Can chickens be completely be done laying at 2 years of age

[CatMack]

I have 1 barnvelder and 2 wyandottes that just turned 2 yrs old in May. They started laying in August 2014 and egg production was great. They stopped laying March 2015, going through a molt that lasted 6 months. They started laying again in Sept(2015) and stopped again in October when we had a very close encounter with a raccoon. 1 started recently laying again in April 2016, but once again has stopped. We have tried so many suggestions to help getting them laying again. Could they just be completely finished production. It seems so early in there lives, maybe it is the breed?. We hate to get rid of them as they are beautiful birds and our firsts but if they have run there course then we need to introduce new layers into the flock. Unfortunatly, we have a by-law limit where we live so I can't keep chickens forever that have completely stopped laying. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My barnevelder hens have never been great layers, nor have my Wyandotte hens. Usually breeds like any of the various sex links will be done laying around the age of two. Most dual purpose breeds can continue to lay for many more years with most stopping by age 5.

A hens best laying is done in her first two seasons and production can drop dramatically after that with older birds laying a few eggs a season.

Yours are probably done with an occasional egg here and there. For egg production I wouldn't recommend either breeds.

Plain old egg laying breeds are bred for production, breeds like Wyandotte and barnevelder are bred for coloring or egg color and often egg production gets left behind in breeders choices.

 

[aart]

I read some of your old posts...lets go back to the basics.

What and how exactly are you feeding?

How many birds in how much space, coop and run (feet by feet)?

 

[Leigti]

The first chickens I got were wyandots. They are now two years old, they did take about three months off after their hard malt at around 18 months and then I added some new chickens which stress them out, or text them off I'm not quite sure But they now only around five eggs each a week. So yours may not be done. I got my chicks from the feed store if that makes any difference. But any chicken slows down after the first couple years so depending on how many chickens you are allowed to have you were going to have to add more to your flock to keep the same number of eggs coming in.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

I have a three-year-old Ameraucana who is still laying - although less prolifically than a year ago. Otherwise, none of my hens have ever laid beyond two years. I've never had a Wyandotte, though - maybe they are supposed to be more prolific layers?