I need to know: Do hens lay eggs all year-round, or do they lay in cycles?
Also, I was wondering how many eggs a hen can be expected to lay in one day?
2006-07-27 12:10:12 · 10 answers · asked by sneaky comet 3 in Pets ➔ Birds
all year around.. they start laying around 22-27 wks of age but only lay for about 2 or 3 years. some are better layers than others. a good layer is a rhode island red. they lay 2 or 3 eggs a day pretty consistantly
2006-07-27 12:18:31 · answer #1 · answered by navygalstar1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This depends totally on the breed of hen you have. If you have a hybrid bird such as a warren or a hi sex, these birds are bred to just lay lay lay. These are the types that poultry farmers use on their farms, either battery of free range. These birds do well in their first year and probably lay about 280 per year on the first year, after that the farmers get rid of them as they are much less productive. These birds are old and worn out by approx 3 years.
Rhode Island Reds, which some other people have mentioned are good layers, BUT they are a breed and will not lay so many as the hybrids. They will however have more of a laying life and probably still be laying eggs, (though not so many) at about 5 or 6 years.
Bantams, (small birds) only lay for about a month and then (depending on the breed) they go broody.
One hen lays one egg a day or approx 5 eggs in a week. If you find you hen sitting on 3 or 4 eggs, she has NOT layed them all, that has been the work of her companions too!
If you want to know more please email me. I had my own poultry business until quite recently and breed and show birds too.
I have worked with poultry since I left school and that was a few years ago now!
2006-07-28 04:51:49 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They don't lay all year, but stop while they are molting for about 2-3 months. A hen lays only one egg every 1to 3 days. I have many chickens and some are 6 years old and still laying. They need oystershell in their diets to replace the calcium required to produce egg shells which comes from their own bones. Many people do not feed them this and wind up with a poor layer that stops after two years.
2006-07-27 19:45:29 · answer #3 · answered by bh73 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hens do lay all year round except during the fall when they are molting their feathers. They stop laying eggs for 1-2 months. You can expect 2-3 eggs every 3 days.
2006-07-27 19:24:42 · answer #4 · answered by arcticwolves24 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends a lot on the breed of hen you have. I agree with the other person that Rhode Island Reds are about the best layers you can get.
Also hens lay according to light. They need about 8 hours of sunlight to lay. In the winter, my hens used to slow down their number of eggs, until I put a heat lamp in their coop. Then their laying picked back up.
Also you can buy a special type of feed (I bought Southerns States "Laying Crumbles") and that will really help with laying as well!
Good Luck!
2006-07-28 04:10:27 · answer #5 · answered by jaredkbyrd 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some do lay all year round, it depends on the breed. Most hens just lay one a day. If you want to know what to expect her to do you can go to a poultry website a look at pictures to determine what type you have, if you don't know, and see what the characteristics are of that breed.
2006-07-27 19:17:01 · answer #6 · answered by motherclucker41 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
once they start laying they will "more or less" lay year round
on average you will get 2 eggs every 3 day for every hen you have
2006-07-27 19:15:21 · answer #7 · answered by Pobept 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes hens lay eggs all yr round, well that's not something you can really put a number on......
2006-07-27 19:13:02 · answer #8 · answered by bella 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a hen llays an egg every 36 hours
2006-07-27 19:13:48 · answer #9 · answered by Japan_is_home 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To make them lay more, stick golf balls (bigger than their mouthes...) in the nests.
2006-07-27 20:58:09 · answer #10 · answered by Kat 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋