The vital activity of hens and roosters is different, it all depends on many factors. Birds are bred both in the industrial sector and at home for their own needs. Chickens are not kept on poultry farms for more than 2 months, and at home, the owner can raise them up to 3, or even 5 years. There are also long-lived record holders in our world that surprise all people. Below are the breeds of chickens and the time of their life.
How many hens live?
In the industrial sector, chickens can be kept for a maximum of six months, with the exception of laying hens, which are kept until they stop laying eggs, which are then placed in a special device called an incubator. As for home maintenance, the bird lives until it reaches the required mass (meat direction for slaughter) or until it carries a sufficient number of eggs (laying hens).
Free-living birds are threatened with premature death, as various predators can get to them. Difficulties also arise in the extraction of feed, especially in winter, but still they can live for about 10 years or more.
Meat
They do not keep meat broiler chickens in the industrial sector for a long time, as soon as they reach their maximum weight (2 months) they are immediately led to slaughter. You can not say about the brood hens, because they are kept especially for hatching chickens. At home, the life of the bird is extended to a year. The greater the age of the bird, the meat loses its value and taste - it becomes tough and not so tasty.
Such chickens have very tasty and tender meat, which also quickly cooks. Birds grow quickly, even in the household they are quickly pricked, because the older the chicken, the harder the meat becomes.
Meat and egg
These birds are kept for approximately 2 years. The eggs of chickens are strong and large, weigh up to 65 g. When properly fed for 12 months, they are able to bring from 290 to 330 eggs per year. Egg production occurs at 4.5 months, and ends at 2 years.
Egg
Such chickens in the first year of their life are able to bring 100% of the eggs, with each subsequent year the number drops, starting from the age of two, the indicators are reduced by 10%. Egg chickens live for about 4 years, then keeping them on the farm is simply pointless. As for poultry farms, they do not hold egg chickens, because there are incubators for hatching chickens. Read more about chicken incubation here.
Decorative
People keep decorative birds for the longest time, because they are not intended for productivity, but because of their insane beauty. The hens that can live 20 years are the luckiest of all breeds. Recently, the selection of such birds has had a bad effect on the immune system, for this reason they have often become ill. Because of these bad moments, chickens rarely manage to survive for many years, and they die earlier due to illnesses.
What determines the life span of a bird?
There are a large number of factors by which you can determine the livelihoods of feathered friends. Each person takes care of a bird in different ways, keeps it in a different environment. Of no small importance is the breed of chicken. It is important to understand that if the owner gives proper care to the chickens, balanced feeding and timely reveals the first symptoms of the disease, then the birds will live long.
Of course, in home circumstances, the owner takes better care of the bird, examines for the presence of diseases, walks and feeds with various domestic feeds. At the poultry farms, the employed people feed them with purchased feed and treat them carelessly. The conclusion is this: a bird’s house will live much longer than at a poultry farm.
From care and maintenance
The most important condition for the long life of the chicken is the conditions and place of its keeping. The owner who keeps the birds at home is more attentive to his farm than the workers in the poultry farms.
The vital activity of chickens is influenced by several important factors:
- natural and artificial lighting of the chicken coop from 13 to 16 hours a day;
- a great place for walking chickens;
- space in the chicken coop;
- the barn should be equipped with a sufficient number of feeders and drinking tanks, conveniently placed;
- maintaining heat in the chicken coop and 50% humidity;
- installation of a ventilation apparatus;
- it is recommended that ash and sand be placed in the chicken coop, birds swimming in it will get rid of parasites;
- install sound insulation in the chicken coop so that the chickens are not afraid of loud and sharp sounds.
Subject to all the rules, the life expectancy of chickens will double. In this case, in the household, the bird is able to delight its owners for as long as 10 years.
From breed
The life span of chickens depends on the breed. For example, a broiler bird is killed early as soon as it ceases to gain weight. This happens no later than 4 months. Layers live for the longest time, they are pricked in 3-4 years.
The older the bird, the less eggs it carries, and the quality of the meat becomes worse. It can be kept for more than 5 years if it is an egg laying egg. Decorative chickens do not bring eggs, and their meat cannot be eaten either. They live for about 10 years, one bird had a record - she lived 18 years.
From feeding
With improper and appropriate nutrition, the vital activity of birds decreases significantly. Life expectancy is a maximum of 1 year. Another thing is if the owner monitors the nutrition of their birds and includes the necessary trace elements and vitamins in their diet, then they live up to 6 years. Chickens should be fed legumes daily:
- oats;
- peas;
- crushed corn;
- wheat.
But that's not all. It is important for birds to eat vegetables, herbs and sour-milk products.
Supplements are equally important for the long life of the chicken, so it is important to include supplements in the diet. At poultry farms it is better to use ready-made feeds that can be bought at any veterinary pharmacy.
Chicken can die ahead of time if it is not enough micronutrients. This can also happen with irregular feeding, overfeeding and with a sharp change in feed.
An interesting fact, but starvation has a therapeutic effect on birds, but not for long. In Japan, they conducted an experiment in which old chickens that no longer lay eggs were left hungry for a week, after which they began to feed again. Having suffered stress, the hens began to rush again, their scallops and feathers were renewed, and the activity characteristic of young hens resumed.
From diseases
It is not difficult to guess that a sick chicken will not survive for a long time, therefore, it is simply necessary to do all vaccinations in a timely manner and to call a veterinarian at the first ailments of a chicken. Chickens often suffer from infectious bronchitis, smallpox, paralysis, salmonellosis, and bird flu. Any disease can be cured, the main thing is to notice the signs in time. Read more about chicken diseases and their treatment here.
How many roosters live?
The vital activity of a rooster depends on sexual activity, on average, this indicator reaches four years. On large farms, birds are kept for a maximum of 2 years.
The longitude of life is determined by purpose in life. If necessary, the birds are of the same age, and the productivity of the layers is not to fall, then 1 rooster per 10 hens is quite enough. If the care and maintenance of the birds is poor, then the load on the male should be reduced, but if on the contrary, then increased. For 100 chickens, 6 cocks are enough.
The hostess tells how many roosters are needed for the appointed number of hens, what they should be and how long roosters can live:
Headless Bird Life Span
People began to ask this question after an incident from the last century. In 1945, a headless rooster from one city in America lived 1.5 years. He became a star for the whole world, and enriched his masters with it. At the end of the research, it was discovered that he survived due to a blood clot that clogged the jugular venous artery, which prevented lethal bleeding.
This case blew the entire Internet, in this video the details of this story are told:
For the rooster to continue to live, the owner fed and watered directly through the esophagus, and pumped out the secret with a syringe to prevent choking. Important functions for the continuation of life were taken over by the spinal cord, as a result of which the rooster stretched out for a whole year and a half, after which, it still suffocated and died.
Both a chicken and a rooster can exist without a head for only 20 seconds, during which time a person can flap her wings, twitch and run randomly. In general, the time of a decapitated bird depends on the following factors:
- place of impact;
- amount of leaked blood;
- anatomical predisposition.
How to prolong the life of chicken and rooster?
There are approximate figures for the life expectancy of birds, but these indicators can be increased by observing several rules. The grown chickens will perfectly fit as a hen for breeding or for large eggs.
- Proper feeding. Feed chickens should be no more than three times a day. It is desirable to have breakfast with dry food, dine with mash-ups, and dinner with grain. One day we give oats, the second day corn, and the third wheat.
- Plenty of light. In the summer, it is already light in the chicken coop, but in winter time it is necessary to install lighting. If this is avoided, then the chickens wear out from a lack of light in a couple of years.
- Lack of moisture. There should not be moisture in the room, as it can provoke a bacterial or fungal infection. To prevent this, ventilation must be installed.
- Air temperature. In the room where the chickens are located, the temperature should not be lower than 20 and not higher than 25 degrees Celsius.
- Disinfection. Periodic disinfection of the premises is necessary.
- The correct number of cocks per chicken. It is necessary to determine exactly how many cocks are needed for chickens. Basically 6 cocks are needed per 100 chickens.
Long-record champions
The oldest chicken on our planet, which was listed in the Guinness Book of Records, lived for 14 years. There are also other record holders for life expectancy, but they are not documented. There is evidence that some chickens lived a maximum of 25 years.
In China, a case was recorded when a chicken lived 22 bird years - human is 400 years. Yang Shaof, who turned 77, told reporters about this amazing chicken. In 1988, the daughter-in-law acquired four chickens, three died long ago, and one still pleases the owners' eyes. She was originally not like everyone else, because the bird brought the first egg at 2 months, and the rest at six months of age.
Experts say that it’s typical for a chicken to live about 8 years, the maximum duration of chicken in Ukraine was 12 years. The owner of this amazing bird claims that there are no secrets in longevity.
Each breed has a different life expectancy, which can always be increased. In the table you can see the most common breeds and the duration of their life.
Breed | Life span |
Broken brown | 3-3.5 years |
Russian hens | 3 years |
Brahma | from 2 to 4 years |
Koninhin | 4 years |
Plymouth Rock | 10 years |
Highsex | 3 years |
The life span of a chicken depends on many factors: feeding, keeping, disease, various breeds, etc. Before buying chickens, you need to make sure for what purpose they are needed, because birds are meat, egg and meat and egg. The average life expectancy is 8 years, but in our world there are champions long-livers who have lived much longer than ordinary hens.
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Russia. Krasnodar city
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