Did you know that chickens are the most common bird in the world? That’s right and there are so many chickens, these familiar birds outnumber us by several billion!

Luckily, they don’t live nearly as long as we do. How long do chickens usually live? Is there a difference in lifespan between different types of chickens?

How Long Do Domesticated Chickens Generally Live?

Domesticated chickens can have fairly long lives. However, their lifespans depend on how those chickens are used. For example, constant egg laying takes a toll and chickens solely kept for food don’t usually live as long as free-range birds.

With that in mind, under optimal conditions, domesticated chickens live between 5 and 10 years.

The chicken breeds known as “heritage breeds” tend to live longer, sometimes even as long as 12 years. These are birds like the fancy Wyandotte Chickens, Rhode-Island Reds, and Cochin Chickens. It’s no surprise these birds have longer lifespans than other chickens.

After all, they are used more for show and as pets than plain white chickens grown for food and egg production. As with other pets, Heritage breed birds usually receive better food and care. They might also have healthier “genetics” than other types of chickens.

Slaughter Birds

As one might guess, “Slaughter Birds” are chickens bred for consumption. These are the chickens we buy at the supermarket and the ones that usually produce our eggs.

Whatever the slaughter breed, they don’t live nearly as long as Heritage breeds, free-range chickens, and many wild birds. Egg laying birds only live from three to five years, and chickens bred for food only live to when a farmer chooses to slaughter and sell them.

Living in close, crowded conditions, slaughter breeds are also more susceptible to disease.

At the same time, they might receive more antibiotics and other medicines to keep them healthy. However, if one does get sick, to prevent disease, all the birds in that coop might be slaughtered.

There are also dual purpose chickens bred to produce eggs as well as meat. These birds live a bit longer, for 6 to 8 years.

How Long Do Wild Chickens Live?

Wild chickens are stronger and healthier than slaughtered birds. At least, that was the impression I got from watching wild Red Junglefowls in Thailand. They acted like familiar barnyard chickens but were leaner, faster, and looked much more capable of surviving in the forest.

Give similar free-range chickens good veterinary care, and they can live for ten or more years!

One of the big factors for the long lifespans of wild and free-range chickens is their diet. Chickens are healthier and live much longer if they eat a variety of healthy foods.

For chickens, that means picking up a variety of bugs and seeds instead of eating processed chicken feed. However, there’s another vital factor for wild chicken lifespans that can’t be ignored.

That wild card is the predator factor. People aren’t the only beings that like to eat chickens. Lots of animals do, too, including predators like eagles, big hawks, Coyotes, Foxes, various wild cats, weasels, and snakes!

The predator factor is also why so few studies have looked at the lifespans of wild chickens. As with most wild animals, the majority of chickens get eaten long before they get old. With that in mind, most wild birds probably don’t live more than 6 to 8 years.

Life-Cycle Of Chickens

Like all birds, chicken start their lives as an egg. Although hens can lay eggs without a rooster, they won’t be fertile without him.

She’ll lay one egg every 25 to 27 hours until she feels she has enough for a brood (usually 12 eggs). This is one of the reasons why people remove eggs to hatch in controlled situations. Removing eggs tricks the hen into laying more!

Farmers also encourage hens to lay more eggs by subjecting the birds to at least 14 hours of light per day during the winter months. They require at least that amount of light to trigger their egg laying process.

Hatching eggs in controlled situations also ensures that the eggs hatch and that the farmer or chicken grower can take care of larger numbers of young chickens. As for the hen and her brood, she’ll incubate her eggs for 21 days.

Although wild chickens might have two broods per year, farm hens can lay 500 eggs during their lifetime!

After her eggs hatch, the mother takes care of and leads her babies to forage. They quickly grow and become “adolescent” chickens by the 8^th week of their lives and start laying eggs when they are 6 months old.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do backyard chickens live?

Backyard chickens live from 5 to 10 years.

How long do chickens lay eggs for?

Chickens lay eggs for two to five years.

How long do chickens live after they stop laying eggs?

After they stop laying eggs, if chickens aren’t slaughtered for food, they can live for three to five more years.

How old was the oldest chicken?

The oldest chicken was a hen chicken named “Peanut” from Michigan, USA. She lived for more than 23 years!

How can you tell a chicken’s age?

You can tell a chicken’s age by the size of their comb and wattle, leg color, and how dominant they are over other chickens.