Do all chickens lay the same amount of eggs in a lifetime?

[Henrik Petersson]

As in women, the amount of eggs that a hen will produce in a lifetime is decided before she's born. Now, I read somewhere that this amount is about the same in all breeds, and that hens that lay a lot (such as layer hybrids) don't lay more eggs per lifetime than any other hens, but run out of eggs a lot faster.

If you're like me and don't want to replace your hens every three years, but plan on having them all around for a decade, this means that it doesn't really matter, egg-wise, which breed I pick, since they will all lay the same amount of eggs in the end.

Is this true?

 

[sbhkma]

I've not read that but it makes sense, especially when you consider that those layer hybrids are known to lay well, but for a shorter time. If you want them to lay longer one of the best options is to NOT give them artificial light during short-day winter months. Let them take a break. I'm sure others with more varied experience in breeds can chime in. My experience is limited to only Cuckoo Marans, Specked Sussex and Welsummers.

 

[Ridgerunner]

When a pullet chick hatches she has all the ova that she will ever have. That part is true. Is it about the same number in every hen and does breed have anything to do with it, I don't know. My gut feel is no to both questions, each chicken is such an individual.

Just because a hen starts out with the same number of ova that can become yolks does not mean she will lay that many eggs, just that she theoretically can. Sometimes the ova get old and degrade so they won't form a yolk. The older a hen gets the more likely she is to have a medical or physical problem that causes her to stop laying. Of course there are exceptions to this as each hen is an individual but generally the older they get the less often they lay. The older they get the more likely they are to have egg quality problems, runny yolks or weird eggs. Most hens are not going to last a decade. Even if they don't develop a medical problem that causes them to stop laying, a predator gets them or they develop some other problem that kills them.

In general they are not going to lay the same amount of eggs over their lifetime if they lay very few the first few years. Some people purposely breed for longevity of lay, if you can find hens from them your odds of getting one that lays well later in life increase tremendously. I don't know how you are set up in Sweden or where you get your chicks but here in the States hatcheries do not breed for longevity of lay.

 

[Bunnylady]

I have had hatchery Barred Rocks that laid an egg per day, practically every day, almost year round. The only real breaks they took were when they were molting. Just how long they might have produced is hard to say, since like @Ridgerunner said, something seems to happen to them sooner or later. They did slow down a bit as they aged, though; a 3-year-old bird might lay only every other day.

I have also had Old English bantams and Seramas that laid eggs in clutches - an egg a day, or every 2 days, until 6 to 8 eggs were laid, then the hen took a break for a couple of weeks before starting the cycle again.

Somehow, I have a hard time believing that all of these birds were destined to lay the same number of eggs in their lifetimes. If you want eggs (as opposed to, maybe, show birds, where productivity doesn't get factored in). I would think that you would need to look for birds that come from lines that are known for production.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

I mean, of course, whether they lay the same amount of eggs if they don't die for any reason before their eggs are depleted.

 

[Bunnylady]

I mean, of course, whether they lay the same amount of eggs if they don't die for any reason before their eggs are depleted.

My experience with Bantam Cochins is that they are seasonal layers. When the days get longer and warmer in the Spring, they start laying, and generally stop laying sometime during the summer months. I'm trying to figure out just how long a bird that lays only about a third of the year would have to live to match the egg output of those hatchery Barred Rocks, and decide whether such a life expectancy is reasonable or possible. My experience with them is that they tend to slow down on the laying as they get older, at much the same rate - a 3-year-old bird probably won't do better than an egg every two days.

 

[Henrik Petersson]

Also, one could think of wild chickens (red jungle fowl) and domesticated chickens who lay as few eggs as they do. How much do they lay per year, three clutches of 20 eggs? That's 600 eggs in a 10-year time period.

This is far less than what has been recorded for domesticated chickens. For example:

"Cornell Endurance died at age 12, having laid 1,232 eggs." (from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/19/science/how-many-eggs-does-a-chicken-lay-in-its-lifetime.html).

So my guess is that prolific layers do lay more eggs per lifetime than chickens who lay few eggs.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

There are a lot of factors in play that determine how many eggs a hen will lay. There are three kinds of breeds: layers, meat birds, and dual purpose (both). Some good layers include Leghorns and Australorps. But even that can depend on weather. A hen lays an egg every (roughly, as I may be off slightly) 24 to 26 hours-ish, so it will be slightly later in the day each day. Hens by instinct will not lay after nightfall, so if that time happens in be in the evening they will hold it until morning where the process starts again. Of course this changes when the days get shorter or colder or their living situation is compromised. Stress, health, temperature, and happiness are all factors.
In addition, hens stop laying at different times. Ages 1-2 are usually their "golden age" where they turn into machines. At age 3 they may still lay regularly with a hiccup now and then. Some stop shortly after that and some continue far later into their years. Pick some layer breeds you like, get some young birds (especially 6 months) and give them a happy life. I hope you get what you're looking for!

 

[Percheron chick]

After genetics we control the greatest impact on production. Diet would be #1 then factor in housing, flock dynamics, weather, daylight hours...
No, hens do not lay a prescribed # of eggs in their lifetime.

 

[AmazingRachel]

As in women, the amount of eggs that a hen will produce in a lifetime is decided before she's born. Now, I read somewhere that this amount is about the same in all breeds, and that hens that lay a lot (such as layer hybrids) don't lay more eggs per lifetime than any other hens, but run out of eggs a lot faster.

If you're like me and don't want to replace your hens every three years, but plan on having them all around for a decade, this means that it doesn't really matter, egg-wise, which breed I pick, since they will all lay the same amount of eggs in the end.

Is this true?

Theoretically, this is true. In reality, it is not. Yes, female chickens are each born with hundreds of thousands of eggs in their ovaries. But, it really depends on the breed and their husbandry (quality of care) on how many eggs they will give you even over a long period of time.
In all chickens, the number of eggs produced declines based on age:

-University of Florida

Hybrids such as Red Stars will give you about 300 eggs in their first year (representing 100% on the graph) but the eggs they produce will go down with age. With hybrids, they're typically burned out by 3-4 years.
Heritage breeds, like Barred Rocks, will pump out 260 eggs in their first year but since they weren't designed to be extremely high producers (dual-purpose birds), they will give you a bit less eggs but may be laying for 5 and maybe 6 years.

It really depends on MANY factors besides this. But typically, once you have the husbandry down and perfected, it has to do with the genetics of the bird. This is seen in the diary industry. Today we have half as many diary cows than we did 100 years ago but we are producing twice as much milk as 100 years ago due to the perfection of husbandry and enhanced genetics (we don't have GMO cows yet, I mean enhanced genetics due to things like artificial insemination/sperm from good stock being mailed all over the world).