What age do chickens stop laying???

my 4 year old redstar sex link.stopped laying last year.She will stand in front of the nest and make little soft noises and will get in the nest.but no eggs.I still love her as she was one of my first chickens.and will keep her to the end.
 
My oldest chickens are LF brahmas. They will be six in April. They are still laying a couple of eggs a week. They have never been kept under lights, which DOES make a difference.

What I have noticed more than anything about them as they age is that each yearly molt is a little longer, which in turn makes each laying season a bit shorter. What helped this years molt be a bit shorter is that I upped their protein. I have always fed 16% layer pellets, this past fall I started feeding 20%.

Oh and I have a four year old serama hen that is still going broody nearly every other month. My one dependable broody and she happens to be so small (9 ounces) that she couldn't cover a full-sized chicken egg if her life depended on it.
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I have hens that are 8 years old that are still laying almost as much as the young ones. Good food and care goes a long way :)
 
I have a very diverse flock but keep tract of my lines. Some birds of the same line even slow at different rates.

G001, B002, and B003 are my prime examples as they are all directly related (linebred sisters). They never have light supplement. I have, however, upped their vitamins and minerals since I don't trust TSC's grain to be "fresh". Since doing that I have gotten more eggs out of the old gals but nothing else is different in their routine.

"G1" aka Gin, is pretty much as slow as it can go for a weekly egg rate, at 1 a week if I am lucky. Maybe 2 during good weather/seasonal. She is 6 years old.

"B2" Agnus, is the same as Gin. She is about 5.5 years old.

"B3" Berdeth however is 8 years old and giving 3+ eggs a week, sometimes daily during spring/summer. She is 8 years old. Now, I'd consider that unusual, but taken that opportunity to breed her and her lines to get that longevity. The first hens showed good promise at laying near daily or taking after G1 and B2 and being heavy seasonal layers. Berdeth shows no signs of slowing down. In fact I got one of the biggest eggs she has laid today.

I've retained some of B3's chicks to see if they have the same life span of laying. The problem is, of course, it will take me 8 years to find out!

If it matters, these birds lay a Medium size egg. :)


The other lines are EE lines. They are coming 3 and are seasonally heavy layers (daily) and stop all together in the winter except perhaps 1 or 2 a month. They lay very large eggs and are large enough that I would consider them dual purpose. I expect them to lay well at least until 5 or 6 years old.
 
I've had some heritage (dual-purpose) birds stop laying much earlier than I would have liked. A Rhode Island red stopped laying at 24 months, when it became an internal layer. A golden-laced Wyandotte and black australorp stopped laying around 26 months, for no apparent reason. On the other hand, my barred Plymouth rocks and buff orpingtons are laying well into their third year.
 
One hen, an Ideal hatchery Ameraucana EE, has been laying for 7 yrs. She used to lay everyday for 4 years and now 3-4 during the spring until fall. Her offspring, half Partridge Chantecler, have been laying for 4 years but aren't good layers. Their offspring , bred to a Columbian Rock X have been laying 5 per week for 3 years. None are laying during this extreme cold. All have bright red combs and are just waiting. I am breeding the whole flock to a half Buff Orpington x Buckeye rooster this spring. They never have artificial light or heat. They free range all year and eat laying crumbles and cracked corn in the winter.

Another Ideal Hatchery rose comb leghorn has been laying for 9 years but really slowed down after 7. She just lays when she wants to.
 
One hen, an Ideal hatchery Ameraucana EE, has been laying for 7 yrs. She used to lay everyday for 4 years and now 3-4 during the spring until fall. Her offspring, half Partridge Chantecler, have been laying for 4 years but aren't good layers. Their offspring , bred to a Columbian Rock X have been laying 5 per week for 3 years. None are laying during this extreme cold. All have bright red combs and are just waiting. I am breeding the whole flock to a half Buff Orpington x Buckeye rooster this spring. They never have artificial light or heat. They free range all year and eat laying crumbles and cracked corn in the winter.

Another Ideal Hatchery rose comb leghorn has been laying for 9 years but really slowed down after 7. She just lays when she wants to.


That's pretty impressive. I would dare say since hatcheries focus on output more often than standard of perfection, that that may be a strong point for hatchery birds... Hm... interesting!
 
I have 3 RIRs they were given to me about 2 yrs ago & I don't know how old they were at that time. 2 of them still lay when it's warm & sunny but its been cold and eggs have slowed down a little. I've heard all different ages from people. I'm hoping it is more than 3-4 years!
 
I agree it varies with each bird and breed, 2 to 3 years is typical of commercial layers, 3 to 4 of more heritage (but you don't have as high an output generally in the first place), before they begin to taper off...or some drop dramatically. However nutrition and care goes a long way to keeping them laying well...fresh food and water at all times, low stress in their life (no overcrowded conditions, no scary neighbor dogs), ability to get out of the weather and drafts, freedom to exercise (free range), and good health...ie wormload or parasites will slow laying down considerably.

Happy, healthy hens lay well for the longest.
Lady of McCamley

EDITED for clarity
 
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