Australorps breed Thread

[hellbender]

The 2/week came from MyPetChicken though I see that Murray says "excellent for both meat and eggs", Cackle says 180-240/year and eFowl says "good" so who knows.

I know.

 

[Seatrout00]

I reading up on this thread - but offhand, would you all say that Australorps are great egg layers? I've read on some sites that list them at the very top, even over RIRs, while other sites list them under RIRs and BRs ... its a might confusing! I am talking about the most common of the breed, the black Australorps.

 

[ronott1]

I reading up on this thread - but offhand, would you all say that Australorps are great egg layers? I've read on some sites that list them at the very top, even over RIRs, while other sites list them under RIRs and BRs ... its a might confusing! I am talking about the most common of the breed, the black Australorps.

Welcome to the confusing world of Chickens!

BAs are in the top 5 or so. It is very hard to beat a hatchery bred sex link for the first year. It gets even trickier for the next years of age.

What you are reading are averages. Individuals can be much different. Australorps are Dual purpose egg layers. They are very good and laying eggs and the cockerels are ok for meat. The hens will be a good size when they are too old so they can be eaten too.

The point is that they will lay eggs similarly to other Dual purpose egg layers. Breeds area:

Meat
Egg
Dual purpose meat
Dual purpose egg

Then you get into the hybrids. They are either egg or meat but boy do they specialize!

 

[Seatrout00]

Very good to know ronott1! I have so read that they make pretty good chicken pets. We are hoping to get a couple BA lady chicks next month along with a couple Barred Rock lady chicks. We are very excited!

 

[ronott1]

Very good to know ronott1! I have so read that they make pretty good chicken pets. We are hoping to get a couple BA lady chicks next month along with a couple Barred Rock lady chicks. We are very excited!

You will love them!

And they will lay a lot of eggs--see a subjective number.

 

[bruceha2000]

I reading up on this thread - but offhand, would you all say that Australorps are great egg layers? I've read on some sites that list them at the very top, even over RIRs, while other sites list them under RIRs and BRs ... its a might confusing! I am talking about the most common of the breed, the black Australorps.

Depends

First, 'everyone' has this need to say a BA laid 364 eggs in 365 days as if that were normal almost suggesting everyone can expect the same. It isn't normal, the record is over 80 years old and most BAs won't get close to that. You might be able to force higher than average numbers with winter light.

I have two BAs that are now 3.5 years old. They came from Ideal in June 2012 in a box with 10 other chicks of 5 breeds. One of the BAs is average size the other is huge. If it weren't for the slate legs and pale foot bottoms she could pass for a Black Jersey Giant. The smaller is an excellent forager and my best layer along with the EE. Neither has ever gone broody and are averaging about 50% of the days since their first egg - ~575 eggs in 1120 days. If I were breeding and had a BA rooster you can bet I'd be breeding Echo.

The big BA goes broody frequently (did a good job of raising the 7 chicks I got from Meyer in June) and has only averaged laying 35% of the days since her first egg - 385 eggs in 1,100 days. Zorra did well the first year (as most pullets do), moulted starting the end of August and knocked of laying until mid February. In contrast, Echo waited until the end of January(!) to moult and started laying again the end of March. Zorra's second moult started the beginning of September and she didn't lay again until the beginning of March. Echo's second moult started mid October (same calendar year as her first in January) and she was back in the nest the beginning of January.

My chickens do not lay when they are moulting (which I believe is most often the case) so you can knock 60 days or more off a "laying year". How you get to nearly an egg a day for a year is beyond my comprehension.

Thus the answer, as is frequently the case in many things, is "your milage may vary" and "past performance is not a guarantee of future returns"

Am I so-so on BAs? Not at all, Echo is so great I ordered 2 BAs from Meyer in June ... but they sent BJG chicks.

 

[Clinton 78]

I have 3 BA's. They aren't laying yet or haven't since nov. 1 is 2 yrs this spring and the other will be 4 yrs old. How many years would you guess they would be productive for eggs. Before they almost stop laying? And also what does broody mean? Sorry for the inexperience but u got to start some where.

 

[ronott1]

I have 3 BA's. They aren't laying yet or haven't since nov. 1 is 2 yrs this spring and the other will be 4 yrs old. How many years would you guess they would be productive for eggs. Before they almost stop laying? And also what does broody mean? Sorry for the inexperience but u got to start some where.

The one that is under two will start up Soon and lay a good amount of eggs. The 4 year old will likely lay in the spring but not that many. They will lay a small amount after 4 years or so but the numbers drop off quickly.

Broody is when a hen wants to sit on a clutch of eggs to hatch them.

Here is an example of egg laying by percentages:

Remember, these are just averages. Not that many hens will live to be 10 and they will lay most of their eggs in the Spring.

 

[Clinton 78]

Oh I also put a broiler light out there 2 nights ago with one of those eyes that kick off in daylight. It has an energy eff bulb that puts off 100W of light but only uses 15W of power. And been mixing laying mess with there scratch feed. How long would you reckon it would take for there bodies to adjust to the knew light and start producing eggs. I turn it on around 10 pm and off around 6 am. So they only get a few hrs of dark.
And also I saw where some one said use a red light why would this matter?

 

[ronott1]

Oh I also put a broiler light out there 2 nights ago with one of those eyes that kick off in daylight. It has an energy eff bulb that puts off 100W of light but only uses 15W of power. And been mixing laying mess with there scratch feed. How long would you reckon it would take for there bodies to adjust to the knew light and start producing eggs. I turn it on around 10 pm and off around 6 am. So they only get a few hrs of dark.
And also I saw where some one said use a red light why would this matter?

Set the timer so that they get 12 to 14 hours of light. It takes a couple of weeks for them to start up again.