How many eggs does a chicken lay each week?
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chickens | 176 comments
“How come there were only four eggs in the basket this morning?'”
Danny asked when he brought in my breakfast tray.
Admittedly I had given John Coe four when he came to mow the lawn this week, but only eight in a week! Danny was concerned, “What are we going to do about our fry ups?”
Danny’s mother kept chickens when he was a child and as a Poultry Instructor, passed on her knowledge. Despite this both of us were a bit naive when it came to keeping chickens ourselves. Just before we collected our chickens three years ago, I bought a pretty little basket in a sale in Newmarket. We planned to buy six hens and I assumed that I’d collect six eggs a day. That basket gathered dust whilst we waited for the first egg.
We bought hens on ‘point of lay’ and threw a party to celebrate their arrival. The guests peered through the gloom at the hens and discussed how to deal with an egg glut. After the party we decided to ask our chicken feed supplier for advice. As we had zero eggs, we must be doing something wrong.
‘Try these,’ he said, producing a box of china eggs with a flourish. ˜The hens will take a peek at them and it will give them the idea.’ I hurried home, opened the nesting box and made plump tempting nests of sweet smelling hay to hold the china eggs.
The chickens seemed happy enough. I observed them having dust baths, sunbathing on the warm roof of their ‘day centre’ and running for a handful of grain in the afternoon. Every day I peeped into the immaculate but egg-free nesting box and trudged back to the house, disappointed. Summer turned to Autumn and then to Winter. ‘Hens go off lay in the Winter, so don’t expect any eggs until the Spring,’ a kind friend advised. I could have hit her.
We were away over New Year and when we got back, there were only five chickens in the pen. I opened the hen house door and there was the sixth hen, absorbed in her task. She barely noticed me as she was clearly straining. I rushed back to the house to tell Danny the breaking news. We crept down to the hen house an hour later and saw our first egg lying resplendent in a clutch of white china fakes.
Tricks and Tips:
- Chickens are at their egg laying prime for the first two years. After this, their egg laying decreases as they get older. Serious egg producers replace their hens after two years.
- Chickens are seasonal layers. When daylight hours are short their laying decreases. Laying gradually builds up from January and starts to decrease from mid September.
- Before you get your first chickens decide whether they are going to be layers or pets, or a mix. If you are going to replace them after a couple of years, don’t give them names. Danny named each of our chickens when they arrived (we got a mix). Need I say more?
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hi steven
its a good idea to have two houses-if the new hens get pecked by the older ones they still have somewhere to go… the origional hens will probably still use the older coop because it’s “their house” (like you wouldn’t buy a house unless you had explored it yet). also if the hens do happen to cram into one house, it is their choice and sometimes they like to snuggle up.
zoe amber (the chicken crazed girl)
Hi steven
personally ..I wouldn’t mix them….been there,done that! In confined space in my experience..the old girls dont appreciate ‘new comers’…..lifes too short for agro in the hen house!!! I was thinking of getting a few Black Rocks,i have heard they do well with the double yolkers..(in a separate house of course)!!
My four (2 sussex and 2 blackrock) are all settled in and laying well (even some double yolkers). I bought a 4/5 bird hen house, but wondered if I wanted a couple more hens and bought another hen house, would the original birds still go in their own house and the new ones go in the new house, or would they all try and cram in the same one?? Any ideas please?
Hello Steven
I reckon that it’s a great idea to offer loads of accomodation choices to your flock.
If the hens have lots of space they will not suffer. I can almost gaurantee that your new hens will not head immediately for the new house.
Like most living creatures thaey will examine the options and then make a choice. Most of the hens will end up in the best house.
Pleae can yu tell me more about your anti brooding techniques. I read somewhere on your site about a different sort of laying box but now I cant find it
hi fn I have been giving my hens pellets as you suggested for aprox 4 days now (with the grit always available) and up to now still am getting one soft egg .I will persist just in case things turn for the better!! fingers crossed.
I am purchasing 3 different layer type birds. We have a large hen house and penned in living space, we used for turkeys previously. Is it okay to mix the breeds? How many roosters should you have per hen type if I start out with 8 hens of each type. How will roosters of differernt breeds fair with one another?
Well I will certainly give that a try and let you know the out come . It is frustrating when you dont get to find out who the culprit is!!
Thanks for the advice.
Hi Lesley and Stuart
When I got really into feeding my hens mash I started to get some weirdly shaped and soft shells. Now mash (veggies and cereal) is a treat and layers pellets are given every day and I don’t have the problem with soft shelled eggs.
lesley older the hen gets more soft shells you get.when you buy battery hens mostly there just finishing there first lay so theyre 18 month old.theyve been vacinated and bred for cages only thats why theres no other bird on the planet better layers.so when there brought out of the cage and onto grass through the next 2 years or so of there short life they catch all kind of problems.ive oyster shell dont 24 hours a day still i get some soft shells.ive got some light sussex i bred myself there 4 year old still laying very good but never a soft shell because theyve been reared outside from day 1.
I was greatly interested in the soft shell coments,I too have acquired some ex batteries and am getting that problem,some broken some appear shell less.my girls are getting mash,oyster shell,corn and freshly boiled veg scraps. appart from that they are doing great with there ‘new lease of life’!! Any more info on that annoying hitch?