Making hens lay better

[ChickNanny13]

If eggs are your reason for chickens then it's best to get the "production" breeds. My girls are Pets with Benefits, therefore I go for puffy butts & the egg count don't matter.

 

[GoProChickens]

Yes, I sell eggs and I have golden comets which lay exceptionally well, I also have some chickens just for pets.

 

[GreenMountainEric]

Sorry, I meant when I said "more than one egg a day", like 8 eggs a week (in the summer). Not 2+ eggs a day.

If you could figure out a way for a chicken to lay 8 eggs/week, you could make millions selling your ideas to commercial layer operations.

The best you are ever going to see is about 95% daily production rate at peak, and 70ish% in the later stages of the production cycle.

5-6 eggs per week, average, is a good expectation.

 

[GoProChickens]

A few years ago I got 24 eggs from my 22 chickens (in the summer).

 

[GreenMountainEric]

A few years ago I got 24 eggs from my 22 chickens (in the summer).

One of two things happened-
1) You missed a couple eggs the day before when you picked them up.
2) A couple of birds had not laid their daily egg quite yet when you picked them up for the day. Then they laid them shortly after you left, and then laid another egg 20-26 hours later, when you went through and picked up again.

Either way, they can't average more than 1/day, and realistically, they actually only average about .8/day during production.

 

[GoProChickens]

Here's an interesting conversation from 2010 https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-a-chicken-lay-more-than-one-egg-a-day.285795/

 

[Mosey2003]

One of two things happened-
1) You missed a couple eggs the day before when you picked them up.
2) A couple of birds had not laid their daily egg quite yet when you picked them up for the day. Then they laid them shortly after you left, and then laid another egg 20-26 hours later, when you went through and picked up again.

Either way, they can't average more than 1/day, and realistically, they actually only average about .8/day during production.

Oddly enough, once in a great while it does happen where one hen will lay two eggs within 12 hours. It's a fluke, personally I think one egg probably got held up for some reason.

@GoProChickens you really don't want to encourage this. All it would do is cause trouble for your hens. It's extremely unlikely to happen in the first place, but yogurt sure isn't going to cause it. Personally, I hate this yogurt feeding trend, chickens don't digest dairy well. All you can do is feed a sufficient amount of protein and ensure they have plentiful clean water and access to oyster shells.

 

[GreenMountainEric]

Oddly enough, once in a great while it does happen where one hen will lay two eggs within 12 hours. It's a fluke, personally I think one egg probably got held up for some reason.

That is true as well. They can get temporarily egg-bound, and one egg is delayed.

I was mostly just trying to point out that they cant average more than about .8 eggs per day. While you could see a fluke, and get 2 eggs in one day, you'd have a shortage the day before, or day after, etc., depending on the circumstances.

 

[GoProChickens]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess hens can't lay more than one egg a day, but 1 egg a day is good enough for me.