How Many Eggs Does a Chicken Lay a Day? Chickens are unpretentious and are widely spread in private farmsteads. They are kept mainly for eggs. Waiting impatiently for the first egg to appear in the nest, you involuntarily think about pressing issues. For example, at what age do pullets begin to lay eggs, how to increase and stabilize their productivity, how many eggs a day does a hen lay, and how long will the laying hen delight you with egg laying?
There are three main directions in poultry farming. Breeds or crosses related to one of them have a strictly defined period of maturation. Minor deviations are possible, but not significant.
Natural layers mature early. They start laying eggs at 4.5–5.5 months. This applies to both pure breed hens and egg hybrids (crosses), although the latter can easily produce an egg at 4 months.
Meat and egg hens mature longer. Universal pullets gradually begin to lay eggs at 5.5–6.5 months.
Meat hens will lay eggs consistently at the latest – from 7-8 months. Heavyweights first gain weight and only then take care of their offspring.
Oddly enough, the time it takes to lay your first egg is greatly influenced by where you got your chickens. After all, at a breeding farm or poultry farm they will tell you exactly what breed or cross will soon settle in your yard, what, and most importantly, when to expect them from you.
At the market, when buying from someone or when receiving a generous gift of a dozen chickens from a neighbor, there are no guarantees. The chickens will most likely be crossbred, which means that they will not keep to the deadlines, and it will be good if they start laying at all.
How many eggs can a hen lay?
Given the existence of completely different directions in poultry farming, it becomes completely logical that the indicator characterizing how many eggs a chicken lays per year depends on which of them it belongs to.
Egg-laying hens are record-breakers in egg production. Small and very active, they are dedicated workers. Their productivity is within 200-240 eggs. Egg-laying hybrids have higher productivity: 280-320 eggs. In summer, such hens lay eggs often, almost daily. In winter – less often. On average, it turns out from one egg per day to one every two days, depending on the season. At the same time, you can get from 17 to 26 eggs from egg-laying hens per month, 4-6 per week.
Meat and egg hens lay eggs less than 160-180 days a year. Stably – once every two days. A universal chicken lays eggs quite well per month: 13-15 pieces and per week – 3-4 pieces.
Meat hens lay the worst eggs, but other priorities were in place when they were bred. The productivity of one such hen is within 120-160 per year. The eggs of heavyweights are larger than those laid by a laying hen. On average, 1 egg appears every three days. You can expect 10-13 pieces per month and 2-3 pieces per week.
It is necessary to take into account that hens have periods of molting when they take a break from laying eggs. The same thing happens when the brooding instinct manifests itself. Laying hens have lost it, especially crosses, and meat and meat-egg hens periodically try to hatch offspring.
How to increase egg production
The productivity of chickens is influenced by many factors, not just their origin.
First of all, a balanced diet with sufficient nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. The presence of a source of animal proteins in the feed has a huge impact. A good, varied, complete diet is the key to high immunity of the laying hen, and therefore a guarantee of a large number of eggs.
It is important to observe moderation. More feed does not mean better. With its excess, hens prefer to “grow fat”, they no longer care about eggs.
To stimulate an increase in the number of eggs, hens need to be supported with special additives for laying hens, premixes, or fed with high-quality industrial compound feed. In addition to feeding, you need to take care of lighting, temperature, and living conditions.
When placed in cages, microclimate control in the chicken coop comes to the fore: they are kept in the same conditions all year round, which eliminates stress from fluctuations and changes in the regime.
When keeping hens on the floor, it is necessary to provide dry and clean bedding. In unsanitary conditions and with high humidity, there is a high risk of hens being affected by various diseases and weakened immunity.
Some hens continue to lay eggs in winter even in an unheated henhouse, but a drop in temperature below zero can cause egg laying to stop. Therefore, it is recommended to keep the room warm.
The number of eggs is also affected by the level of lighting. The daylight hours for a laying hen should be about 12-14 hours. In winter, when the natural duration is reduced, an additional light source must be included in the hen house.
How many years do chickens lay eggs?
The productivity of chickens, which depends on the breed and conditions of keeping, unfortunately has a time limit.
The peak in intensity and quantity of eggs occurs at 1–2 years of life. Then the hens lay increasingly worse, decreasing their performance by 10–20% annually.
Crosses of egg-laying hens are rejected at poultry farms after a year of merciless exploitation. At home, layers are treated more humanely. Often they live up to 3 years here. There is no point in keeping them longer. Feed costs will be the same, and the meat will become unusable (it will become rubbery).
Even valuable hens left for breeding rarely live longer than five years. By this time, the number of eggs becomes minimal, and their quality is no longer suitable for incubation.
Therefore, it is considered that the optimal lifespan of a chicken, when it justifies feeding with eggs and can still please with a rich broth, is no more than 3 years.
How long your chickens will live depends only on you. But there are precedents when honored workers are not written off, but given the opportunity to finish their earthly journey naturally. In gratitude for tasty and healthy eggs. For many, domestic chickens become almost family members.
