VM
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what breed of hen laying at 8 years old?Really interested to hear about your hen, Treacodactyl, in the feeding thread, that you said still lays several eggs per week at over 8 years old. One of my reasons for wanting pure breeds when we started with chickens last year was because of them carrying on laying for longer than hybrids - but I didn't know they could go on as long as that. I'd been told maybe 5 or 6 years.
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Treacodactyl
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I think she's closer to 8 and a half years old and she's a Buff Sussex. However, before you get your hopes up, I think the reason why she's still laying is that she's not laid much during her life. She laid reasonably well for the first couple of years but has often gone broody (three times a year some years) and hasn't laid over the last few winters. This year she only started laying a couple of weeks ago, so 3 to 4 eggs for the last couple of weeks and I expect her to go broody and day soon. 
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milkmaid
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i have a light sussex the same
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Andy B
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Ours is a Rhode Island called Ruby. She is 8 and still laying but after a couple of months the shells are a bit thin and quite a few are broken.
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lottie
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Some hybrids do lay at 8---I had a Speckledy that did---her sisters layed for several years as well--but she was the oldest.
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goosey
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Aaaah nice to hear about these senior chooks .
Just out of interest, do you think the eggs are fertile - providing there is a rooster of course.
What is the oldest cock anyone has, and what breed is he?
I am wondering what the record is for producing chicks from these older birds. And, which breed is longest-lived.
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crofter
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I have a cockerel hatched in 1999. "Shetland" hen. Still fertile. Also have a couple of geese which are nearly 30! My oldest hen is a black rock which I bought in 1998. Lays occasionally.
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goosey
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Well I think you have some serious contenders there!
Geese do live long, like parrots. I've heard of some geese in the States, which the next generation of the human family inherited from their family.
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