How can i make cookie live longer?

[peafowl_Lover]

Hi, I have a really sweet Isa Brown hen called Cookie, I heard they only live till 2 years old, us there any way I can make her live longer, she is 1.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Hi, I have a really sweet Isa Brown hen called Cookie, I heard they only live till 2 years old, us there any way I can make her live longer, she is 1.

I believe the reason is because production breeds are more likely to get egg binding and cancer. some people make it so that their hens can't lay eggs, and that can sometimes extend their lives.

 

[aart]

I heard they only live till 2 years old

They don't all automatically die at 2 years of age.
Tho it's pretty common for their laying to slow down after that age,
and they are more likely to suffer from reproduction system disorders.
Good feed and housing will help any bird stay healthier.

 

[Mrs. K]

You are borrowing trouble. There is no need. Instead of trying to make her live longer, try instead to give her the best life. Good food, clean water, space and protection are the gifts people should give to chickens.

Some birds live shorter lives and some live longer lives, and really it is not that closely tied to the breed. Do some ISA die young, well yes, but so do other kinds of chickens. Do they have a tendency, maybe, but individual birds have been known to live very good lives for several years.

A good life, and a quick merciful end if needed, is what chickens need. We should all be so lucky.

Mrs K

 

[Poultrybonkers]

They don’t die at two they stop laying at 2 my sexlink is 3 but prolly will be dispatched as her leg got caught in a leg trap and it’s not healing so.

 

[StinkyAcres]

It is NOT true that they all stop laying or die at 2 years old. I had a hybrid production breed live to 5 years and she laid eggs most of those years.

A vet can give injections that stop egg production for a few months at a time which will prevent reproductive disorders which are a common killer of laying hens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Good question because they do not all die at 2 years old.

ISA Browns are a commercial egg laying hybrid. Most are in commercial operations. After they molt once or twice egg production drops enough that it removes the profit margin. So they slaughter the hens and replace them with pullets that will produce better. The vast majority of ISA Browns will not live much beyond 2 years because they are slaughtered. That is where a lot of this comes from. After a molt their production may drop one egg a week so they are no longer commercially viable.

Yours is not in a commercial situation so you don't have to worry about that. ISA Browns are bred to produce a lot of decent sized eggs through selective breeding. They are relatively small in body size so they do not require as much nutrition for body maintenance as our larger dual purpose birds. All commercial hybrids are more susceptible to certain problems relative to those factors. But that does not mean that all are going to die horribly at 2 years old. Most will not.

So what can you do?

Many of our chickens die because of predators. So provide good predator protection.

Clean water is important to health.

They need a decent diet. To me, that does not mean that the commercial hybrids need a rich high protein diet. They are bred to not require a lot of protein for healthy body maintenance. If you overfeed them protein or anything else it can mess with their body functions and make them prone to more problems, including reproduction problems. Just because she is your pet and you love her does not mean it is good for her to eat an unhealthy diet. That does not mean you can't feed her healthy treats, just do not overfeed any one thing.

Constantly wet conditions can be unhealthy. Make sure she has a dry place to go. If her feet stay wet they can develop problems. If she can get out of the wet and let them dry off she is in a much better situation.

A wet coop or run can harbor dangerous microbes. When weather sets in wet for several days it can get challenging but try to keep things as dry as your reasonably can and give her drier paces to go.
I'm sure you've already done this but expose her to her environment so she can build up resistance and immunities to things in that environment.

Inspect her regularly for parasites. Learn how to check for mites or lice. Learn how to recognize round worms or tapeworm segments in her poop. I personally only treat for known problems. I do not encourage giving medicines without a real cause as that encourages diseases and parasites to develop an immunity to medicines that can now treat them.

I think what this boils down to is what @aart said, good feed and housing, things we should do for all of our chickens.

 

[peafowl_Lover]

OK, I feel she will live longer than 2, but I'll give her the best life even if she doesn't. She gets shut in every night with the others and gets let our every morning, they constantly get a mix of oats, layers pellets and sometimes the odd growers pellets. This winter has been very good so far and it is mild and dry, she has a nice new coop and my dog to protect them. I hope she lives longer but I'll love her and all the rest the same