Rate of Lay in Correlation to Longevity of Lay

[BonnieBlue]

Does the rate of lay effect the longevity of lay? I am assuming that with a finite number of eggs, that It does.

I am a bit of a stats and spreadsheet geek, and I have started tracking my girl's laying. I have a camera in the coop and I know who lays each day, so I am tracking that to track rate of lay.

With Easter Eggers, I expected 4 to 5 eggs a week when they got going good. The newest layer (going into her third week now), as to be expected, is the lowest layer, at 4 eggs a week. I have only been tracking for 10 days on spreadsheet now, but kept a journal for a couple of weeks before that. One of my girls, who has not even been laying the longest, has been giving me 6 eggs a week for the past 3 weeks. I was quite surprise, not only because of her breed, but because of her age (7 months today), and that she has only been laying since early December.

Which brings me to my original question. Will my girl that lays heavily now, taper off sooner than the others, and have a shorter laying span overall? Let's say that my newest layer stays at 4 eggs a week. Would she then have a longer laying span that the one who lays 6?

 

[fluffycrow]

Usually, birds who lay more, and without stopping, put too much pressure on their bodies, which leads to them having some reproductive problems in the future. They can also stop sooner, and they can have shorter lifespans. All things that can be seen in the common production breeds and mixes, such as the ISA brown

 

[BonnieBlue]

Usually, birds who lay more, and without stopping, put too much pressure on their bodies, which leads to them having some reproductive problems in the future. They can also stop sooner, and they can have shorter lifespans. All things that can be seen in the common production breeds and mixes, such as the ISA brown

Thank you for the info. I assume I should read up on reproductive problems, so I know what to watch for, to properly care for her.

If I can get in position to move to a rural area (which is my goal this year) I hope to get more chickens. Because chicken addiction. Do purebreds that have a bit lower lay rate than production birds or mixes, have fewer problems and longer spans? Or is it a crap shoot, depending on health of each individual hen?

 

[Tahai]

If you want longevity, you could look into some of the landraces. You will sacrifice quantity, though. The landraces will generally only lay when it is seasonally appropriate for hatching chicks.

 

[Cindy in PA]

Don't know if rate of lay makes them stop sooner, but chickens stop laying before they ever run out of eggs.

 

[RedwoodCoastChick]

Don't know if rate of lay makes them stop sooner, but chickens stop laying before they ever run out of eggs.

Kind of like us women... Heaven knows I didn't need more kids in my 50s!

 

[Mrs. K]

It is highly genetic and individualized... with a good dose of luck.

What is not, is these factors of lay. The first year they lay the longest before going into molt, and have the shortest molt, before going back into production. After molt, the size of the egg will increase. However, the next year, they stop laying earlier as they go into molt and stay out of production longer, again when they start back up, generally their eggs are larger.

So the older they get - the less they produce. This is true of a bird that lays 6 out of 7 days, and a bird that lays 4 out of 8 days.

It takes some planning to keep eggs in the dark days of winter.

Mrs K

 

[Apis mellifera]

With Easter Eggers, I expected 4 to 5 eggs a week when they got going good.

Easter Eggers are kind of a barnyard mix, you wont get a consistent number or color of eggs from that breed. Some may stop laying sooner than others. I found quality heritage breeds will lay more consistently and later into life.

 

[NatJ]

Which brings me to my original question. Will my girl that lays heavily now, taper off sooner than the others, and have a shorter laying span overall? Let's say that my newest layer stays at 4 eggs a week. Would she then have a longer laying span that the one who lays 6?

Maybe, but maybe not. The ones with higher rates of lay are *more likely* to have reproductive problems. But some of them live long healthy lives anyway, and some of the poor layers have reproductive problems or other problems despite their lower laying rate.

Does the rate of lay effect the longevity of lay? I am assuming that with a finite number of eggs, that It does.

Even if they each have a finite number of eggs, they may not have the SAME number of eggs as each other.

Example math (assuming they don't die of any other causes):
Some chickens can lay 300+ eggs in their first year of life.
Some chickens lay closer to 50 eggs in their first year.
If the 300+ chicken lives for 2 years and then dies of reproductive problems, she might have laid 500 eggs by that time.
The hen that laid 50 eggs her first year would have to lay for 10 years at that rate to equal the first hen, but because laying slows down with age she would actually have to keep laying some eggs to at least age 15. Most hens of ALL breeds will not live that long.
So the hen who lays 500 eggs in her first two years will probably have a higher lifetime egg production than the one that maxes out at 50 eggs in her first year.

And if that hen who laid 300 eggs in her first year has a sister, who lives to age 4 before she has problems, that one has probably laid 800+ eggs in her lifetime. A hen who lays 200 eggs in the first year (midway between the previous examples), and lays decreasing numbers each year, would have to live to at least 6-8 years old to have a chance of matching that lifetime production.

The high-laying hybrids (like Red Sexlinks) have a reputation for having a high rate of reproductive issues. I don't usually hear about this with Leghorns (who lay very well, and have existed as a breed for a much longer time.) This makes me wonder if it happens to Leghorns too and I just haven't heard, or if it is possible to have good layers with good longevity (but no-one in modern times cares enough, so they are ignoring that when breeding the current hybrids.)

I am a bit of a stats and spreadsheet geek, and I have started tracking my girl's laying. I have a camera in the coop and I know who lays each day, so I am tracking that to track rate of lay.

I will be curious to know what you find, as the years go by, if you can update every now and then. It would be nice to have a check on what everybody (including me) thinks they know (we think that higher lay rate can lead to earlier problems, earlier end-of-lay, and/or earlier death.)

 

[saysfaa]

...

Which brings me to my original question. Will my girl that lays heavily now, taper off sooner than the others, and have a shorter laying span overall? Let's say that my newest layer stays at 4 eggs a week. Would she then have a longer laying span that the one who lays 6?

If you mean during a given year then generally no. When breeders select for high production they generally go for both number of eggs per week and weeks of laying per year.