I was at the feed store the other day and noticed a new addition to the supply of scratch feeds, laying pellets, and chick starters. There was a daily feed that has been formulated especially for Senior Hens! I guess that is because chickens are being kept more and more as pets these days and our hens are living longer…maybe even well passed the age of egg laying! There is absolutely nothing wrong with this at all. Sometimes our hens become as cherished as the family dog or horse. After all, they have probably served us well through several years of good egg laying, entertainment and maybe even companionship. But just like people and other animals, dietary needs change as a chicken ages.
A hen will lay her first egg somewhere around 5 months of age. She will then lay regularly for a couple of years. After about the third year, you will notice a drop in the number of eggs she lays. Instead of giving you 5 or 6 eggs a week, she might only be giving you 3 eggs a week. This is about the point where a production farm would cull the hens and bring in some new layers. Considering that the average lifespan of a chicken is somewhere around 7 to 8 years, if you decide to keep the hen on as a pet, that equates to several years of feeding a less productive bird. But just because an older hen is not as productive in the egg laying department does NOT mean that she is useless. Older hens can be worth their weight in gold, contributing to the well-being of the flock by helping to keep the bug population down, teaching the younger birds the ways of the world, or even stepping in as a substitute incubator. It’s just that their nutritional needs may change a little after the decline of egg laying. A hen who does not lay many eggs will not require quite as much protein or calcium in their diet as a hen who is in her egg laying prime!
I have a mixed flock, keeping all ages of hens and roosters together, with three African geese thrown in for good measure. Some of my chickens are bantams, some are large breed birds, and some are standard size. Some are pure breeds and some are mixed breeds. A veritable melting pot of poultry! Because of their varied ages, sizes and breeds, they have differing nutritional requirements. I think that it would be expensive and more time consuming to house them all separately according to their feed needs, so I just keep them all together. I give my birds some of the responsibility of determining their own nutritional requirements. After all, in the wild, Mother Nature gives our birds a vast smorgasbord of good foods to select from and eat, and they generally seem to do a pretty good job of picking the stuff they need for good health. I know I have some permanent free-range birds and they do very well for themselves living mostly off of what nature provides.
So, what do our hens need to eat as they grow older?
They still need some calcium to aid in strong bones, but not as much as they would if they were laying eggs every day. Several times a week I offer my chickens a pan full of coarsely crushed egg shells, free-choice. They are a great source of calcium. (You could offer oyster shell in place of egg shells, but grit is not a good substitute as it is not a source of calcium.) My chickens can eat as much or as little as they want or feel they need. Sometimes they eat up the egg shells fairly quickly, so I put out more, or I know when there are still some shells left in the pan at the end of the day, that their calcium needs have been satisfied. There are some foods that are also good sources of calcium such as sage, black oil sunflower seeds and wheat which my chickens enjoy and these foods add a little variety to their diet.
I make sure that I have a high protein feed for my laying hens. I choose a feed that does not have calcium added so that my roosters and non-laying birds don’t get stuff they don’t need. I also offer other grains that might appeal to a bird who doesn’t need all the protein that a growing bird or laying hen might require. Wheat is a good source of protein as is millet and rice. I also offer leftovers, meat scraps, and even an occasional scrambled egg. Our older birds still require protein for strong muscle development, and feathers are made up of mostly protein…and our older hens still molt! Protein is a building block for bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood. So even though an older bird may not require as high of a protein diet as a younger hen, they still require choices that will provide them with the protein they need.
Carbohydrates are important for giving an old hen energy, and during cold months older birds might need a little help with keeping warm which carbs in their diet will do. The grains in chicken scratch like corn and wheat are great sources of carbohydrates. Older birds tend to stress a little easier than younger birds and the added vitamins in scratch grains will help them in dealing with stress and strengthen their immune systems.
Lastly, I like to offer my birds fruits and vegetables, fresh from the garden or leftover from one of our meals. My chickens are not too picky! They love fresh greens, grasses, weeds, herbs, cucumbers and even zucchini. A hanging cabbage is a great treat and a ‘boredom buster’! Just about any fruit, especially on a hot summer day, is appreciated by my birds, and the vitamins and minerals help to ensure a healthy flock. I believe that offering my flock choices of quality, healthy foods, much as Mother Nature does, will keep them not only healthy, but happy as well!
There is no need to stress or reinvent the wheel when it comes to feeding our older hens, and older roosters for that matter. Products which are specially formulated for our poultry at different stages in their life are just fine to feed them. My philosophy, however, is let’s learn a little bit from Mother Nature, she seems to be the expert in providing what our animals need. Your older birds will enjoy a well-rounded, well-balanced diet of good healthy foods and it will give them the nutrients they need to live a long, happy life!