Mumpty Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hi all, I was just wandering if anyone knew how long chickens laid eggs for? I have only had mine for about 4 months and now we 5 eggs a day (1 from each girl) which is fantastic, but I was worried that they might 'burn' themselves out and in a year or two I'd be left with 5 chickens and no eggs and I don't want to keep having to buy more chickens while the others sit out their retirement, I don't have the room!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I have a couple of 4 year olds left....one lays, the other doesn't. They are hybrids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hen Watch Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Not sure on chicken burn out. My 4 hybrids arrived April 2007 as POL so they would be exactly 2 years old now. From when they started laying and all through last winter they consistently produced an egg a day. Last summer it tailed off and now I get 1 or 2 eggs a day. One lays softies now (despite worming & limestone flour) so I think she's coming to the end of her egg laying life. Not sure if this experience is the same for everyone though. I don't have the space for any more chooks and I will look after mine into their retirement even if it means I have to buy eggs. But if there comes a time in the future that I can get more I think I would consider pure breeds next time round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardandFamily Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I have some hybrid hens that are 3 nearly 4 years old still giving us around 4-5 eggs a week and I also have some pure breeds that are also 3-4 years and they stopped laying around 2 1/2 years! I think it really does depend on the individual hen and the breed. Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathryn Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Yes, likewise, my 4 year old bantams only laid a token gesture of eggs last summer. Not that they ever really laid that many anyway! I think that they secretly can't really be bothered, they prefer to just parade around all day looking pretty... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheik Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 We have a speckledy hybrid who hasn't laid in a good few months She seems happy but I'm a bit worried we won't get any more eggs from her at all, as by all accounts she should be laying through the winter. Hopefully she'll start again in the spring. /\dam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenmb Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I found that my original two girls I got when I first had my eglu layed for about 2.5 years and then went into their 'henopause'. So I now have only 2 hybrids (sadly not the original two) and the rest are pure breeds which I understand lay for longer but you get less eggs each year. I read a really useful article in a very old Kitchen Garden magazine which talks about this, about how long they live and also about keeping hens healthy. I scanned it and added it to my gallery as a PDF file so if you click here you can download it to read if you like. So long as you have Acrobat Reader - which most PCs have you will be able to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumpty Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 I found that my original two girls I got when I first had my eglu layed for about 2.5 years and then went into their 'henopause'. So I now have only 2 hybrids (sadly not the original two) and the rest are pure breeds which I understand lay for longer but you get less eggs each year. I read a really useful article in a very old Kitchen Garden magazine which talks about this, about how long they live and also about keeping hens healthy. I scanned it and added it to my gallery as a PDF file so if you click here you can download it to read if you like. So long as you have Acrobat Reader - which most PCs have you will be able to read it. Thanks for that Helenmb, very helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
