how much will it shorten their lifespan?

[sydney13]

how much does lights in the coop for laying shorten a chickens lifespan? And ive also heard that layer feed causes them to not live as long, is this true and how much would it shorten my hens lives? Does this mean that my layer breeds will not live as long as the my silkies and cochins?

 

[bigstack]

Chickens are pre programmed and have only a set number of eggs at hatch. They will only lay what they have from hatch! No more! As for life span I do Not know. Sorry! The egg takes a certain amount of time to pass through the canal. So you may be able to increase how regular they lay but not how fast. It normaly takes an egg roughly about 18-20 hours to process. that is why you normaly get 5 eggs every 7 days. There will be the exception of course! And there are the production lines but even they will only lay what they have... A chicken does not produce any new eggs. she just uses what she has from hatch. I wish I had a better answer for you.

God Bless!

 

[speckledhen]

Hens who are prone to internal laying, false laying and other ovarian infections (most high production hatchery types) will probably not be well-served by pushing them to lay with artificial lights. I don't use artificial extended daylight, though I did the very first year. Of those girls I started with, the original ten, I've lost five, plus one younger one, all to internal laying and in addition to that, two more of the originals are dying from the same thing.
I suspect that the more ornamental breeds and ones who brood chicks a couple times a year will live longer than the typical common types the hatcheries sell for egg production.

Layer feed won't shorten their lives; in fact, it's exactly what they need for their daily nutrition.

 

[Intheswamp]

Cynthia, out of curiosity, what time of the year did your original hens hatch out?

Thanks,
Ed