"old" chickens?

[isabrowneyedsue]

hi, i'm new, my husband and i just inherited a small flock (15) of isa brown hens i guess they are about two years old, they don't lay a ton of eggs but i am pretty sure they are molting at the moment....but someone told me that two year old chickens are "too old to be good layers" which, these are the first chickens i have ever had so i have no idea. i am wondering if there is something other than layer feed, oyster shell, grit, scratch, and a few table scraps i should be feeding them. i realize that younger hens lay a lot of eggs, but what can i expect with hens this age? anyone has any advice i would love some input

 

[dragonlaurel]

When you buy the babies, you cant expect to get many for around five months and you are feeding them through it all. Enjoy your eggs!

 

[colby318]

I know factory farms replace their birds at 72 weeks. But my 2 year old EEs give me an egg every other day. That's good enough for me.

 

[speckledhen]

I have almost four year old birds laying well. Sexlinks are made to lay like gangbusters for two years or so then taper off. Regular purebreeds lay about as well, but will continue to lay for years, with proper care. Mine are not production sexlinks.

 

[isabrowneyedsue]

thanks guys!! we love them and the eggs, do they need anything special in their diets, or just keep on with what we are doing...

 

[cmom]

My older birds (2½ yrs old), each bird averages 5/6 eggs a week. Right now I have several birds molting so their laying is off.

 

[claud]

If they are molting their egg laying will really slow down or even stop for a while. They should still be laying pretty well at 2 1/2 yrs.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

You are feeding them right. feathers are made of mostly protein, so when they are molting (and growing new feathers) the egg production will slow WAY down or even stop, that's normal. A lot of people (including me) will feed extra protein during this time frame.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
They are.

 

[Capone]

in my red star (sex link) pen i have 9 birds and they are 3 years old. there surely not the 9 egg a day birds they were but they still average 6 eggs per day. about 120 eggs per 50.pound bag of layer pellets. and at 11 dollars and change. still very cost affective. youll get plenty of eggs.