At what age does egg production drop?

[lauralou]

I have 4 adult hens. I think that 3 of them are 2 years old, and 1 is 3 years old. They all lay well. But their eggs are so huge! I absolutely adore the gigantic eggs! They are twice the size of the pullet eggs I get. So, it seems to me that laying less has to be taken in conjunction with the size and weight of the eggs that they lay. Even if my pullets laid twice as many eggs as the adults, it would still come out even, weightwise. If that makes sense (?).

I'd keep them. At least until you know for certain that they aren't pulling their weight.

 

[la dee da]

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Makes perfect sence. Of course you know there's yet another question coming

. The question is *drum roll* How can you tell which hens are still producing?

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

My 3 1/2 year old RIR/Aracauna's are still laying an egg a day, occassionally 2, unless interrupted by something in the coop. They are my best egg layers, they actually are less prone to not laying from interruptions than some of the others. (We are still finishing some of the projects in the coop, so we have even had the air compressor in the coop, and they were the only ones that still layed an egg the very next day.)

I have a heated coop with supplementary light and provide lot's of organic treats for them.

I wouldn't think of getting rid of them just because they are of the age that most people say you should cull them at. I just give them all that more nutritious food to help their older bodies produce just as well. The person I got them from several months ago got rid of them because they "weren't very good egg layers"-what made the difference in my coop compared to hers? She also uses the same type of heater and supplemental light-must be the extra nutrition I give them, I guess. Come to think of it, they were 3 1/2 years old when I got them, so they must be really close to 4 years old, now!!

 

[lauralou]

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You're not the first person to ask me that! I always know who laid what. I have 4 white egg layers, 2 green egg layers, and 8 brown egg layers. I also have 4 different coops. So, I can tell who laid what by what color egg, egg size and shape, and where it was laid. Also, I keep a chart, so I am expecting certain eggs on certain days, at certain times. The white ones are very hard to tell apart, though!

 

[la dee da]

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You're not the first person to ask me that! I always know who laid what. I have 4 white egg layers, 2 green egg layers, and 8 brown egg layers. I also have 4 different coops. So, I can tell who laid what by what color egg, egg size and shape, and where it was laid. Also, I keep a chart, so I am expecting certain eggs on certain days, at certain times. The white ones are very hard to tell apart, though!

I don't think I could do all of that! You must be one of the most dedicated people in the world, I am truly amazed

.

 

[la dee da]

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That's really cool how long your birds are producing. I'm not sure if I can explain the crazy things going through my head, but I can tell you that this information is actually very important to my plans. I do want to get as much productivity as I can with my birds. I want to be as self-sufficiant as I can so I don't want birds that will not produce a decent amount of eggs. I do hope to make sure they will always have green grass to play on and eat, so maybe that will help. Oh well, it's probably going to be several more years before I can get chickens, I may as well use my time for learning

 

[lauralou]

Quote:
You're not the first person to ask me that! I always know who laid what. I have 4 white egg layers, 2 green egg layers, and 8 brown egg layers. I also have 4 different coops. So, I can tell who laid what by what color egg, egg size and shape, and where it was laid. Also, I keep a chart, so I am expecting certain eggs on certain days, at certain times. The white ones are very hard to tell apart, though!

I don't think I could do all of that! You must be one of the most dedicated people in the world, I am truly amazed

.

You're so funny!

It's really not very hard at all. Just making little notations on a chart. They lay on a very regular schedule, so you can look back on the chart and see what to expect for any given day, for any given hen. It's cool because they don't take you by surprise that way. I have a pullet whose production has been slowly falling off, and falling off, and I already know that she's getting ready to stop laying and start her molt. She's down to laying one egg, and taking one day off. Soon she won't be laying at all. And I'll know exactly what's going on. I'm expecting it.

And you do get to where you can tell the eggs apart pretty reliably. Especially if you have lots of different breeds which lay different-looking eggs. Like I do. I have 5 different breeds, plus a couple of barnyard mixes. It's harder to tell the eggs apart for birds of the same breed. That's why I try and keep track of where their favorite nest boxes are. Like with my white egg layers, the Blue Andalusians, only one lays an easily distinguishable egg. Because it's significantly larger than the others. The other 3 look identical. Two of them like to lay in the same nest, so at that point, I have to consult the chart and see who should have laid an egg for that day at that time of the day. Unless I catch them in the act.

It will probably get harder this year, as I hatched out 5 little Dominique pullets from my 2 Dominique hens. They haven't started laying yet, but I imagine their eggs will look pretty similar! I can't even tell 3 of them apart as it is. I call them all "Stella". It simplifies things...

 

[gumpsgirl]

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Mine haven't been laying since Thanksgiving. I have a Golden Comet that has just started back, along with my leghorn, and one that just started laying for the first time. Three eggs a day for 23 hens that are less than a year old though is terrible!

 

[zoomom4]

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I will have to concur. I have Barred Rocks (4 yo) Australorps (2-3 yo), Marans (1-2 yo), and Americaunas (3-4 yo). I have (according to my records) 41 hens of laying age - I am getting VERY few eggs, like 6-10 per day. Partly it is winter, but their production was cutting down even when the weather was better. I wasn't watching as closely as I should have, and started some replacements in late August, and more in October, but right now i can't supply my customers with enough eggs. Judging by egg color, some of the Marans are laying, and the Australorps, every now and then i get a Barred Rock egg, and very very few green eggs.

I do have alot of pets - mostly silkies, some Cochins, some frizzles. Some of them are 4-5 years old. I don't care how well they lay, but for my 'working flock' I will probably not keep them past 2 or 3 from now on.

As for how you tell who is laying - when i was in 4-H, we had this list of things to check. It is still out there on the internet http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/extcull.htm

I was terrible at judging ones that had recently stopped laying. And it is hard now, b/c I think all of them are laying - maybe only once a week, but it makes it more iffy trying to detect them.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

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That's really cool how long your birds are producing. I'm not sure if I can explain the crazy things going through my head, but I can tell you that this information is actually very important to my plans. I do want to get as much productivity as I can with my birds. I want to be as self-sufficiant as I can so I don't want birds that will not produce a decent amount of eggs. I do hope to make sure they will always have green grass to play on and eat, so maybe that will help. Oh well, it's probably going to be several more years before I can get chickens, I may as well use my time for learning

If they don't always have access to green grass, you can always do what I do (It's _50 below F. right now-so not a chance those girls would ever go outside, and the grass is long frozen anyway) but you can also sprout wheat, and different seeds to give them the nutrition they need to not only be proficient layers, but give you the most healthiest eggs possible. Sprouted grains are far superior to regular dry grains, even though I do give my hens spelt grain which is high in protein, and sooo healthy for them, but as healthy as that is, it is even more healthy for them when it is sprouted.