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v2002brown

age of chickens?

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When I went to go pick up the little girls yesterday, I was able to take a tour of the farm. They had a 12 year old and a number in the 7-9 year old range. They were all medium birds and still laying, although the oldest girl only lays about once every week and a half. Amazing!

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I think the RIPs are a mix of everything, but here are the most common ones:

 

1. Fox attack. Some of us have no problems at all with foxes, others (often those living in cities, where foxes are used to people) have lost four or more chickens at a time :( A lot of RIPs in the sig is usually an indication of fox attack, especially if they are all the same date.

 

2. A certain very small proportion of chickens fall ill soon after you get them, from a combination of the stress of the move plus whatever minor illness the situation makes them vulnerable to: colds, tummy upsets, heat stroke, etc. I lost two chickens this way during a very hot summer.

 

3. Egg-laying hybrids in theory live 4-5 years, but the physical stress of laying every single day of their adult lives means that once they reach about 2 years old, there are a number of health problems, often related to their reproductive tract, that can finish them off: prolapse, egg peritonitis, etc. That's why ex-battery hens are available for adoption - they are disposed of once they reach a year old, because they have passed their peak efficiency (and of course their remaining lifespan is often quite short - albeit a lot happier!).

 

Although we've had a flush of newbies in the wake of Hugh and Jamie's TV shows - which is very welcome! - if you check people's dates of joining the forum you'll see that quite a few members have been keeping chickens for three or four years, at which point it's pretty much inevitable they'll have had a few casualties :(

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