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?
Leave a reply
Radish,
One of our Warrens is quite greedy and appears to have suffered from an impacted crop on two occasions. They appear to be sleepy, hunch themselves up and appear to be generally unwell.
The crop is meant to be full at night after a day of feeding and empty by the morning . If your hen has eaten lots of grass perhaps or something with log stalks it can cause a blockage. You need to give about a teaspoon of olive oil in a syringe (without the needle) every few hours and massage the crop very gently. This should dislodge whatever is causing the blockage. Our hen recovered within an hour or so. I hope this helps.
Radish,
It sounds just like mine when Broody.. Spends as much time as possible in the nesting box or if we close her out she snuggles down as close as possible to it, apparently snoozing.(she still has a wander round though). This can go on for a good while. We shut the boxes as soon as the others have laid to encourage her to get out and about and soon back to normal.
Hi Lesley, we tried giving a couple of small doses of cod liver oil but it didn’t make any difference sadly. She isn’t sleepy all the time, just every now and then she goes into a corner of the run and closes her eyes (maybe just 40 winks).
She even goes into the laying boxes most days as if she wants to lay (or maybe she’s trying to fool us into thinking it’s one of the other girls not laying!). Still not sure what this impacted crop is though…..
Dear Radish
I quite agree to this site being a fine website! soft shells are a pain,i have one lady who for whatever the reason will insist on doing so and that appears to be her way (at least I know who she is now)! I also experienced a “egg bound” member (known as Pat)but a small dose of cod liver oil sorted her out!!! that was only over a couple of days though..being sleepy..not for the length of time you are talking of!
Hi All,
just stumbled across this fine website whilst attempting to diagnose a non-laying hen! We’ve had our 3 original Black Rocks for about a year now (and added some speckled bantams a few months back), getting an egg from each most days. However, one of the Black Rocks has stopped laying over the last month to 6 weeks. She laid a couple of soft eggs so we started giving them grit, which does seem to get eaten. She does go walkabout with the other two girls but they still come back to the coop to lay. I can’t find any evidence of her laying elsewhere. Is it possible for her to be egg-bound for so long? Can anyone explain an “impacted crop” as I’ve seen that as a possible reason for non-laying? Any other suggestions? She seems fine in herself apart from sometimes being a bit sleepy looking.
Many thanks
Chicken Heaven…..What a apt way to look at it!!
They certainly are!! I’m not overly concerned about her,she is happy in her “heaven” along with her mates! It is the second time we’ve had the ex “chuck outs” bless em! I may try crunching the shell up further…see what that brings! They are light tan in colour,not white,but as you say..worn out! no pressure here..easy life!!
maybe try mixing the oyser shells in with the feed? I have never had any ex-battery hens so I’m not really experienced with them… if they are white though they are probably a leghorn cross, which can sometimes be worn out from laying so much… but if the other hens are laying fine, then she will probably start laying normal eggs soon-ish. since she HAS just come out of a battery oparation, she’s in some sort of chicken heaven after being in a not-so-nice place her whole life.
zoe amber
Hi Amber Oyster shell is always available for the hens to eat,but unfortunately like with kids you cant make them eat their greens! It does get eaten but the tray it’s in does seem to last for quite a time. As i said they are straight from the Battery house so I guess they are 18mths old,and I have no idea what breed they are! Does Battery hens make them “Heinz 57”?
you could try giving them extra oyster shells (can be found in most feed stores) these provide extra calcium to help make stronger egg shells. you can also crush dry eggshells and feed those to the hens, as they have calcium in them too. I have had a couple hens go through a period of laying soft eggs, but they got better with time… how old are the hens? and do you know what breed they are? (sometimes that can play a part in things like that)
zoe amber
Hi Amber
Most people don’t realise the value of oyster shells.
Thanks for making this point.
We give our hens loads of oyster shells and grit. They love and need it.
can anyone help……I aquired four ex batteries approx 3 mnths ago and they appear to be really happy and healthy,we are getting a great supply of eggs (which are the best tasteing)!except someone is STILL laying a ‘softy’. my ? is 1 of the 4 is in great condition she is in almost show cond now & the other three are a LOT less weight & still pretty scragey looking! any ideas? ps. They all appear to eat and graze the same.