prone to egg laying problems. I love the sex link attitude and personality but I have found them much too short lived and fragile for someone who gets so deeply atached to their birds. So my question is-What is a breed of chicken that has a lot a character and is long lived and hardy?

 

[Redcatcher]

Bantams seem to live the longest but I have EEs that are over 10 years old with no signs of slowing down. My EE production red X Ameraucana cross lived to be 18.

 

[Illia]

The farthest from being inbred, bred solely for show, or especially for production - The longer the life.


I've known quite a few Easter Eggers and Quechua to live long lives, I'm sure Gamefowl can live very long lives, too. I've also heard of some pretty old Araucanas. (7 years and up)


A BYC user on here has a 20 year old Quechua hen (the origin of Easter Eggers and almost identical in appearance) who still lays.

 

[missychicky]

So then dual purpose breeds would be the hardiest, right? Becuase they haven't been bred for one specific trait and are more, should I say, geneticly balanced? Also, Do these Quechua hens have the same type of personality as an EE? Because I have an EE and she is my sweetest chicken, She asks to be picked up and carried around and loves to come inside and snuggle on the couch. Do you know of any breeds that have the fiesty, stubborn attitude of a black sex link but are more hardy? I want a chicken that will give me funny chickens stories to tell, like my sex links did.

 

[Illia]

True Dual Purpose, yes. (avoid hatcheries. regardless of the breed you get from them, they breed solely for production, however I would indeed trust EE's)


I've never personally know Quechuas but I hear they're just as sweet

Hardy chickens that you can always tell stories about - Araucanas and Gamefowl. Very friendly but also quirky, sometimes territorial to other chickens, frequently broody which is a plus in the behavior department, and very active and adventurous.

I would definitely add Polish to the list, but, a lot of people may disagree with me. Mine aren't as skittish, dumb, blind, aggressive, or weak as many others' though.

 

[jmc]

EE from hatchery, 8 yrs. old and happy

Black Jersey Giant hen, from hatchery, 11 yrs old and quite happy...................

Oh yes, Japanese bantam cock, from hatchery, 12 yrs old this year...................

 

[flyingmonkeypoop]

I agree with the non-production birds being long lived. I have a pair of white wyandotte bantams that are going on 6 and the hen still lays a good amount of eggs. My sister has some sumatra bantams going on 9 this year. They are all show birds but werent bred for egg production and lived good lives with good diet and good housing, kept stress free. I do believe any chicken can live a long life if they are kept happy, stress free, and well fed and cared for.

 

[missychicky]

Ok, well Quechuas are looking pretty good to me. I found an article that explained how their bloodline has been severly muddied. Does anyone know where I could get some good quality pure Quechuas in oregon? Or for that matter any reliable source of quality chicks?

 

[NYREDS]

There are exceptions to every rule. We had a laying hybrid hen that lived to be almost 14 and layed nearly every day 'till she died.
I have 2 large fowl Old English now that are 11 years old. They still look good and even lay an egg every once in awhile. From what I know gamefowl in general tend to be pretty long lived.

 

[Allygirl]

I had a white Cochin roo who lived to be 13. His girl lived to be 12.