Different breeds lay different amounts of eggs !
- Thread starter Reg
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Both. The ones that aren't as great layers will average fewer eggs per week and generaly stop laying sooner each fall and start back later in the spring. And the 350 eggs a year per chicken number is either wishful thinking or that one in a million bird that we all dream of. Even on the best laying breeds some will lay more than others.
http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/chooks.html
Check out this website Reg.
Check out this website Reg.
I don't know what conditions those numbers come from. Will you be keeping them under the same conditions? Since you show up to 350 eggs per year, I assume that is in a coop that provided artificial light and is climate controlled to avoid weather spikes, either hot or cold. I don't know if broodiness is figured in there or not. Some breeds go broody a lot while some hardly ever go broody. As you know, they don't lay when broody. And some breeds, like Australorp, are known to lay well in winter. Some pretty much shut it down in cold weather, even if they don't molt. SInce you have that 350 number, I assume they are not allowed to molt.
Each individual chicken is, well, individual. Any one chicken can vary tremendously from the breed norms. However, breed tendencies are breed tendencies and if you have enough individual chickens for averages to mean much, the tendencies do have meaning. I'd still use those numbers more as a comparison between breeds than as actual numbers to expect.
With all that said, the more prolific breeds tend to lay several days in a row, eventuallly skip one day, then start laying consecutively again. The less prolific breeds will still lay regularly, just skip days more often.
If you do not keep them under artificial lights to keep the day length up in fall and winter, they will be seasonal layers. They will molt when the days get shorter and quit laying, using the protein they eat to grow feathers instead of lay eggs. Then, once the molt is done, they will normally start laying again, but if it is winter, many breeds will not lay a lot until the days get longer and the weather warms up. Where you are, you should not have to worry about them slowing down in the heat of summer, but that happens here. They don't stop but they do slow down if it gets hot, say around 37 to 40 C., somewhere in that range.
Mississippifarmboy, I think they are talking leghorns in a commercial operation for the 350, but yeah, that is a lot of eggs out of one chicken.
Each individual chicken is, well, individual. Any one chicken can vary tremendously from the breed norms. However, breed tendencies are breed tendencies and if you have enough individual chickens for averages to mean much, the tendencies do have meaning. I'd still use those numbers more as a comparison between breeds than as actual numbers to expect.
With all that said, the more prolific breeds tend to lay several days in a row, eventuallly skip one day, then start laying consecutively again. The less prolific breeds will still lay regularly, just skip days more often.
If you do not keep them under artificial lights to keep the day length up in fall and winter, they will be seasonal layers. They will molt when the days get shorter and quit laying, using the protein they eat to grow feathers instead of lay eggs. Then, once the molt is done, they will normally start laying again, but if it is winter, many breeds will not lay a lot until the days get longer and the weather warms up. Where you are, you should not have to worry about them slowing down in the heat of summer, but that happens here. They don't stop but they do slow down if it gets hot, say around 37 to 40 C., somewhere in that range.
Mississippifarmboy, I think they are talking leghorns in a commercial operation for the 350, but yeah, that is a lot of eggs out of one chicken.
- Feb 5, 2011
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ridgerunner - You wrote > the more prolific breeds tend to lay several days in a row<
What is considered a prolific breed?
What is the average life span (years) for chickens and do they produce eggs throughout or greatly slow in the later years?
(newbie with lots of questions)
What is considered a prolific breed?
What is the average life span (years) for chickens and do they produce eggs throughout or greatly slow in the later years?
(newbie with lots of questions)
The strains produced by the big commercial genetics companies, I.S.A., Hendrix, DeKalb, Hy-Line, etc are bred for the industry and loved by many home chicken owners. They start lay sooner (18 weeks), they terrific amounts of eggs 330+, rarely ever go broody, etc. Available in white, tan or brown egg varieties. Their feed conversion ratios are the best, as this is what they are bred to do. Mostly light birds, rarely exceeding 3.5 lbs in a white feather or 4.2 lbs in a red/buff feather.
If you google poultry genetics you'll find a few of the company's websites that will give you enough data to study for a long time.
It is understood that in the industry, these hens are often replaced after two years. They are sometimes allowed a single molt at 12-14 months of age, followed by about 10 months of excellent, if slightly reduced lay. But this just about completes their usefulness to a commercial concern. The home keeper might still squeak out another pretty fair year from such a strain.
It is extremely rare to find a more standard bred or heritage strain that can convert feed or produce eggs anywhere close to these hybrid chickens.
If you google poultry genetics you'll find a few of the company's websites that will give you enough data to study for a long time.
It is understood that in the industry, these hens are often replaced after two years. They are sometimes allowed a single molt at 12-14 months of age, followed by about 10 months of excellent, if slightly reduced lay. But this just about completes their usefulness to a commercial concern. The home keeper might still squeak out another pretty fair year from such a strain.
It is extremely rare to find a more standard bred or heritage strain that can convert feed or produce eggs anywhere close to these hybrid chickens.
I've got a flock of 4 different breeds (4 birds total
) My Polish (hatchery-raised until 10-11 mo) laid an egg a day all summer long. She stopped producing Sept/Oct last year. My cochin (also hatchery-raised) has yet to lay an egg, personally I think there's something wrong with her. I got both of them may/june.
My Black Star (black sex-link) started laying early December (got her as a chick in May/June). Except for when its been really cold, I've gotten an egg a day from her on average, there's been a few days when she lays every other day, or every 2 days. My silver-laced wydonette lays an egg about every other day, sometimes she'll go for 3 or 4 days without laying, though. She's the same age as the BS, and started laying about 2-3 weeks after the BS did. (Athough, I could be wrong about who's laying every day, seeing as both breeds lay brown eggs, but their eggs are slightly different in size & color, so I know I've got 2 layers, and I'm assuming the more prolific bird is the BS since she's the one who is almost always on the nest!)
My Black Star (black sex-link) started laying early December (got her as a chick in May/June). Except for when its been really cold, I've gotten an egg a day from her on average, there's been a few days when she lays every other day, or every 2 days. My silver-laced wydonette lays an egg about every other day, sometimes she'll go for 3 or 4 days without laying, though. She's the same age as the BS, and started laying about 2-3 weeks after the BS did. (Athough, I could be wrong about who's laying every day, seeing as both breeds lay brown eggs, but their eggs are slightly different in size & color, so I know I've got 2 layers, and I'm assuming the more prolific bird is the BS since she's the one who is almost always on the nest!)
Quote:
Check out the link in Chic-n-farmer's post. Most commercial white egg layers are Leghorn, but are bred with very specific genetics, sort of a super Leghorn.
Hens start out laying pretty well. Usually after their first adult molt, the egg size goes up and they continue to lay often. This is their best, most productive year. After their second adult molt, egg size may go up just a tad again, but the frequency of lay drops by about 15%. After each adult molt, other than their first, production drops another 15%. In a commercial flock with 5 different hen houses and 10,000 laying hens in each, this 15% drop is real noticeable. That much drop in productivity really hits the bottom line. In a lot of our backyard flocks, getting 5 eggs a week instead of 6 is often not a big deal. I like to keep mine through 2 adult molts, then replace them. If you are looking at it from a commercial aspect, you have to balance out feeding new chicks until they are ready to lay, then getting pullet sized eggs, versus feeding them through a second adult molt and getting a reduced number of really nice eggs.
This 15% drop assumes you have enough chickens for the averages to mean anything. Any one hen is an idividual and her results can vary dramatically, but a decent sized flock will come close to the 15% drop in average.
It is hard to come up with an average life span of a chicken. Some can live 15 years. Many people have them 7 years old and may get a few eggs a month.
Check out the link in Chic-n-farmer's post. Most commercial white egg layers are Leghorn, but are bred with very specific genetics, sort of a super Leghorn.
Hens start out laying pretty well. Usually after their first adult molt, the egg size goes up and they continue to lay often. This is their best, most productive year. After their second adult molt, egg size may go up just a tad again, but the frequency of lay drops by about 15%. After each adult molt, other than their first, production drops another 15%. In a commercial flock with 5 different hen houses and 10,000 laying hens in each, this 15% drop is real noticeable. That much drop in productivity really hits the bottom line. In a lot of our backyard flocks, getting 5 eggs a week instead of 6 is often not a big deal. I like to keep mine through 2 adult molts, then replace them. If you are looking at it from a commercial aspect, you have to balance out feeding new chicks until they are ready to lay, then getting pullet sized eggs, versus feeding them through a second adult molt and getting a reduced number of really nice eggs.
This 15% drop assumes you have enough chickens for the averages to mean anything. Any one hen is an idividual and her results can vary dramatically, but a decent sized flock will come close to the 15% drop in average.
It is hard to come up with an average life span of a chicken. Some can live 15 years. Many people have them 7 years old and may get a few eggs a month.
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