How long do Barred Rock chickens lay eggs?

Rodharrison

Hatching
May 11, 2015
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I have a flock of Barred Rock hens (12) that are now 2 years old. they are mixed with Rhoad Island Reds (12) that are 1 year old. I am only getting around 13-16 eggs per day and am wondering if the Rocks are at the end of their daily laying life span. Anyone have experience with Barred Rocks to know how many years you should expect to get 8-10 eggs per day out of a group of 12?
 
I have a flock of Barred Rock hens (12) that are now 2 years old. they are mixed with Rhoad Island Reds (12) that are 1 year old. I am only getting around 13-16 eggs per day and am wondering if the Rocks are at the end of their daily laying life span. Anyone have experience with Barred Rocks to know how many years you should expect to get 8-10 eggs per day out of a group of 12?

Welcome to BYC!

Generally speaking, you would expect to start seeing a decline in production with the third laying cycle (first cycle runs from onset of lay to first molt at about 18 months) - there are many factors that can influence this, though, so knowing a bit more about the overall management of your birds might help as the more support you can offer their production, the more production you would expect to see. What part of the world are you located in? If you are located where it is winter now vs. summer, that would play into what one might expect of a bird the age of your birds. Do you use supplemental lighting? What are you feeding? Are the birds in good overall condition and health? Have you recently had any stressors occur within the flock?
 
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I am located in Maryland. My hens are free range during the late afternoon and in their coop and protective "run" at night/morning. I do use extra lighting during the winter months which helps egg production stay steady through the shorter days. I feed them a non-stop supply of Layena crumbles for Layers as well as a large scoop of whole oats every day for the flock, and of course their free range time to eat bugs and whatever else they want to. About 3 weeks ago I combined the 12 Reds and 12 Rocks into the same coop to allow the addition of 12 young Reds in the 2nd coop, they are side by side separated only by wire, so they effectively live together but can't touch each other. Once they've been "together" this way for about a month I'll open the wire between the two runs so they can freely mix together.
 

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