How long do hens lay?

[thereseiam]

Wytedragon brought this up in a different post, but was really asking about what to do with hens after they can't lay. I didn't want to hijack that thread, so I thought I'd bring it up here.

How long can chickens lay? What is their overall lifespan?

Most of my hens are in the 6 month to a year range, but my ex-battery girls will be two next spring. What is the egg laying lifespan of a hen? Does it vary from breed to breed?

I'm probably one of those weenies who won't eat the hens I'm attached to, so I wonder how long I'm going to have retired hens eating on the dole?

I think I will expand their area of free range when they're done laying (right now they do get to go out, but it's not a huge area, as I want to keep them as safe as I can from predators) to include the pasture area, which would be several acres. Not that I'm trying to get them eaten, just that I wouldn't be quite as concerned if they were--sort of the circle of life, I guess. And they might surprise me, as I have llamas as livestock guardians, so maybe they would protect the chickens as well as the sheep?

So what age of chickens does everyone have that are still laying?

Therese

 

[Beekissed]

It depends on the breed and general health, but I've heard of hens laying for up to 10 years or more. Not steadily, but still laying on occasion. I think the general consensus is they usually lay steady for 2-3 years and then start to taper off. Commercial laying operations turn over their flock every two years, I believe.

 

[ella]

My 6 year old hens lay about 3 days a week during the summer, and slow down to once a week during the winter. Some take the winter off. They are all different breeds, mostly dual purpose, Barred Rock, Rhode Island Red etc...

Life span is from 10-15 years, I've heard of hens as old as 18-20.

It does make a difference what breed, heavy producing breeds like Leghorns and Sex Links tend to burn out early, quit producing and have health problems. I still have one out of my original five sex link girls still around, lost the rest to reproductive cancer.

When I was starting out I thought about letting extra roosters free range until 'nature' happened. Problem with that is letting predators know you have chicken dinner available on your property can become a problem for your whole flock.

I endend up expanding my coop and keeping all my boys. They're just so darn cute!