I love having backyard chickens. They are so hilarious and beautiful, and they really improve my quality of life. But being a chicken tender means that inevitably you will have to deal with your pets aging. Here is my list for how to care for your aging flock, so you can give them the quality life that they deserve.

Remember that I am not a medical professional.

As your chickens age, you might want to consider making a keepsake of them! I sent a photo of one of my hens off to the team at Mr. and Mrs. Paw, to have a custom pet portrait made. The quality is incredible, the originality is second-to-none, and it’s a beautiful way to remember your precious pet forever! Check out all the lovely choices here, and get your own custom pet portrait.

This is the original photo of my Lacey that I have sent off to have the first of many custom pet portraits made! I can’t wait to see how it comes out! She’s going to be a Renaissance sensation! See the template screenshot below as I wait for my order to arrive.

You can also see my video here about how my family made me a keepsake of a beloved chicken after she passed away suddenly.

Let’s get into the nitty gritty of how to care for your backyard chickens as they get older.

Your aging chickens will need you to do a medical check more often – you can check out my video here on how to do that, but keep a close eye on your senior birds.

I recommend that you do medical checks at night, when your flock is already up and roosting. This also gives you a chance to take attendance and make sure that everyone has made it safely to bed.

There might also be a shift in the pecking order as a younger alpha-wannabe challenges the elder birds. Remember that some pecking order adjustments are normal, but no one should be bullied out of getting food or water, nor end up bloody.

As far as the coop and run are concerned, I would look through your setup and make sure there are no steep climbs or big jumps (up or down) that your older chickens have to do every day. For example, consider adding a gradual ramp to the roost bars so that your chickens can just walk up and down, instead of having to fly and jump.

Next, consider looking at the nutritional value of your chicken feed. If all of your flock is older, you can look into an “all flock” type food that doesn’t have so much calcium, as your older hens will not be laying as many eggs. 

Alternatively, if you can’t change feed due to still having younger birds in with the older, just do some research about the changing nutritional needs of your senior chickens.

Finally, consider if it would be appropriate to acclimate some younger chickens to your backyard flock. I personally have chickens of all different ages so that there are always chickens in their prime, as others get to retire and age out. You can check out my article here about how I add new chickens to my backyard flock, as it takes some time and planning to do it safely.

As always, I’m here to help! While I’m not a medical professional, I’m happy to work with you and your backyard chickens – email me and let’s talk about how to care for your aging flock.

Here is my Youtube video called Care for Your Backyard Flock As Your Chickens Get Older!