On Mother ’s Day good afternoon , I gazed from my bedroom window to reckon cheery sky , lush green grass and an firm pile just foot away from our main Orpington coop . Being more or less ( OK , very ) near - sighted , I squint at it for a few moments , long enough to watch Davey Orpington go up the hillock , gently bump it with his side , then tardily take the air away from it , crowing loudly . The instalment announce what would deform out to be a sad happening indeed , but also a great monitor of the value of keeping older hens as part of a raft .
After find Davey Orpington ’s reaction , I snap into the kitchen , grab my stripling Logos , Jaeson , and begged him to please , please , please go see if that hummock was perhaps Wilbur the Woodchuck and not one of our birds . Startled , he turn to expect out our slither deoxyephedrine door . “ Oh , dear , ” he said , slipping into his work shoes and heading outside . A few moments later on , he come back , shaking his forefront sorrowfully . “ It ’s Diana , Mom , ” he informed me lamentably .
We went back out together , trailed by half a 12 odd clucking , where I sustain that the mound of feathers was indeed Diana Cochin , one of our older hens . blue and shy in temperament , Diana was always the last to leave the henhouse in the morning . Her big , turgid roll and fabulously feathered feet had gain her several awards on the competitive poultry lap ; she was quite frankly the most perfect standardBlue CochinI’d ever seen . She was also our oldest biddy . This June , she would have turn 7 years older .
She was the oldest gal in our pile , but Diana could bind her own . Whenever one of our pullets or untried hens would get adventurous , Diana would trot after her , scolding and squawking until the younger girl behaved appropriately . The younger female person in our flocks grew to prize Diana , who also proceed the cockerels in line . I ’d never date her more delirious and giddy than she was last drop , when our Black Orpington cockerels moved into her chicken coop permanently . I cerebrate she liked having birds her size with her once again . materfamilias and disciplinarian among the chicken , Diana still would endue us with her distinctive pink ballock once or twice a month . She seems to have plainly croak on as serenely as she lived .
News of Diana ’s passing bring condolences from our farm’sFacebookfollowers , let in one who ’d just seen her the day before . It was a note fromTangled Basket Farm , however , that peculiarly struck me : “ Itmakes me felicitous to see another chicken owner who grant their hens to die of onetime age . ”
This heartfelt comment made me think about the many other poultry farms I know , in my country , around the land and in a few other state . I swiftly gain that I could key only three — not including my own and Tangled Basket Farm — that get chickens and other poultry live out their full lives . Curious about this , I contacted a friend who keeps a low quite a little for egg and pith and asked the age of her oldest bird . “ Almost 3 , ” she reply . “ After that , they do n’t lay any more and it costs me more to keep them than they ’re worth . They do n’t survive that much longer , anyway . You know that . ”
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I did n’t live that . In fact , I have experience , irrefutable proof — not just with Diana Cochin , but with Flapjack Orpington , Dolly Ameraucana and Alex Royal Palm , all age 5 — that hens can live long lives , and former hen are contribute members of their plenty . But do n’t take my razz ’ word for it . ascertain what expert in the fowl field say about those dear previous biddies .
Myth No. 1: Chickens Have Short Life Spans
News reports that show a fortune of dead and cash in one’s chips birds can reinforce the belief that chickens do n’t subsist long . While it ’s true that commercially raised boo in general be only one to two geezerhood , chickens can subsist five to seven years or longer . The lifespan of a biddy or rooster depends on the fear its owner provides . Propernutrition , shelter , biosecurityand nurturing all positively mold how long a shuttlecock lives . Keith and Donna Barton of Bessemer , Alabama , took such loving care of their Old English Game hen , Matilda , that she dwell for more than 15 years and was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2004 as theWorld ’s former Living Chicken .
Myth No. 2: Hens Stop Laying After Age 2
I ’ve see multiple cut-rate sale posts this calendar month from chicken owners reckon to deal their “ older ” hen to make way for spring chicks . In every instance , the girls being sold were only 2 eld old . I sense bad for those layer . They had many more year of nut - fashioning forwards of them . While it ’s true thategg product descent after the first yr , hens continue to lay on a regular basis until age 5 , at which point their output drop to 50 percentage of that apex rate of their first year . The Livestock Conservancy , a national organisation that protects endangered livestock and poultry breeds from extermination , asserts that wimp proprietor should allow heritage hens to be productive for five to seven years ( and cock for three to five years ) . My Dolly Ameraucana , who turns 6 this June , did not lay a individual egg last year . As of yesterday , she has laid 13 this twelvemonth . And old hens than her have continued to place . Victoria , a Black Rock biddy lodge in in Worcestershire , England , took a 13 - year abatement before she started laying again .
Myth No. 3: Older Hens Are Flock Freeloaders
When their ballock - output charge per unit begins to overlook , former hens do n’t opine , “ My oeuvre here is done , Time to kvetch back and use up pelf for a few years , ” Rather than waddle around the henhouse , these elder girls become leaders . Their practical knowledge give them ideal for learn unseasoned pullets wind such as the best property to scratch for dirt ball and which nestbox isthebest to use .
Diana Cochin take our Lemon Cuckoo Orpington frier under her fender , showing them the proficient smudge in the grounds for dust baths and where to stand to receive special treat ( which is under our wild - bird feeder ) . As patient as a loving granny , Diana would let the younger hen precede her whenever we wreak kitchen scraps out to the run . She also taught our wild boy , Thomas Orpington , a affair or two when he tried to jump on one of our unwilling Orpington pullets . Thomas stay well forth from Diana after that .
Just because a biddy has lived a recollective life does not signify she is useless . Put your “ older ” gal to work , and you and your flock will profit from the year of experience . You might even get a few eggs from them , as well .
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Victoria the hen surprised a lot of people. Caters TV/YouTube
