Gertie the chicken was named the oldest chicken living by Guinness World Records at the age of 15 years and 100 days old. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records
A Maine resident’s pet chicken was officially named the oldest of her species in the world at the age of 15 years and 100 days old.
Frank Turek brought Gertie the Golden Sebright chicken to his Portland property when she was a freshly-hatched chick in 2010.
“Her plumage, once it fully emerged after a few months, was immediately stunning,” he told Guinness World Records. “And she was always the most photogenic.”
He said that despite being a smaller breed of chicken, Gertie quickly came to rule the roost.
“Since the original flock, we’ve had four influxes of new chicks,” he said. “Many have long since passed — and others who were too aggressive to fit in were adopted out — and through all of those personnel changes, Gertie was the presumptive leader.”
Turek said Gertie started to go blind a few years ago, and he moved her to a private indoor coop in 2024 to protect her from confrontations with younger hens.
“She seems very content with her new solo indoor life and loves the company of humans in the same room with her,” he said. “She replies to her name with a sweet ‘pup, pup, pup,’ and will have ‘conversations’ if you talk to or sing to her.”
Gertie earned the Guinness World Record for the oldest chicken living when her age was verified at 15 years and 100 days old — more than six months older than the previous record-holder, a Texas chicken named Pearl. She will celebrate her 16th birthday in July.
