How many a day?......

[chickenlady772]

Hello everyone. Newbie here. Just got my hens and coop a week ago. Got it as a package deal because of the previous owners not being able to keep there hens any longer
My question is I have 5 hens 2yrs old, good size coop, lots of ventilation, fresh clean water twice a day, lots of good feed, scratch and greens ( produce manger at grocery store discount greens how many should they be laying a day? I got into this as a love for hens and feeding my family not as a supplement in money. But, hubby is frustrated in the production he's thinking dozen a week.

Hens are healthy and happy. I know which are doing the the laying. Roughly three a day. Two hens haven't produced from what I see.
Now I have one hen that lays blue green eggs and she is daily. Another is molting and the other three seem to be fine and happy.

We traveled 3hrs one way to get them. The coop is a beautiful big barn shape with a run. Couldn't get the materials to make more less the hens, feed and feeders (waters) for what I paid including gas. What I was looking for always. I figured the drive was stressful for them for a couple of days but, they seem very happy from where ther were before.

I live in south Florida. Coop has shade during the afternoon and evening. Coop is very clean (daily). Gives me something to do after work.

What do you ladies and gentlemen think? Sorry for the long post.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

How many eggs a hen lays is mostly determined by breed and age. Some breeds only lay 1-2 eggs per week even in their prime, while others will lay 6+ eggs a week on average. What breeds do you have?

Next, your hens are two years old, which is old for the more commercial hybrids. A Red Sex Link or white Leghorn will lay like crazy, 6 or more eggs a week, for two years, but then will be pretty much spent. A heritage breed may lay five eggs a week for 3+ years before she slows down.

Finally, you've only had your birds a week. You don't know their true laying pattern yet. Moving is stressful for any species, and some hens will go for a couple of weeks without laying anything until they settle in.

One way to figure out how well your flock is doing is by figuring out your "Daily Rate of Lay." Each day, divide the number of eggs you get by the number of chickens you have, and that's your laying percentage. For example, yesterday I got 47 eggs from 59 young birds, for a .80 rate of lay, or 80%. (Not bad, but not great, either. Blah.) For an older backyard flock, anything over 70% is not too bad.

Once they settle in, with the good care you're giving them, I would expect them to give you a dozen eggs a week easily even at their age. But give us the specifics, and I can help you better.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

For 5 hens who are the heavy brown egglayer type at 2 years of age, I'd expect about 3 eggs a week from each hen. At 2 years of age, this fall they may stop laying altogether as they molt.

You can help them through the molt by not diluting their protein (feather growth) by giving too much scratch. I'd give a handful of scratch per day, is all.

 

[chickenlady772]

Two are producion red. Two are partidge rock snd the last one that lays the green blue eggs daily I'm not sure.

I do only give one handful of scratch a day. I don't use it as a supplement just a treat. Was wondering if feeding them Mainly greens is not good also?

So would you say its close to retirement for the others that haven't laid yet? They are fat little bitties Hubby is looking at cost compared to pleasure of having them. Where he comes from they have them as food. If they don't produce then they are eaten. He is from Puerto Rico. Getting use to things here like having food animals as companions.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Two are producion red. Two are partidge rock snd the last one that lays the green blue eggs daily I'm not sure.

I do only give one handful of scratch a day. I don't use it as a supplement just a treat. Was wondering if feeding them Mainly greens is not good also?

So would you say its close to retirement for the others that haven't laid yet? They are fat little bitties

Hubby is looking at cost compared to pleasure of having them. Where he comes from they have them as food. If they don't produce then they are eaten. He is from Puerto Rico. Getting use to things here like having food animals as companions.

Your production reds are at the age where their laying may slow down dramatically. You'll get eggs, but probably only 3 a week or so from them. Your Partridge Rock probably only ever laid 3-5 eggs a week, and will slow down a bit at 2 years old, also. Your blue egg layer is most likely an Easter Egger. Those are mutt chickens that carry the blue egg gene, so her laying pattern is determined by the mix of breeds used to create her. Sounds like you got a good one!

Your hens will lay better and be healthier if the majority of their diet is commercial layer ration. Greens don't have nearly enough protein for a laying hen and especially not enough for a moulting hen. You want to hit about 16-18% protein in your layer feed. Also, you may want to add a free-choice feeder of crushed oyster shell as a calcium supplement.

Backyard eggs probably will cost you more than store eggs. We sell eggs and I keep a very close eye on our profits. It costs us about $2.30 to make a dozen eggs and I could buy the cheapest store-brand eggs here for about $1.25/carton. However, hens are fun, and funny, and great to watch (stress relief!) and the eggs will be healthier than the store-bought eggs. http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/eggs-zl0z0703zswa.aspx Also, even 10 years in, it's still a thrill for me to go out and collect eggs every day. They seem like such perfect jewels. There's no way to put a price on something like that.

 

[chickenlady772]

Thank you. Your right it is for the pleasure of it.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

a thrill for me to go out and collect eggs every day. They seem like such perfect jewels. There's no way to put a price on something like that.

x2!