How often laying hens lay and how long do the eggs give

no comments yet

0

The author of the article

Rasskazov Pavel

Reading time: 4 minutes

Having reached a certain age, the chickens start laying eggs. The start of laying depends on feeding, the condition of the bird, climatic conditions, breed and orientation of the chickens. There are three important classifications: meat, meat and egg and egg (laying hens).

At what age do chickens begin to lay

Chickens begin to lay eggs between 18 and 26 weeks of age, depending on breed, feeding and housing conditions.

Spotted chickens (plymouthrocks, etc.) begin laying at the age of 6–8 months and reach their peak production at the age of 3 years. To ensure that production does not decrease, the number of layers is regularly updated with young individuals. Pestlings lay about 30 eggs per month for three months in a row, after which egg production stops for a while.

The egg production of white chickens (Leghorns, etc.) is half that of pieds. Chickens rush every other day, with poor nutrition - after 2 days. After about 2–2.5 months, the birds temporarily stop laying eggs for up to 2 weeks.

Important! When eggs with soft shells appear, which usually occurs in winter, this indicates that the chickens are lacking calcium in their diet. This can be corrected by adding bone meal to the main feed at the rate of 50 g for every 10 layers.

Video

This video will tell you about the egg production of chickens.

The egg production of laying hens and ways to increase it is an issue that remains eternally relevant. Before you start birds, carefully study the breeds and their performance - choose those that belong to the category of "egg". Once you have a flock of Prickly Chickens, there are many things you can do to improve their performance. To do this, you need to pay attention to the habitat of chickens, to the regime and composition of their diet and, finally, to the health of the birds. Following a few simple tips will help you get fresh, large eggs in large quantities. Find out what the Zagorsk salmon breed looks like at the link provided.

How many days per year does egg-laying last?

After a hen starts laying, the number of eggs she lays usually follows a cycle. Their number gradually increases over the course of 30–40 days, before reaching a peak, and then gradually decreases. This cycle is also strongly influenced by the environment in which the bird lives. Good thoroughbred layers fly 200-300 days a year.

A few words about performance

It is worth noting that no one has made accurate calculations, there are only approximate parameters for each of the breeds. But even here there is a very serious variation in numbers. The fact is that there are a huge number of factors that affect the performance of a bird. This includes such important indicators as:

• keeping chickens;
• seasonality;
• the presence of stressful situations.

On average, in 30 days, one chicken is capable of laying about 29 eggs, and in some cases even less. What caused such indicators?

It is worth turning to biology here. The egg is a large egg, which is located in the albuminous membrane and is covered with a shell for preservation.After the yolk ripens and enters the oviduct, the overgrowth of the protein component begins, the movement of the future egg forward and the formation of the shell. Nature has given a little more than 24 hours for this process, and so far no way has been found to accelerate this process. But when unfavorable conditions appear, the process slows down perfectly.

Duration of egg production

The most productive age for most egg breeds of chickens is from 7-8 months to 2 years. Upon reaching this age limit, the egg production of a bird will steadily decrease simultaneously with an increase in the age of the bird, so its maintenance becomes unprofitable. It is recommended to slaughter two-year-old birds for meat, while replenishing the chicken coop with new, young layers. An exception is made only for layers of the Plymouth Rock breed; these birds are kept in households until they reach the age of 3 years.

Did you know? Chicken

—
very sociable birds and flock, where a hierarchy is formed in terms of access to food and nesting sites. Adding (removing) a hen or rooster can cause severe stress in all birds, leading to fights and injury until a new hierarchical order is established.

How to equip a chicken coop

If there are very few chickens on your farm and you are able to provide them with almost individual care, it is likely that they will be carried at the same frequency for 2-3 years.

We recommend that you read about why birds do not rush in winter and what to do about it in this material.

In spring and summer, the bird rushes much more actively than in winter. This is due to the fact that in warm weather the daylight hours are longer, and the food supply is more diverse and rich. So the only way to increase the number of eggs in the winter season is to use lighting to extend daylight hours in layers. Moreover, it should not be more than 14 hours - the chickens will not have time to rest. It is also useful to insulate the chicken coop - in the cold the birds rush much worse. Keep an eye on the humidity - it should be at the level of 50-70 percent.

Find out how to determine the age of the laying hen by the link.

Even in winter, chickens need to be allowed out for a walk. Lack of movement also does not increase egg production.

What determines egg production

The egg production of an individual depends on the breed, the method of keeping (aviary, cage or free) and the nutritional value of the diet. When raising hens, the duration and brightness of the lighting in the hen house also has a huge impact on the quality of the eggs laid. To speed up the onset of lay, the lighting is increased and the food is changed to more nutritious food.

Ways to increase the productivity of chickens at home

To understand how to increase the egg production of chickens, you need to heed the advice of experienced farmers.

1. Increase the length of daylight hours. The lights in the house are used to adjust the lighting to simulate daylight. The optimal time spent "under the sun" is 13 hours. Staying awake for longer will increase performance but shorten the life of the laying hen.
2. Fresh air and thermal conditions. With the onset of cold weather, it is time to take care of the insulation of the chicken coop. A daily walk in the early morning is a must.
3. Artificial molting stimulation. To start the mechanism of plumage renewal, birds are reduced the amount of food they consume from almost zero. For several days, the only source of nutrients is water and fodder found in the yard. Fasting leads to stress, which triggers shedding. To compensate for the damage caused by the lack of feed, vitamin and mineral supplements are introduced into the diet.

In addition to adherence to keeping technology, one of the factors affecting performance is a balanced diet.

The most productive breeds

Laying hens were bred by crossing different highly productive breeds. Laying hens have a small head with head processes (crest, beard and earrings), horny beak and bulging, round eyes, most often yellow-orange. The neck is short and feathered, slightly sloping. The pectoral and thigh muscles are small (compared to broiler chickens), the wings are quite long and are pressed very tightly to the body. All chickens that are currently raised in poultry farms for egg production are hybrids.

Did you know? A brood hen usually does not feed chicks directly, as many other birds do, but leads them to a source of food and water and encourages self-feeding. The hen will take care of the chicks for several weeks until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

The most egg-laying chicken breeds:

1. Leghorns - have white plumage and a body weight of about 1.7 kg. The annual production volume for laying hens of this breed is 250-300 eggs weighing 57-60 g. Eggshell is colored white.

   

2. Rhode Island red and Rhode Island white - differ from each other only in the color of the feathers. Birds of this breed weigh about 2 kg, carry 200 eggs per year and are perfectly adapted for free-range rearing with constant access to the nests.

   

3. New Hampshire - the plumage of these birds is red-red, the body weight of the laying hen reaches 2 kg. Such a bird lays 180-200 large eggs with dark brown shells per year.

   

4. Sussex - these chickens have a characteristic plumage: a white body with black feathers on the tail and on the neck. The body weight of such chickens is about 2.2 kg, they lay large eggs weighing 60–62 g, the total egg production of one individual is up to 180 pieces per year.

   

5. Carpathian greenhouse, or Galician - a small hen with gray-brown plumage (the rooster has a brighter and more colorful plumage) and black-green tail feathers. The bird weighs about 1.8 kg and lays approximately 160-180 eggs per year. This breed is perfectly adapted to unfavorable environmental conditions, undemanding and well carried in free-range.

   

6. Plymouth Rock - these birds reach the age of egg production later than representatives of other breeds, after about 180 days. During the year, they lay 170-200 eggs with dark yellow or brown shells. The weight of one egg varies from 58 to 63 g.

   

Important! The chicken herd will successfully and regularly lay without the participation of a rooster, the absence of a male will not affect the egg production of females in any way. But such eggs are unsuitable for breeding chickens, since they are not fertilized and are sterile.

Chicken capabilities

The egg production of chickens depends on many factors:

• Breed features. You need to find out about them from the breeders. Many breeds have some peculiarities of maintenance and care, in the performance of which the productivity will be at the highest level.
• Balanced diet. During the formation of eggs, the hen's body loses a large amount of energy, which must be maintained with proper nutrition.
• Comfortable microclimate. Indicators of temperature and air humidity in the barn for living birds has a direct impact on the performance of hens. Lighting also has an impact on this process.
• The quality of the care stimulates the smooth laying of eggs, affecting the health of the laying hens.
• Plumage condition. During periods of molting, the chicken body reduces egg production and restores it after a change of plumage.

If all the conditions of keeping are met, the hen is healthy and not in the molting stage, its average ability is 1 testicle per day. This indicator varies from 1 to 7 units per week, from 15 to 30 units per month, and from 120 to 330 units per year.

The direction of the breed is of great importance. Laying hens' opportunities in directions:

1. Meat. Such breeds are large. They grow rapidly and gain muscle mass. Grown for delicious meat. Egg productivity can not boast. They give from 80 to 120 eggs per year.
2. Egg. These hens are bred for the production of eggs. They weigh little and are not suitable for meat. Their productivity reaches 300 pcs. in year.
3. Versatile breeds have high egg production and average size. There are many crosses among them, the productivity cycle of which is limited to 1 year. They carry up to 330 food items per year. By reducing this indicator, they are hacked to death.

The choice of direction depends on the intended purpose of the hens.

Possible problems

Chickens are susceptible to disease. If the problem is not solved, the livestock may die. Diseases are divided into three types:

1. Infectious. They develop when pathogens (infections) enter the chicken's body. The most common infectious diseases are colibacillosis, tuberculosis, pasteurellosis, salmonellosis, Newcastle disease.
2. Non-communicable diseases. They are not contagious, but they pose a great danger to the health of the chicken. The most common: goiter atony, gastroenteritis, vitamin deficiency, cloacitis.
3. Parasitic - contagious diseases. Parasites can be internal or external.

Some illnesses can be treated at home, but most require specialist intervention. Dangerous symptoms:

• high temperature;
• lethargy;
• increased thirst;
• decreased appetite;
• wheezing;
• discoloration of the comb and earrings;
• diarrhea;
• discharge of mucus from the nostrils;
• tearing;
• conjunctivitis;
• lameness;
• a sharp decrease in weight;
• hardening of the goiter, drooping;
• scabies;
• loss of feathers not during molting.

If symptoms are found, you need to contact your veterinarian for qualified help. Otherwise, not only the sick chicken may die, but also the livestock.

How high the productivity of laying hens will be depends only on the farmer. If you follow the rules for caring for chickens, treat sick birds on time, periodically update the livestock, then you can count on high productivity.

Monthly and annual productivity

Determining how many eggs a laying hen lays per month is not difficult, knowing how much it produces per day, week. The daily rate needs to be multiplied by the number of days of the calculated month, and the weekly rate by 4. The result is the average egg production per month. Usually this figure is at least 15, but rarely exceeds 30.

One of the factors, in addition to the content, is the breed of chickens, because representatives of different varieties do not carry the same amount.

To calculate how many eggs a hen lays per year, it is necessary to calculate the quarterly egg production for each period. The resulting amount usually starts from 200 and ends somewhere around 350 pieces. These indicators are based on statistics, which means there are exceptions. There are cases when a chicken was able to give more than 370 pieces in 1 year. The indicated approximate figures are the basis from which you can build on, but do not despair if there are any deviations.

Content rules

Long daylight hours and multifaceted complex nutrition contribute to the timely onset of egg production in young chickens. Only 30% of the productivity in the reproduction of eggs falls on genetics, the remaining 70% depends on the conditions of the livestock. The bird rushes subject to temperature conditions, during rest periods, more often in the evening.

Pullets begin to lay when they reach 75% of the total body weight of an adult. Therefore, observing the correct lifestyle of chickens, preventing overfeeding will be a good basis for the timely start of egg production. Obesity in domestic birds leads to health problems and malfunctioning of the reproductive system.

High egg production is ensured subject to the following conditions of keeping:

• the length of daylight hours is at least 12 hours a day;
• feed contains hard crops in the morning, soft mash in the middle of the day and green food in the evening;
• there should always be sufficient clean water;
• the presence of a place for walking the livestock;
• a warm and clean chicken coop without drafts, but regularly ventilated;
• timely vaccination of chickens from diseases and the addition of supporting vitamins to food;
• compliance with the procedure for changing the livestock with an age difference of six months for each batch.