Backyard chicken egg production
When your hen is in her third year of laying, you can estimate to have just under 70 percent the production of the first year, and in the fourth year of laying about 60 percent of the first year’s production. So, if your hen lays 250 eggs in her first year, you can estimate she’ll lay about 200 eggs under ideal conditions in her second year.
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At about 2 years old, you can estimate a hen will lay about 80 percent the eggs she did in her first year. As your birds age, egg size will even out, and egg count will gradually drop. The first eggs will likely be smaller and increase in size over time. Within their first year of life, most laying hens will be at their peak production at about 30 weeks of age. Remember, most hens will naturally slow down in the fall and winter unless you add supplemental light for a consistent 16 hours of light per day. Overall, 80 to 90 percent is considered excellent egg production (100 percent = 1 egg per hen per day), but breed, housing, weather, management, parasite load and nutrition can all affect the rate of lay of your hens. Dual-purposed breeds like Plymouth Barred Rock, Sussex or Buff Orpingtons will typically also achieve top performance. When it comes to laying hens, the best chickens for eggs include: White Leghorn hybrids (white eggs), Plymouth Barred Rocks (brown eggs), Rhode Island Reds (brown eggs), Blue Andalusians (white eggs) or Ameraucanas/Easter Eggers (blue eggs).
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This is because it takes 24-26 hours to create each egg, and hens take a natural break each year for molting – often as days get shorter in the fall. High-producing, well-fed backyard hens can lay up to 250 eggs per year. But how long do chickens lay eggs? And do egg counts change as laying hens age? We tackle egg #goals in this #FlockStrong article. From that moment on, the egg-ticipation is over and nearly every day brings a moment of celebration.
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Around 18 weeks of age, you can switch to a complete layer feed and expect your first farm fresh egg. There’s nothing like the first egg happy dance. Then, egg counts will naturally decrease each following year with hens entering egg retirement around years six or seven. In their first year, you can expect up to 250 eggs from high-producing, well-fed backyard chickens. Most hens will lay their first egg around 18 weeks of age and then lay an egg almost daily thereafter. Consistent egg production is a sign of happy, healthy hens.