When you pick up half a dozen fluffy, charming little chicks from the feed store and bring them home, it can be hard to remember—or to explain to your kids—that backyard chickens, like all creatures, eventually age and die.
但是鸡到底能活多久,它们为什么会死?这里有一些关于鸡的生命周期的基本知识,让你知道你会期待什么和注意什么。
Typical Chicken Lifespan
Backyard chickens typically live between 5 and 8 years, barring predation. Thelongest-lived chicken ever recordedwas 16 years old when she died, but don’t expect your pet chickens to see your kids off to college.
However, despite the fact that chickens don’t live forever, neither are they short-term commitments as pets. Chicks are not only a cute gimmick to put in an Easter basket, they are a living animal with needs for shelter, feed, care and attention, possibly for up to a decade!
If you are considering adding chickens to your household, keep in mind that they will be with you for many years, even as your interests and commitments change. If you need to move houses, your chickens will also have to be transported or rehomed.
When Do Chickens Stop Laying?
母鸡开始下蛋后的第一年半是产蛋高峰期。根据它们的品种,在最初的几年里,它们每周会产3到7个蛋。之后,它们会偶尔下蛋,随着时间的推移,它们会越来越少,直到4到6岁之间完全停止下蛋。
商业品种会更持久地产卵。我们有几只黑色的林克鸡,一种商业产蛋的杂交鸡,现在已经四岁了,每周还能下两三个蛋。
Your hens might stop laying for a reason other than their age, in which case they may not be done for good. Shortening days in the winter causes hens to stop laying, or lay more infrequently. Older hens are especially sensitive to changes in daylight.
Brand new laying hens may lay fairly steadily through their first year, but don’t be surprised if those same hens take a winter break later in life. Turning a heat lamp on in the morning and evening artificially lengthens the days and can help with this lag, but always count on more eggs in the summer than the winter.
Chickens also molt, or shed their feathers, a natural process which can look very scary to a first-time chicken owner. Most chickens molt once a year, in the late summer or early fall, and typically stop laying during that time.
Feathers are very high in protein, so it helps to supplement the chicken’s diet with a protein source, like whey, flax meal, orinsect meal. Molts usually last about two months, but your hen may start laying again sooner.
What Are Common Causes Of Premature Chicken Death?
根据我的经验,鸡死亡的最常见原因是被捕食。在我们生活的农村地区尤其如此,但即使在城市环境中,负鼠、郊狼、猫头鹰、蛇、浣熊,甚至宠物狗都可能对鸡群构成威胁。
Many of these critters can get over, under, or through a fence unless it is electrified. Still, sturdy fencing is important for chicken safety. We don’t use electric fencing, because if a hen tangles herself in electro-netting, the electrocution will kill her.
Chicken wire has a small-enough weave to keep out possums, foxes, weasels, and other slithery critters that could go through larger fencing, and a covered chicken run will deter birds of prey. Be sure to check your fence regularly for holes. Rats can absolutely chew through chicken wire, and they will eat young chicks whole.
Having a sturdy coop where you can shut your chickens in at night helps a lot, but predators can disappear chickens in broad daylight. A couple of weeks ago an otter came out of the creek in the middle of the day and attacked our chickens. My partner laid out and snatched a hen from its claws, and then we scared it off with our .22 shotgun.
我们还不止一次地因为宠物狗而失去了鸡,这些狗来到农场,在主人松开皮带时,在任何人阻止它们之前杀死了一只母鸡。如果有朋友想带一只你从未见过的狗过来,一定要小心。即使他们说"她是条好狗"那也毫无意义。
许多好狗都有狩猎的本能,安全总比后悔好。(And if you have a dog, keep your pet leashed when visiting a farm, unless you getexpresspermission from the owner, good grief).
Check outthese signsto help diagnose what kind of critter is stealing your ladies.
Chickens can alsocontract diseases, but I have found this to be very uncommon in backyard flocks. Because there are so few birds to incubate disease, and they typically don’t have contact with other chickens, they have natural protections against the kinds of diseases that plague highly crowded commercial poultry operations.
他们也过着健康、积极的生活,有阳光、新鲜空气和土壤,所有这些都支持健康的免疫系统。后院养鸡的主要病媒是接触野生鸟类、候鸟和啮齿动物。所以不要在你的鸡群中间放鸟浴盆或喂鸟器。
If your chickens do get sick, you can try some ofthese home remedies. Always start by quarantining a sick chicken away from healthy peers to prevent the spread of disease, and give her a heat lamp and fresh bedding.
It isdifficult to find a vet who will treat chickens, and likely to be expensive. There are two types of vets: small animal vets that you take your dog, cat or rabbit to see, and who are only starting to be prepared to treat pet chickens; and large animal vets who work mostly on farms and at zoos, and don’t treat small critters, even though chickens are generally considered livestock.
From a farming perspective, a sick chicken is almost never worth treating with the expense of a vet call. And as always,wash your hands after handling chickens, healthy or sick.
What About Slaughter?
Many backyard chickens die on their own, but if you have a chicken who is clearly suffering it may be time to take matters into your own hands. Part of what I value about raising my own animals is being responsible for their mortality.
It makes me feel humble and genuinely grateful for their lives, and living on a farm, far away from medical help, being able to kill a suffering animal quickly and cleanly is an animal welfare issue.
If you can’t imagine killing family pet, even at the end of a full and happy life. I understand that it is possible to have your chicken professionally euthanized, but you may run into the veterinarian scarcity issue again.
After sharing your home and your daily routines with a flock of chickens for many years, it can be very sad to watch a chicken age and die. Give yourself permission to grieve, and do a ceremony if you feel the need.
You can bury the chicken, or make an equally special ritual out of cooking and eating it. Part of the challenge and beauty of raising animals is being close to them in death as well as in life. It is a valuable opportunity to teach your children about the natural cycles of life, and to practice being at peace with it yourself.
dionelsays
Excelente articulo.Claro ,simple ,pero sin desperdicios.Gracias.
Briansays
吃一只因疾病或年老而死的鸡是不好的建议,也是我所理解的圣经中所警告的。不要这样做。只吃新鲜宰杀的健康禽鸟。洁食屠宰则是另一回事。你们可以自己去查一下。
Sally R Goodsays
That was lovely explaining about being close in life and death. A good lesson for us all.