Oldest Hen Age and Breed

[jcoz]

She has a LOT of speckles! More than my speckled Sussexes. But she’s gorgeous!

Thank you. I let her know what you said.

 

[MysteryChicken]

My oldest Hen died at 8-9 yrs of age in my hands on Thanksgiving day. She was a Mille Fleur D'uccle. Her friend died the spring of the year after. She passed in her sleep.

My sister has a Silkie that's about 13-14 that still lays, & goes broody.

 

[Afterburner]

Well, my Barred Rock amazingly survived for more than a week after I started this thread. During the last three days, she was so weak, she became unable to roost on the board. Even after I physically placed her on the roost, she was unable to keep her balance. Thus, I placed her on the coop floor next to the feeder. She continued to eat, sleep there though her health rapidly deteriorated. During the last couple of days she slept for over twelve hours a day. This morning, I found her motionless. She silently passed away in her sleep sometime last night. We are sad to loose her, but she is no longer in pain. She was a great bird, and I will get another Barred Rock in the future, but for now, there will be an empty spot in our coop. Our other birds are all between six to seven years old, so they might need to be rehomed before we get any baby chicks.

 

[BDutch]

Well, my Barred Rock amazingly survived for more than a week after I started this thread.

Our other birds are all between six to seven years old, so they might need to be rehomed before we get any baby chicks.

Why rehome? There must be other solutions if you want to keep them and want new chicks too.

I have a mixed flock with oldies and had chicks last year with a broody. You do need more than minimum space but IMHo it’s a great way to keep the oldies and add young ones.

 

[Mother of Chooks]

My sweet girl Jolene passed when she was 13. We have no idea what combination of breeds she was since she was adopted from a shelter. I've had silkie and amaerucana suggested because she had both white and blue skin in patches all over her body, a crest on her head and tufts of fluff on her cheeks. She's survived by her multiple great grand babies and passed peacefully in her sleep.

 

[dirkandlorie]

My oldest is a 13 year old cochin. She's currently in a pet playpen playing grandma to my newest batch of chicks. She'll also help with the integration when its time to go to the coop. None of my other chickens made it much past 10 years old, but they were production breeds, so happy they made it that long.

 

[Ajb1952]

I had a black game hen, named Raven, who lived 13+ years. She was an adult when I rescued her, and I had her for 13 years. So who knows how old she really was. She had

spurs, but laid eggs, so she was definitely a hen.

 

[SamLockwood]

I was wondering, for folks in this forum, what the age of the oldest hen you have kept? My oldest hen right now is an eight year old Barred Rock. Sadly, her health is failing and she probably won't make through the weekend. That being said, she has been a great bird since I broought her home as a chick. She was even laying eggs last year. This year, she hasn't been doing very good. But, I consider the birds as much pets as they are farm enimals, I let them live their old age out in my backyard.

My second oldest hen was a Deleware Hen that lived to seven and half years. Sadly, she died last year due to natural causes. The rest of my flock, two Easter Eggers, and a Russian Orloff, are nearing six years old and still lay eggs, though they take a break from October through mid January.

Oldest one I've had ever was a Speckled Sussex that was over 10 years old before a hawk got her (she was in failing health at the time so it wasn't the worst way to go for her). She still managed to lay eggs from time to time and I even managed to hatch some chicks from her.

Oldest current one is some sort of sex-link that's at least 5 years old. She takes the longest winter break out of them but still lays eggs every other day during the season.

 

[Paz]

My sweet girl Jolene passed when she was 13. We have no idea what combination of breeds she was since she was adopted from a shelter. I've had silkie and amaerucana suggested because she had both white and blue skin in patches all over her body, a crest on her head and tufts of fluff on her cheeks. She's survived by her multiple great grand babies and passed peacefully in her sleep.

View attachment 4084955

So cute! I like her hairstyle