a farmer once told me....

[AHappychick]

That pullets do not really lay less after the second year but that the egg companies have spread this rumor because... After the second year and the molt the birds lay bigger eggs. Well these bigger eggs are harder to package and ship so they just get rid of them before that happens. He also said that if I feed them a mix of high protein cat food right before and through that 2nd year molt that they would lay the larger egg just as regularly as when they were younger and laying the "normal" sized egg..

Ok I hope I remembered that right, its been a while.... so has anyone heard of this or some version close to it?

 

[RHewitt]

Egg production will drop some after 18 months but not enough to justify getting rid of good hens that will still produce 85 to 90% percent of what they would in their first year or two. I have read recently that hens will lay well for several years and still be laying some when they reach as much as 5 to 6 years of age. A good healthy two year old hen in my opinion is in her prime both in health and egg production.

 

[sara]

I'm a little confused as to why you think the egg companies would spread that. In my grocery store you can buy, medium, large, and jumbo eggs.