At what age should chickens have their “sad day” , allowing new chickens to come in to the flock and managing the size of my flock? I am limited to about 8 chickens. I want to keep a schedule rotating so as to always have eggs, but hate the thought of taking out one out is just sad!
Manage flock size
- Thread starter deecooper
- Start date
Hens start to slow egg production around 18-24 months. You also should always introduce more than 1 new bird at a time.
I believe you might need to edit the title of your post, from "Glock" to "Flock." I first imagined you might be asking what kind of firearm you might need to dispatch either chickens or predators.
Typical "sad days" for me are: Age 16-17 weeks when I slaughter and process all of the cockerels I don't plan to keep; Any hen who's aging out (for me, 2-3 years) and has stopped paying their room-and-board in eggs; and any sick or injured hen whose treatment and recovery might be futile or more involved than I care to tackle. So except for the cockerels, it's not based on age - it's about my greed and hungry belly.
Most chickens over 18-mos of age will go into molt in the fall and slow down or stop laying until spring. Also, a new chick will start laying somewhere between 20-28 weeks of age. Sooo... if you add new chicks in about February or March, you'll have new layers starting to produce eggs at about the same time the older girls take a break. Your decision when it would be best (or necessary) to remove some of the older hens.
- Thread starter
- #4
Oh my goodness thank you - I fixed the heading lol !I believe you might need to edit the title of your post, from "Glock" to "Flock." I first imagined you might be asking what kind of firearm you might need to dispatch either chickens or predators.
Typical "sad days" for me are: Age 16-17 weeks when I slaughter and process all of the cockerels I don't plan to keep; Any hen who's aging out (for me, 2-3 years) and has stopped paying their room-and-board in eggs; and any sick or injured hen whose treatment and recovery might be futile or more involved than I care to tackle. So except for the cockerels, it's not based on age - it's about my greed and hungry belly.
Most chickens over 18-mos of age will go into molt in the fall and slow down or stop laying until spring. Also, a new chick will start laying somewhere between 20-28 weeks of age. Sooo... if you add new chicks in about February or March, you'll have new layers starting to produce eggs at about the same time the older girls take a break. Your decision when it would be best (or necessary) to remove some of the older hens.
My current layers are about 8 months old. New babies arrive end of March. So I guess there will be a sad day in the fall …
Just hate that!
Individual hens lay differently, even if they are the same breed. Some may lay 6 eggs a week, some only 3. Some pullets start laying months earlier than others, even if they are the same breed. So you can get duds in any breed. But breeds do have tendencies. I try to get around this by keeping breeds that are known to typically lay well.
A hen tends to lay well from the time she starts laying as a pullet until her first adult molt. Then she molts and typically stops laying. Once she is over the molt she starts laying again and usually lays really well. The eggs should be a little larger too. That first adult molt is generally at 18 months but that can vary depending on when she hatched and some other things. After her second adult molt she typically does not lay as well as the two previous laying cycles. With some hens that is a big drop-off, with some not so much.
Some pullets skip the molt their first year and continue to lay through their first winter. Some don't. That is often misunderstood on this forum. Some does not mean all. Some of that depends on when they hatched and how old they are when fall/winter hits. Breeds or mixes that are known to lay well are more likely to lay through their first winter. More likely does not mean that they all will. I try to keep chickens that are known to lay well to get a small but steady supply during winter. It does not always work.
I hatch my own replacements every year and eat the excess cockerels and pullets. My preferred laying breeding flock is one rooster and 6 to 8 hens. The way I try to keep them laying well is every year I keep about 3 pullets to add to my flock. I have excess pullets to choose from so I can evaluate their laying before I choose which to keep. I tend to keep the ones that lay well and start fairly early. They don't all always lay through their first winter but most do. Whether they do or not, these will be laying their next spring/summer.
The reason I say about three is that hens die. Predators, injury, or for reasons unknown. Sometimes I eat a hen whose behavior is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the flock. If a hen's egg production (either quality or quantity) is not worth what I'm feeding her I eat her. So some years I don't keep three, I keep more.
So every spring I have the ones that hatched the previous year and generally skipped the molt the previous fall. I have the ones that hatched two years previously and molted the previous fall. I'll butcher these when they start molting and quit laying that fall. I generally hatch in February so when those 8 or 9 pullets I'm evaluating are laying in late summer, I'm buried in eggs.
Some people replace their flock every year, I'd find that extremely inefficient. Some replace half every year. I do 1/3. Some may replace 1/4. Some replace the entire flock every three years or whatever rotation works for them. You'll need to find whatever system works for you. It can be different for all of us.
A hen tends to lay well from the time she starts laying as a pullet until her first adult molt. Then she molts and typically stops laying. Once she is over the molt she starts laying again and usually lays really well. The eggs should be a little larger too. That first adult molt is generally at 18 months but that can vary depending on when she hatched and some other things. After her second adult molt she typically does not lay as well as the two previous laying cycles. With some hens that is a big drop-off, with some not so much.
Some pullets skip the molt their first year and continue to lay through their first winter. Some don't. That is often misunderstood on this forum. Some does not mean all. Some of that depends on when they hatched and how old they are when fall/winter hits. Breeds or mixes that are known to lay well are more likely to lay through their first winter. More likely does not mean that they all will. I try to keep chickens that are known to lay well to get a small but steady supply during winter. It does not always work.
I hatch my own replacements every year and eat the excess cockerels and pullets. My preferred laying breeding flock is one rooster and 6 to 8 hens. The way I try to keep them laying well is every year I keep about 3 pullets to add to my flock. I have excess pullets to choose from so I can evaluate their laying before I choose which to keep. I tend to keep the ones that lay well and start fairly early. They don't all always lay through their first winter but most do. Whether they do or not, these will be laying their next spring/summer.
The reason I say about three is that hens die. Predators, injury, or for reasons unknown. Sometimes I eat a hen whose behavior is detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the flock. If a hen's egg production (either quality or quantity) is not worth what I'm feeding her I eat her. So some years I don't keep three, I keep more.
So every spring I have the ones that hatched the previous year and generally skipped the molt the previous fall. I have the ones that hatched two years previously and molted the previous fall. I'll butcher these when they start molting and quit laying that fall. I generally hatch in February so when those 8 or 9 pullets I'm evaluating are laying in late summer, I'm buried in eggs.
Some people replace their flock every year, I'd find that extremely inefficient. Some replace half every year. I do 1/3. Some may replace 1/4. Some replace the entire flock every three years or whatever rotation works for them. You'll need to find whatever system works for you. It can be different for all of us.
@Ridgerunner , it seems our processes are similar. I'm glad to see that the system I put together and am actually scheduling this year, instead of just going about it willy-nilly, is one that other chicken-keepers (like you) are already using. (Pats self on back 
.) I tend to take out about 1/3 of the existing flock each year and replace them with new pullets and one or two promising cockerels. My freezer stays full with young, tender chickens, and hopefully this year the egg production will remain somewhat constant year-round. Thanks for posting your info!
.) I tend to take out about 1/3 of the existing flock each year and replace them with new pullets and one or two promising cockerels. My freezer stays full with young, tender chickens, and hopefully this year the egg production will remain somewhat constant year-round. Thanks for posting your info!
Egg production will drop in winter when the older ones are molting, I don't know of any way around that. Even if you extend the lights to delay them molting they have to molt at some time to keep quality and quantity up. Pay Peter or pay Paul.
It is my sincere HOPE that this year, I'll have a batch of pullets each maturing in August, September, October, and November - just when the older hens slow down or stop laying or I cull some of them. The pullets/now hens hopefully will keep our winter egg cartons full and egg customers supplied. Then come springtime, buckets and buckets of eggs just when I need them to fill incubators. We shall see.
A lot of hens do begin to die around 3-4 years - so that will take care of part of your problem. They had a good life, and I accept that.
I do think you can cheat on the numbers in the flock in the spring and summer. When I add chicks I am way over on my numbers. But chicks are little and take up little room. The daylight is longer, less time in the coop...
But come October - well then your number of birds, most should be close to adult size, at this time your birds need to fit in your coup with room to spare.
Mrs K
I do think you can cheat on the numbers in the flock in the spring and summer. When I add chicks I am way over on my numbers. But chicks are little and take up little room. The daylight is longer, less time in the coop...
But come October - well then your number of birds, most should be close to adult size, at this time your birds need to fit in your coup with room to spare.
Mrs K
Similar threads
New posts New threads Active threads
-
Latest posts
-
-
Helpful hints for building coops- Latest: CapricornFarm
-
-
-
-
-
Latest threads
-
-
Egg bound hen… getting worse not better
- Started by Calliechristine
- Replies: 0
-
-
Anyone else worried about microplastics in their chickens?- Started by ManOverBoard
- Replies: 2
-
-
-
Threads with more replies in the last 15 days
-
-
Open Contest 2026 BYC Calendar Photo Contest - We Need Your Pictures!
- Started by casportpony
- Replies: 127
-
-
Open Contest Official BYC Poultry Caption Contest 05-09-25 Pic by Noraaaaa- Started by TwoCrows
- Replies: 62
-
Ended Official BYC Poultry Caption Contest 05-02-25 Pic by My Very First 6 Chickens
- Started by TwoCrows
- Replies: 60
-