EXTREME EGG LAYING- an egg a day per chicken!?!?

[kjpuggles3]

Quote:
My chickens have all layed an egg every day for 2 years

WOW!!!! What breed?! Where did you get them? Are they cold hardy?

 

[Nonny]

An article I read said that like human females, chickens have a finite number of eggs they can lay. That number will vary from chicken to chicken, but when a chick hatches she already has a certain number of eggs pre-programmed within her and once she's made that many, she'll stop laying.

She will either lay them less frequently over a longer time, or lay more frequently over a shorter time, (depending on her breed, nutrition, health and any number of other factors) but when she runs out of eggs, that's it.

My chooks are pets as well as egg producers so I'm happy to let them lay at the rate nature intended, even if it means getting less while they moult or when the days are shorter. I figure if I need more eggs to feed our family I'll just buy a couple more chickens.

 

[Johnn]

my 5 year old chicken once layed 2 eggs in one day

 

[Pele]

There is no hard and fast rule about eggs. You can only buy the breeds that are known for high production, take care of them very well, and then reap the reward in eggs. It's the best hobby in the world.

I have Golden Comets (red SLs), and they religiously lay an egg a day. This isn't too amazing since they're in their pullet year, but if you're looking for production birds, Red SLs are it.

HOWEVER, please understand that chickens are NOT 'money-makers'. If you are looking for something to suppliment your income, look somewhere else. Commercial facilities are able to turn a profit because they abuse the birds terribly, then throw them away like trash. You'd have to provide terrible conditions, terrible food, and terrible space to your birds to make 'profit' off of them. I view that as too costly for the soul. People should have more respect for their source of food than that.

 

[ZoeZoo]

free-range birds tend to lay more, especially if they are "high-producer" breeds. My two laying birds, who are not fully freerange (they get a couple hours daily), lay once a day, but they usually take a "break" once a week.. if that makes sense.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
My chickens have all layed an egg every day for 2 years

That I can say for certain is 100% false. No chicken can lay an egg 365 days per year, the record is 364 by a Black Australorp hen kept under special conditions.

 

[Fred's Hens]

You CAN make a wee bit on eggs. 1st, you'll have to have the space to hold 100 birds or more. You'll likely have to buy a commercial strain. Most of the Red Sex Links, with the ISA in particular, are commercial strains and will lay like nobodies business their pullet year. Their feed to egg conversion is top drawer. Just because the brown egg industry keeps these birds doesn't mean we shouldn't. They are friendly to a fault. Nice birds, really. Leghorn is a top white egglayer of course.

You will have to have a source for premium feed and that source will have to charge about half of what you pay by buying fancy, name brand feed from a TSC or similar convenience rural living store. If you have to pay $15 for a 50 lb bag of feed, you're doomed before you start economically. A good, local, old fashioned feed/grain mill can sell you superior feed for $10 a 50#, if you know where these places are. You'll have to get in the know.

If you push your sharpened pencil, you might make $1or $2 a dozen. That is after feed, electricity, bedding and doing all the chicken chores for nothing. But, remember also, you have the cost of the chicks ($2-$3) to pay off and all the electricity and bulbs for brooding, and all the feed they ate during the first 18 weeks before they ever lay you an egg. Still, after laying for 5 months, it is possible to hit the "break even" point. This is why you need so many birds. Because even at a $1.25 per dozen profit, there's no realized or felt profit if you are only selling eight dozen a week. $10 "profit"? You'd make way more working part time at Mickey D's.

MacinWisco is an occasional contributor here. Check out some of his posts. You'll see his 800+ hen operation. Yes, it is profitable. I believe he sells through a Co-op. Regardless, the final piece of the puzzle for profit is the selling at a GREAT price, something akin to $3.00 to $4.00 a dozen. You really need that $1 to $1.50 profit margin and you only get that through having great customers who value your product.