Switching new hens

[Mbrew]

Best way to always have layers. Hatch chicks 6 months before older hens turn 2?

 

[NatJ]

Best way to always have layers. Hatch chicks 6 months before older hens turn 2?

Yes, you could do it that way.

It depends on how old you want to let the layers get. Some people replace the flock every year, with a pattern something like this:

--every spring, hatch new chicks
--all summer, the new chicks are growing up, while the old hens are still laying
--in the fall, the new chicks start laying about the time the old hens start to molt
--butcher or sell the old hens when they molt, leaving the "chicks" (now grown & laying) to lay through the winter
--next spring, hatch chicks to start the process again

Of course you could do it every other year, or replace half the females each year, or quite a few other patterns.

 

[Mbrew]

Yes, you could do it that way.

It depends on how old you want to let the layers get. Some people replace the flock every year, with a pattern something like this:

--every spring, hatch new chicks
--all summer, the new chicks are growing up, while the old hens are still laying
--in the fall, the new chicks start laying about the time the old hens start to molt
--butcher or sell the old hens when they molt, leaving the "chicks" (now grown & laying) to lay through the winter
--next spring, hatch chicks to start the process again

Of course you could do it every other year, or replace half the females each year, or quite a few other patterns.

Thank you! I needed a visual like this!

 

[aart]

--every spring, hatch new chicks
--all summer, the new chicks are growing up, while the old hens are still laying
--in the fall, the new chicks start laying about the time the old hens start to molt
--butcher or sell the old hens when they molt, leaving the "chicks" (now grown & laying) to lay through the winter
--next spring, hatch chicks to start the process again

Did this for about 7 years, worked pretty good.
Replaced about 1/3 of my winter coop capacity.
Didn't always get winter eggs in a timely fashion from pullets tho, even using lights.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Best way to always have layers. Hatch chicks 6 months before older hens turn 2?

The pattern you are combatting is not age, it's molting. Many pullets will skip the molt and lay throughout their first winter. Not all do but many do, especially if they are egg-laying breeds or crosses. Unless you manipulate the lighting practically all hens will molt and stop laying their second fall/winter. Many will molt even if you do manipulate the lights. There is nothing guaranteed about any of this.

What you want to do is to hatch or get day old pullets so they should start to lay by the time the older ones molt. I'm north of the equator so I hatch in late February/early March. Part of that is so I don't run out of chicken meat in the freezer but part of it is to get the pullets I'll keep to be old enough to start laying in time so I can evaluate their egg laying and decide which pullets I want to keep.

Didn't always get winter eggs in a timely fashion from pullets tho, even using lights.

I don't use lights and it still worked for me most years, but one year none of the pullets started laying until the first week of December, on the shortest days of the year. As I said, there is nothing guaranteed about this. Just do the best you can.

Good luck!

 

[Mbrew]

The pattern you are combatting is not age, it's molting. Many pullets will skip the molt and lay throughout their first winter. Not all do but many do, especially if they are egg-laying breeds or crosses. Unless you manipulate the lighting practically all hens will molt and stop laying their second fall/winter. Many will molt even if you do manipulate the lights. There is nothing guaranteed about any of this.

What you want to do is to hatch or get day old pullets so they should start to lay by the time the older ones molt. I'm north of the equator so I hatch in late February/early March. Part of that is so I don't run out of chicken meat in the freezer but part of it is to get the pullets I'll keep to be old enough to start laying in time so I can evaluate their egg laying and decide which pullets I want to keep.


I don't use lights and it still worked for me most years, but one year none of the pullets started laying until the first week of December, on the shortest days of the year. As I said, there is nothing guaranteed about this. Just do the best you can.

Good luck!

Thank you for taking the time to reply! I will deff use this info.