Do people lie about how many eggs they get??

[Sapphire Sebright]

A little off topic, but how do you like your Sapphire Gem? I have been considering adding a few to my flock and wonder about their temperament, laying habits, etc.

Poppy is pretty friendly -- she'll sneak right inside the house through the door if she gets a chance, walking in like she owns the place -- bus she seems a bit nervous to me... probably because of the fact that she's popular with the roosters. She's the only one that I have, and the only one that I have raised thus far, but she seems like a good hen. No health problems as of yet, but again, she's the first one that I've raised, and she's just over a year old. She lays beige-colored eggs that have thin shells, and she pumps out some four to six eggs a week, I think. Her feathers are very pretty, too -- she's beautiful.

 

[Eelantha]

I easily get 3-4 eggs a day from my 6 laying hens, who range between 9 months and 1 year old.

Looking up the chart I use to keep track of egg production, the Plymouth, one of my Legbars and my broody Sussex are to this day my most proficient layers. One of my EEs also lays well. The other Legbar, EE and the Welsumer alternate on their days offs.

I see an increasing amount of 6 eggs a day as spring advances. The only day none of my hens laid was that of the winter solstice. Otherwise, the lowest egg number I've had per day since the end of November, was 2. Here in Quebec, we have viking winters, fluctuating temperatures and humidity spikes that go all the way up to 90% during wintertime. It is cold and very humid here, and yet my hens are doing great. The use of artificial lightening from December to early February did little to help kickstart their laying, though. My plymouth aside, most of them took their sweet time to become ladies.

As @Halfpasthen said, age, breed and lightening play a role in what chickens lay well. But as I've learnt the hard way with my own flock, the pivoting point lies in who breeds your chickens. If you don't watch out over that last trait, you could end up with a few nasty surprises when you order from them.

If you want quality laying birds (not show-quality birds, those are mainly bred for visual competition), check up hatcheries for commercial hens, or breeders who only have 1-2 chicken races in their backyards, instead of breeders who have over 5 different chicken breeds in their sheds. I've seen through my own flock a huge difference in performance from a chicken who comes from a person focused on a single race of chickens, versus the bird of someone whose attention, space and money are split between several races of chickens. My Plymouth, who comes from a single race breeder, has laid over twice as many eggs as my worst layer (who comes from a multiple race breeder) in the three months that I've been counting their egg production. There is no question as to which one I will be keeping for another year in my coop.

With all that said, I hope for you that your birds all start laying more often as spring advances. Good luck obtaining those beautiful eggs! ^^

 

[Chickrus]

9 Red Stars (sexlinks) I get 9 eggs a day for the past 2 weeks. They are firing on all cylinders
4 Lavender Orpingtons , usually I get 3 eggs a day sometimes 4.
3 Rhode Island Reds I get 3 eggs a day.
2 Buff Orpingtons I get 1 a day sometimes 2
5 Rhode Island Whites usually 5 a day sometimes 4.
1 Barred Rock she's solid egg a day.
2 Easter eggers 2 eggs daily sometimes 1.
All but 2 of my hens are under a year old, come August they will be a year old.
Young healthy flock that get a few hours a day of free ranging. Happy girls will reward you with lots of eggs.

 

[CraftyHen]

9 hens, average 6 eggs per day from mixed flock. Barred Rocks are the best layers, I'm heavy competition with Is a Brown's for an egg/day every day. Worst layer this season is the RIR, but that's ok cause she is older and still pops out a really big egg 2 or 3 times a week. Last summer my younger EE gave me 1 egg daily for 26 days in a row. She would take a day off then have another daily streak. This year she's about every 3rd day.

 

[Pabalinga]

Anyone here own muscovy ducks? At their peak how many eggs can one get from 20 muscovy hens.

 

[knurse1]

Ok, so I am so tired of hearing this " I get an egg a day from all my hens" (in like January!!!!)
I have beautiful healthy free ranging hens- They get free choice pellets. BOSS almost every day/or every other day (about 1 cup maybe)? and daily kitchen scraps.
.....and I get about 10 eggs a day from 20 hens.Thats on a good day in sunny but cold March. In January? Maybe 4-5 a day.

I have 3 hens that are 2.5 yr old.
I have 15 hens that are 1.5 yr old
I have 2 hens that are almost 1 yr old.
I have (2)danish brown leghorn, (3)welsummer, (3)Silver Laced Wyandotte, (1)Cream Legbar and (11) Easter Eggers

On a really good day I would get 14-17. In spring. How are all these people getting an egg a day?????

I have 10 Golden Comet hens. They are 11 months now. Since they started laying they have pretty much laid almost every day. Once or twice a week we get 8 or 9 eggs. We got these hens because they are good layers and very calm.

 

[Angileen]

I have 29 hens that will be 1 year old in june. I live in Northern Minnesota which can get to 40 below zero. My breeds consist of Midnight Majesty Marans, Buckeye, Calico Princess, lavender and Buff Orpingtons, Black and White jersey Giants, speckled Sussex and Dominiques. I used 2 red heat lamps in an uninsulated coop this last winter, I averaged any where from 15 to 20 eggs a day. Once in a while up to 24 and on 2 rare occasions I got 27 eggs in one day. With the temp getting warmer this spring I shut off the heat lamps and my hens now average a few less eggs a day. I think the lights on in the winter really improved their laying ability. I think when they start spending time outside in the sun this summer their laying ability will climb back up to what is was.