How many eggs were laid by hens 150 years ago?

[BDutch]

This site puts yearly capacity numbers behind several breeds. With a note that the number of egg declines after the first year of laying. Translated from EiEiEi, all about eggs
(Not with a research link and maybe not thrust worthy)

WHICH CHICKEN LAYS THE MOST EGGS?
Hybrid chickens lay the most eggs – up to 350 per year. That is not surprising, because they are bred for the most optimal egg production.
A hybrid chicken is created by crossing several well-laying chickens. Some hybrid chicken breeds are; Golden Comet, Isa Brown and Hisex White.

OTHER CHICKENS WITH HIGH EGG PRODUCTION

• The Leghorn hen lays an average of 270-300 eggs per year
• The Rhode Island red hen lays an average of 260 eggs per year
• The Sussex chicken lays an average of 250 eggs per year
• The Barnevelder lays an average of 180 eggs per year
• The Wayandotte bantam lays an average of 180 eggs per year
• The Welsummer chicken lays an average of 180 eggs per year
• The Araucana lays an average of 180 eggs per year
• The Orphington lays an average of 160 eggs per year

To make it more complete I added a table from another site , a Dutch commerce
for pets:
PS. Partly translated, the last column is about the space these chickens need.

Ras	weight	weight bantam	age (average)	number of eggs in a year	Good with children/ can get tame	Bewegingsruimte
Brahma	Haan/rooster: 4-5 kg Hen: 3-4 kg	Haan: 1,5 kg Hen: 1,2 kg	10-15 jaar	150- 200	ja	Bovengemiddeld wegens het formaat en de aanleg voor overgewicht
Barnevelder	Haan: 3,5 kg Hen: 2,5 - kg	Haan: 1-1,5 kg Hen: <1kg	4-10 jaar	180	ja	Bovengemiddeld wegens het actieve karakter
Zijdehoen/Silky	Haan: 1,5-2 kg Hen: 1,4-1,8 kg	Haan: 0,8-1 kg Hen: 0,7-0,9 kg	6-8 jaar	110	ja	Onder gemiddeld wegens kleine formaat en rustige karakter
Leghorn	Haan: 2,5-3,5 kg Hen: 2,1-2,7 kg	Haan: 0,7-0,8 kg Hen: 0,6-0,7 kg	3-6 jaar	300-350	Minder geschikt	Bovengemiddeld wegens het actieve en vitale karakter
Orpington	Haan: 4 kg Hen: 3,5 kg	Haan: 1,5 kg Hen: 1-1,2 kg	3-8 jaar	150-200	ja	Bovengemiddeld scharrelt bij voorkeur vrij rond
Wyandotte	Haan: 4 kg Hen: 3 kg	Haan: 1-1,2 kg Hen: 0,8-1 kg	6-7 jaar	80-245	ja	Gemiddeld, past zich goed aan de omgeving aan

 

[Perris]

there are lots of sites that offer this sort of info for current breeds. This thread is focussed on figures and breeds in the 1800s.

 

[BDutch]

there are lots of sites that offer this sort of info for current breeds. This thread is focussed on figures and breeds in the 1800s.

Sorry, I was searching for an article on the increase of laying eggs by chickens starting in the nineteenth century and ending up in the 21sth. I thought/recall it was on the site of the poultry museum, but couldn’t find it and came across other interesting info and forgot your specific question for this thread.
Maybe the museum deleted the info and the info is only available for visitors now.

 

[Perris]

no worries!

 

[fuzzi]

The Sussex chicken lays an average of 250 eggs per year

My girls are going to get a talkin' to...

 

[rockethoe]

From my favourite book (not 150 years ago, but almost 100 years ago).

 

[Perris]

From my favourite book (not 150 years ago, but almost 100 years ago).

View attachment 3662856

title and author of book is..... ?

 

[MaryJanet]

From my favourite book (not 150 years ago, but almost 100 years ago).

View attachment 3662856

Seems the Wyandottes love Yorkshire!

 

[saysfaa]

This is asserted in a book published in 1873:
"Hens of the better laying breeds, properly managed, should lay about 150 eggs per annum. Individuals will do much more than this, and have been known to exceed even 300."

Lewis Wright, The Illustrated book of poultry, London 1873. Online freely here
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012288930

This was regarded as the best of the poultry manuals produced in Victorian times, and he was the editor of a fanciers' journal.

Thank you.
This is the most interesting book I've read in a very long time.

Lol, he recommends poop boards, a minimum of 10 sq feet (3 sq m) of run per bird, and a few other things still often recommended. And some interesting differences - such as recommending 5 or 6 inch (13-15 cm) diameter branches as roosts.

I lost access before I got to the section about the number of eggs although he talked about it a little in other sections. He drew a very sharp distinction between "breeds" (pedigreed stock, essentially, which I think meant different things in that era than it does now) and mongrels, I think he called them.

I found the differences between what they can pick up to eat in England vs North America particularly interesting.

And that he likes buckwheat so much as chicken feed.

I look forward to finishing the book and going back to study the parts I read though so far.

 

[Perris]

And some interesting differences - such as recommending 5 or 6 inch (13-15 cm) diameter branches as roosts.

On that point, I recently read that chickens' "feet are not particularly specialized for grasping in comparison with other bird species...given the choice, laying hens tend to avoid perching on narrow perches of just 1.5 cm diameter, and on perches of less than 4.5 cm (the most frequently used commercial perch diameter), hens find it more difficult to balance." Nicol Behavioural biology of chickens 2015: 86-7.