Is this true?

[B40chick]

Do egg production farms swap out their hens every year? I have been told they sell them after they are a year old. I have seen two offers, selling these hens for $15 each. Just a year old, they should lay eggs for a few more years. I am looking for three hens to replace ones I have lost, but didn't want to get snookered. Has anyone bought these kinds of birds? Is it legit?

 

[Aunt Angus]

Do egg production farms swap out their hens every year? I have been told they sell them after they are a year old. I have seen two offers, selling these hens for $15 each. Just a year old, they should lay eggs for a few more years. I am looking for three hens to replace ones I have lost, but didn't want to get snookered. Has anyone bought these kinds of birds? Is it legit?

They do get rid of them pretty early on - after a year or year and a half. The types of chickens they use are super high production hybrids. Because of the way they are bred, they not only produce a ridiculous number of eggs, but they also tend to get reproductive disorders and die young.

Chances are the ones they are selling have slowed down in production. They may still lay for quite a while and do better in a backyard/small farm type situation because of better care and conditions.

Purchasing them will provide them with a much happier, healthier life. If you are looking for lots of eggs, I'd pass. But if you are looking for nice ladies to add to your flock for personal enrichment, I highly recommend them! They have probably been neglected and/or mistreated. You'd be doing a very good deed.

Just be sure to observe proper quarantine procedures! You don't want to inadvertantly bring something infectious into your current flock...

 

[B40chick]

What would you do to quarantine them? How long? I only have one coop and run. I could put them in my tractor, but it would not be secure. I could lock them in the transport cage at night and they would be safe.

 

[Folly's place]

Most of these birds from huge commercial facilities are vaccinated and so isolated, they are unlikely to bring anything into your flock. However, isolation is necessary, at least to get them transitioned from tiny cage life to 'real living'. And, do check directly with the seller about vaccine and disease history!
Friends got a few from a nearby facility years ago, and they did really well.
Mary

 

[Aunt Angus]

What would you do to quarantine them? How long? I only have one coop and run. I could put them in my tractor, but it would not be secure. I could lock them in the transport cage at night and they would be safe.

I have 2 rescues in quarantine right now. I made a makeshift coop out of a resin storage bench. It's not great. One prefers to sleep in a cat carrier. A dog crate would work great. Honestly, whatever you're going to do will probably be better than what they've got going on presently.

I plan to leave mine separated for a month because I know one of the two has health issues. I've already treated her for an impacted crop and a worm overload. Now I'm treating her for vent gleet. The other hen is perfectly fine.

To properly quarantine, I've read that they should not be anywhere near each other. I just sectioned off an area behind a shed and put plywood up at either end to keep them apart. It isn't ideal, but it works. I also care for my new girls before I tend to my established flock to avoid carrying anything between them. If I have to go back and forth for whatever reason, I change clothes and shoes and wash my hands between flocks.

Here's their temporary set up. You can see the converted storage bench:

 

[Aunt Angus]

Most of these birds from huge commercial facilities are vaccinated and so isolated, they are unlikely to bring anything into your flock. However, isolation is necessary, at least to get them transitioned from tiny cage life to 'real living'. And, do check directly with the seller about vaccine and disease history!
Friends got a few from a nearby facility years ago, and they did really well.
Mary

It depends on the facility, I've found. Large commercial farms do vaccinate. Smaller farms... not so much. But all good advice.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Do egg production farms swap out their hens every year? I have been told they sell them after they are a year old.

The commercial egg laying operations are a business. To stay in business they have to make a profit just like any other private business. They use hybrids special bred to be laying machines. The birds are relatively small in size so more of what they eat can go to making eggs instead of maintaining a larger body. That gives a good feed to egg conversion ratio. They lay relatively large eggs for their body size. The goal is Grade A Large.

They mainly control when the pullets and hens lay by manipulating lights. Diet and other things factor in but lighting is the big component. Once they start laying they lay really well for a long time. But eventually their bodies start to wear down. The number of eggs and the egg quality starts to suffer. The quality and number of eggs drop to a point it is no longer profitable to feed them so they are faced with a choice, either replace them or feed them through a molt so they can refresh their bodies. They use production records and have graphs and formulas to help them make that decision. After the molt the hens are back to laying a lot of good quality large eggs. Sometimes they decide to replace them after one laying cycle, sometimes they keep them through two laying cycles. Each laying cycle is somewhere around 13 months. I don't know if the ones you are looking at have been through one or two laying cycles.

After the first adult molt they come back laying really well, just like the first laying cycle. Plenty of eggs and probably a bit bigger. But every adult molt after that first one they reduce laying. A flock of 5,000 laying hens will typically average about 15% fewer eggs a week after the second adult molt. The reduction is enough to make it more profitable to replace them with pullets than feed them through another molt. Some hens will reduce more than 15%, some less, but the overall flock average is around 15%. These are the commercial laying hybrids. Our typical backyard breeds also go through a reduction after adult molts but I don't know if they stick with this 15% or not. Probably not.

What does a 15% reduction mean in eggs? If a hen were laying 7 eggs in an eight day period, a 15% reduction means she would only lay 6 eggs in an 8 day period. Not horrible for a backyard flock but enough to make them not profitable to the commercial guys, considering you have to feed them through a molt before they start laying again. But remember, this is flock average. You may get an individual that petty much shuts down or one that does not reduce at all. Three hens is not enough for averages to mean much.

These commercial hybrids are highly tuned egg laying machines. They are susceptible to medical problems related to egg laying. They are bred to have a really good feed to egg conversion ratio and their bodies are relatively small for the size egg they lay. Commercial operations feed them a layer ration that is about 16% protein. If they fed a higher percent protein feed the eggs would be even larger. That means they would be more susceptible to medical problems due to laying larger eggs.

I see on here all the time where someone gets these hens and is horrified by how they look. They are so small and the feathers look so rough. I have to feed them really well so they can recover. They are probably not doing those chickens any favors. They are bred to be pretty skinny. They are probably ready for a molt or already molting. When a hen loses a lot of feathers they look a lot smaller. I butcher a lot of chickens, it can be surprising how much that we see as body size is just feathers. If you are one that feels you have to feed a lot of protein I urge you to not get these. Feeding them really well can lead to prolapse, internal laying, or them becoming egg bound. These highly tuned egg laying machines are pretty much at that edge anyway. Feeding them really well can push them over that edge.

Before you get these find out what they a have been vaccinated for. Most vaccinations won't cause any problems but one that is sometimes given can make that bird a carrier for that disease and it can infect others. I can't remember which one it is, it has been years since I looked it up. All the other birds in that commercial flock will have the same vaccinations so they are protected but your current birds are not. Not all commercial laying flocks receive the same vaccinations so it's up to you to determine what these have received.

I have never personally gotten any of these hens. They just do not fit my goals. I knew a guy that regularly got 10 of them, fed them through a molt, and got really nice egg production the next year. Then he put those hens in the freezer and got 10 more.

 

[Folly's place]

As RR said, it really depends, and you need to find out what has and hasn't been done with the birds you are considering.
Mary