How many years do laying hens lay eggs at home?

Obtaining eggs is the main purpose of raising chickens at home. Therefore, the main efforts of breeders are aimed at increasing the egg production of poultry. For this purpose, nutritious feed is developed and conditions are created in which chickens give maximum productivity. When calculating the efficiency of a household, several questions need to be considered: how many years do chickens lay eggs, how many eggs can you get per day/week/month/year?

At what age do chickens start laying eggs?

The age at which laying hens lay their first eggs depends on the breed of bird. The most popular egg breeding breeds begin to lay eggs as early as the 5th month. Eggs in the first clutches are small in size and have a large yolk. The color of the egg matches the color of the feathers of the chicken. The size of the eggs increases by the 8th month: at this time the most productive period of poultry begins.

With proper care, some chickens in households begin to lay their first clutches at the age of 4 months. This does not affect the overall productivity period, but is an individual feature of the bird or breed.

How to increase the quantity and quality of eggs?

To increase the quantity and quality of eggs, you must adhere to the following measures:

provide the bird with adequate nutrition - it should be three times a day, balanced and sufficiently varied;
during peaks of chicken activity, increase the amount of protein (including animal origin) and calcium - the need for these elements increases;
adding fat-containing foods to the diet;
compliance with the light regime;
maintaining cleanliness and warmth;
to stimulate egg laying, the use of vitamin and mineral supplements, for example, Ryabushka, is effective (but the dosage must be strictly observed, since exceeding it is fraught with vitamin deficiency);
minimize the stress of the bird - a stressful state leads to disruption of the stability of the cycle;
regularly change the livestock - it is recommended to simultaneously replace most of the chickens (70-80%).

It is not recommended to accelerate the start of egg laying. There are many ways to bring this deadline closer, but such haste is fraught with problems with the bird’s health, since its body will be depleted. Eggs can be obtained earlier, but in the future this can turn against a hasty owner. This is also reflected in the size of the eggs - they remain small for a long time.

If a breeder wants to regularly receive a certain number of eggs, then it is necessary to start with the competent selection of livestock. This applies not only to the breed of bird, but also to the age of the individuals. It should be different so that by the time the old hens are culled, the pullets begin to lay eggs, and the middle-aged hens are at the peak of their activity.

Factors affecting egg production

Several factors influence the egg production of chickens:

Diet.
Quality of content.
Features of the breed.
Bird diseases.
Chick emergence period.

The diet of laying hens differs significantly in composition from the diet of broilers. For high egg production, the food of laying hens must be rich in proteins, carbohydrates, and contain mineral salts and vitamins. In the summer, the basis of the diet of laying hens is fresh greens, while for meat breeds such food will not provide the necessary increase in muscle mass.

Laying hens must be kept in comfortable conditions: drafts, too high or low temperatures in the chicken coop, prolonged absence of water in drinking bowls and irregular feed supply negatively affect the productivity of the birds. It is also important to protect chickens from stress: after a strong fright, a chicken can significantly reduce egg production even in conditions of good housing and nutrition.

Diseases can reduce the productivity of chickens, since a weakened bird will spend energy fighting the disease rather than laying eggs. Sometimes the cause of weakened chicken immunity is parasites.

Conditions for keeping laying hens - roost, temperature, room cleanliness

In order for egg production to be high, the following rules must be observed:

A sufficient number of perches should be placed in the chicken coop. One nest is designed for 3-4 birds. Perches should also be placed throughout the room.
The optimal temperature for the chicken coop is +21 degrees. In winter, it is necessary to use special heating lamps for additional lighting and heating.
The chicken coop must receive sunlight, so it must have a small window.
The room is designed for a certain number of laying hens. There should be no more than 6 birds per 1 square meter.
The litter is changed regularly as it gets dirty. This reduces the risk of harmful microorganisms appearing.

Keeping the chicken coop clean
To maintain the health of the chickens, it is important to carefully monitor the cleanliness of the poultry house and promptly remove droppings and food debris.

How many years do chickens of different breeds lay eggs?

At home, a healthy laying hen can show high productivity for up to 2 years. The hen produces eggs most consistently in the period from 12 to 18 months, and she produces large eggs with a stable frequency. This period in farming is the most profitable, since later the number of eggs begins to decrease. After reaching 2 years of age, most farms cull laying hens, replacing them with young individuals.

Important! If there is no culling after 2 years of age, the taste of the meat decreases, so regular rotation of the livestock must be planned in advance. It is also important to regularly identify unproductive layers and replace them with birds with higher egg production.

On farms, chickens that are highly susceptible to molting, which begins at approximately 12 months of age and can last up to 5 months, are subject to culling. During this period, some chickens, due to their individual characteristics, reduce egg production.

Every farmer should know this

In order to properly maintain domestic chickens without losses and problems, you should also know that there are pauses in the egg-laying period.

They can be caused by deficiencies in care and feeding, as well as by immune system characteristics. Often the reason for the interruption of the productivity period is natural molting, which every bird goes through once in its entire life. This process begins at one year of age and continues up to 5 months. Some hens are more susceptible to molting and should be culled. Healthy chickens moult quickly and in patches.

Laying hens can also suffer from painful molting, which also affects productivity. How long such a pause lasts depends on the state of the chickens’ immunity, as well as the actions of the breeder. Most often, the main culprits for this phenomenon are:

errors in content;
lack of nutrients in the daily diet;
stress;
hormonal imbalances.

Birds kept in domestic conditions also experience an annual molt that takes place in the autumn. The decline in productivity is rapid. Most often, laying hens recover within 30-50 days. Some farmers use a trick, causing their entire livestock to shed on their own. The most favorable period is the end of summer.

In home conditions, the artificial molting method shows a good effect. After the completion of the plumage change, the chicken lays eggs more actively and with better quality. Artificial molting can be caused in different ways (hormonal, zootechnical, etc.). The main thing is to consult a veterinarian before doing this, so that human actions do not lead to irreversible consequences.

How many eggs does a laying hen produce?

With careful care, mature laying hens produce stable egg production. If at the age of 4–6 months in egg-laying birds the reproductive system is just forming and egg laying occurs irregularly, then after 8 months chickens can produce 1 egg every 25 hours. When breeding meat and egg breeds of chickens, an egg is obtained every other day, and when breeding broilers - once every 2 or 3 days.

Interesting! Chickens lay eggs only during daylight hours. It is also important to keep the coop warm when laying eggs. In the cold, the finished egg will remain in the oviduct and will not be laid until the hen finds suitable conditions.

During the week

A chicken lays 3–7 eggs per week, depending on its breed, diet and living conditions. Unstable egg production rates are observed during puberty and during molting.

Per month

Within a month, from 15 to 30 eggs are obtained from one chicken. Based on this indicator, you can calculate the number of livestock to keep in a household or on a farm.

In a year

A good laying hen lays up to 300 eggs per year, while young individuals with average egg production can produce 170–240 eggs. The record holder here is the Leghorn breed: its representatives can produce up to 340 eggs per year, and the maximum number of eggs that was obtained from one chicken was 371 eggs per year.

Maintaining productivity at the same level

Many factors influence how many eggs a laying hen kept in a household will produce per day, month and year. The breeder himself can influence some of them to his advantage. In order to constantly maintain the level of your own profit, you should systematically change the livestock that is being laid. Old, unproductive birds are culled, leaving only profitable chickens. But replenishment of the brood is no less important. The number of adult chickens that are still laying eggs should not exceed 40% of all livestock. The remaining majority are young animals.

The process of restocking also has its own characteristics, which include:

The need to keep new chickens isolated from the old stock. Birds may not get along together, and may also become infected with infectious diseases from each other.
The place where future chickens will live must be cleaned and disinfected; a chicken coop that has been used previously and has not been cleaned is dangerous for young chickens. They may get sick.
The chicken coop must be equipped with a special aviary for walking. It is best to place it on grass, which laying hens can eat, replenishing their diet with useful substances.

It is not advisable to keep old birds. After 2 years, their productivity declines and the quality of their meat deteriorates. Plus, they eat the same way. As soon as the costs spent on food no longer pay off, individual birds are culled. A novice farmer can also focus on how many months the laying hens have to live. For production purposes, chickens are culled by the age of 11 months. In a household, it is better to do this for up to 2 years.

In addition, every breeder should know about the features of bird care. Sometimes egg production rates decrease due to improper human selection work. Only healthy individuals, purebred chickens without developmental defects should be retained for further maintenance.

Characteristics of a Good Laying Hen

Determining a good laying hen is necessary for culling weak and unproductive individuals. A healthy individual lays eggs almost every day at the same time. Healthy birds are constantly active, have an excellent appetite, clean, smooth feathers (except for the molting period, which occurs in September).

Signs of health problems in laying hens:

curvature of the keel, which may indicate the presence of rickets;
bald patches in the feather cover;
dirty feathers;
excess or too little weight;
weak appetite and decreased activity.

Good laying hens have a bright full comb, a straight back, and a dense belly. Such birds are always cheerful and have a proportional body structure.

Bird culling rules, reasons

The appropriate age of laying hens is measured during the culling period a few weeks after the first laying. At this time, you can determine whether the chicken is laying eggs or not, and whether it is worth leaving it in the general population. In adult laying hens, during the period of decreased egg production, some visible signs appear.

Appearance

To understand how to determine whether a laying hen is laying eggs or not, you should carefully examine its appearance. The laying hen has a small amount of feathers on its head.

Appearance of a young chicken

The earrings and comb are red. The beak is slightly elongated and of a dull color. The lower part of the belly of laying hens is enlarged, the feathers on the tail are tousled. Chickens that do not produce eggs have a long tail, a narrow back, and a small and hard belly. Laying hens have bright eye color and clearly defined pupils.

Different egg laying times

Many farmers are interested in how to find out in a timely manner that a chicken is not laying eggs. To do this, you need to pay attention to the number of clutches. The norm for laying hens is the appearance of one clutch every 2 days. If a bird produces no more than 2 eggs per week, it must be removed. Often hens, during periods of decreased productivity, reduce the number of clutches.

Lethargic behavior

A young hen behaves actively and is constantly in search of food in the litter, especially before laying. A bird that has begun to reduce its productivity behaves sluggishly and consumes only the food that appears in its feeder.

Important! You can distinguish the age and productivity of chickens by the size of the yolk. Young laying hens produce eggs with large yolks.

Underweight or overweight

Hens that lay eggs regularly weigh less. Birds that have lost their productivity quickly become overgrown with fat and gain excess weight. An exception may be egg-meat breeds, which gain weight evenly throughout the entire period of life.

Methods for increasing egg production

To increase the productivity of laying hens, it is necessary to create optimal conditions: adjust the temperature in the chicken coop, increase lighting, and insulate the room before the onset of cold weather. For example, studies conducted in 1915 showed that limiting access to water leads to a 50% reduction in bird egg production. It is also important to ensure a calm environment: places where birds are kept should not be located near noisy highways or construction sites. Another way to increase bird productivity is by sprouting, yeasting and grinding feed. The bird's body must receive enough calcium and protein, which directly affect the quality of the eggs.

Interesting! Contrary to popular belief, the presence of a rooster on the farm does not in any way affect the number of eggs laid by hens. Experienced farmers only note that in the presence of a rooster, chickens behave more calmly.

One of the most popular yeast recipes is adding 30 grams of yeast per 1 kilogram of feed. The yeast is first diluted in 1 liter of warm water. After this, the finished mixture is infused for several hours. Laying hens need to add it to their feed daily at the rate of 1 tablespoon per hen.

For germination, take oats or barley, which are soaked in clean water for a day and left at a temperature not lower than +20°C. After this, the grain is poured onto a clean surface and mixed several times a day. After the sprouts appear, the grain is added to the feed for laying hens.

With proper care, a good breed of laying hen shows high productivity for 2 years. You can keep such chickens at home for a longer period. However, it must be taken into account that the meat of such poultry will become tough and less juicy, and therefore will be of little use for industrial sale.

What does egg production depend on?

The duration of the period when a chicken can lay an egg is influenced by various factors that must be taken into account when raising poultry at home.

What does egg production depend on?

Feature of the breed

Chickens are divided into several subspecies. The egg subspecies of chickens produce the most clutches. However, such a bird usually has a short reproductive life. Most often, these chickens are used on poultry farms. For households, it is recommended to use the meat and egg subspecies. Such birds have a stable immune system and are less likely to get sick.

Diet and food quality

Egg production depends on properly selected nutrition. The daily diet of chickens should contain all the necessary mineral components, as well as proteins and fats in the right quantities. Chickens' food should be varied. Particular attention should be paid to feeding in winter, when birds often experience insufficient amounts of vitamins. To improve productivity in winter, sprouted grains, chalk, shell rock and fish oil are additionally used.

Important! When soft-shelled eggs appear, bone meal must be added to the diet.

Conditions of detention

The productivity of chickens is also affected by the presence of all the necessary conditions in the chicken coop. To increase egg production, there should be no drafts in the room.

Conditions of detention

The litter must be changed regularly for fresh litter. Also in winter, it is necessary to additionally use special lamps that not only illuminate the room, but also emit additional heat. Such lamps must be placed evenly throughout the chicken coop.

Diseases and parasites

Improper maintenance often leads to the appearance of parasites in chickens. Egg production is affected by the presence of worms. Birds become weak and lose their appetite. To identify the presence of parasites in chickens, it is necessary to carefully examine the bird. Infected chickens are disheveled and their combs are dull. The stool of such chickens is liquid, and parasites can be detected in it with the naked eye. Treatment uses medications that can be purchased at a veterinary pharmacy.

Diseases also negatively affect laying hens. Sick birds practically do not lay eggs and, if left untreated, may die.

Important! Worms can infect poultry meat and be transmitted to humans if the product is improperly processed.

Presence of stress

To increase egg production, it is necessary to correctly position the nests in the chicken coop. They should be in slight shade so that the bird does not feel threatened. Also, in order to increase the egg production of birds, it is necessary to remove stressful situations - a sudden change of poultry house, a large number of roosters, which can interfere with the hens laying eggs. The chicken coop should be located away from the source of noise and protected from the penetration of wild animals.

Possible problems with egg production and their solutions

The egg production of pullets depends on many factors. If it has decreased, then it is necessary to identify the problem and solve it.

Shedding

This process means that the chicken's feather cover is completely renewed. Shedding begins from the head, gradually moving towards the tail. During this period, egg production may drop significantly and stop altogether.

For pullet hens, this is already the third molt; it begins in the spring (the first two moults take place in the 1st and 3rd months of life). In the future, the bird will moult annually in the fall. The process can take 1-1.5 months, but sometimes it drags on. You can speed it up and restore egg production by the following steps:

exclusion of tactile contact;
increasing protein content in the diet;
ensuring free range;
exclusion of cold weather;
avoiding any stress.

After molting, there is a risk of false layers appearing. Such chickens do not lay eggs at all, so they need to be culled. A distinctive feature of false layers is the presence of a cock's comb and a small distance between the ischial bones.

Conditions of detention

The egg production of chickens drops if the bird is not warm enough or there is not enough light. In summer, indicators increase significantly as the ambient temperature rises and the length of daylight hours increases.

In the autumn-winter period, a decrease in egg production can be avoided by ensuring the following conditions:

temperature not lower than 18 degrees;
optimal humidity level – 55-65%;
Daylight hours are approximately 17-18 hours.

Artificial lighting should not be too intense - up to 20 Lux is enough.

The sanitary condition of the premises is of great importance for egg production and the health of chickens. It is necessary to exclude dust, monitor the cleanliness and dryness of the bedding, and the comfort of the nest.

How to make a perch for chickens with your own hands is described in the following article.

Features of feeding

Another factor influencing the egg production of chickens of any age is feeding habits. The feed should contain approximately 15-17% protein. With its deficiency, egg production decreases.

There may be a problem such as egg casting. This is the name given to the situation when a laying hen produces eggs without a shell - in liquid form it can be eaten by the chicken or lost on the litter. This happens due to a lack of calcium. This problem is called a false decrease in egg production.

Another negative factor is the lack of water. Layers can be given water in doses or freely - in any case there should be enough water. During dosed drinking, water is given with food. It is important to remember its quality. You can make a drinking bowl yourself, or you can buy a ready-made one.

Diseases

In a sick bird, egg production decreases. It can be considered zero, since in most cases the product is simply not suitable for use and requires disposal. Egg production may decrease due to the following diseases:

Infections. The percentage of productivity loss depends on the specific disease; after treatment, egg production is restored by an average of 75%. With infectious bronchitis, there is a risk of a chronic course of the disease and pathology of internal organs, which can lead to a complete and irreversible loss of productivity.
Non-communicable diseases. Such diseases are usually inflammatory in nature: salpingitis, peritonitis, ovarianitis. Individual individuals suffer, egg production decreases or becomes zero.

Treatment of chickens should be carried out under the supervision of a veterinarian. The cause of disease often lies in improperly organized poultry housing or its nutrition - errors need to be identified and corrected. For a more complete review of chicken diseases, see here.

Rats

This is one of the major problems in a chicken coop. Rats carry eggs, leading to a stressful state of the bird, against the background of which egg production may decrease. The risk of diseases that these rodents carry is also high.

It is imperative to get rid of rats in the chicken coop. You can do this in the following ways:

Ultrasonic repeller. This option is good for humane people who do not want to kill rodents. Birds and people do not perceive the sounds of the repeller, but for rats it is extremely uncomfortable. Depending on the size of the chicken coop, you can choose a suitable household or industrial device.
Mechanical obstacle. This should be taken care of during the construction stage of the chicken coop, but the finished premises can also be improved. All holes and cracks must be sealed, protection made of fine mesh or sheet iron (should go half a meter into the ground), and nests located high up.
Smells. Rats do not like the smell of burnt fur, cat hair and some plants (ledum, mint, nightshade, elderberry, onion). Plants must be used carefully, as some of them are poisonous to chickens, so they should be placed in places inaccessible to birds.
Chemicals. This is poison and various substances that are sprayed into the air. The second option involves the use of chlorine, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen phosphide. Such methods are used by experienced disinfectors; they are appropriate for large farms and on an industrial scale. Poison can include various powders, granules, baits. The negative point is the danger of poisoning for other animals, birds and even people. This risk can be reduced by organizing special traps.
Cats and dogs. Certain breeds of such animals are excellent rat catchers, but to preserve egg production it is important that they do not disturb the chickens.
Cannibalism. This method is cruel - you need to catch one or more rats and keep them locked up from hand to mouth. Because of hunger, they will engage in cannibalism - they will destroy their own relatives. At the same time, the danger for chickens may remain.

Egg production is one of the most important indicators of the effectiveness of pullets, especially when they are bred specifically for such purposes. The timing of egg laying and its duration depend on the breed of bird and the characteristics of its keeping. You can increase egg production by taking certain actions. If it decreases, the problem must be identified and solved.

Copy link

When do laying hens start laying?

Representatives of egg breeds lay eggs at five months of age. Their eggs are small, and the color depends on their belonging to one or another subspecies. If the hen is about six months old, the egg weight can be no more than 45 grams. Despite their small size, these eggs have a unique taste, and their yolk is larger than that of ordinary eggs. After a few months, their weight reaches 60 grams, and the yolk becomes a standard size.

Meat - Egg-laying hens begin laying eggs at six months, while meat hens begin laying eggs at six and a half months.

Sometimes young laying hens have two-yolk eggs. There is no need to worry, because this is a temporary phenomenon and it goes away without human intervention.

The beginning and duration of laying also depends on the emotional state of the chicken. If her delicate psyche is constantly under pressure: for example, if there is a highway near the chicken coop or construction work is underway, then this can reduce productivity. Constant stress, tension, noise, screaming - all this should be avoided if you want your feathered pets to fly for as long as possible.

Therefore, domestic farmers widely use the experience of their European colleagues - they play calm classical music in chicken coops.