Re: eggs and hens

From: Deb (dmschwinn_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 11/12/04 

Date: 11 Nov 2004 22:15:32 -0800

Sorry for the delay in a reply Jack. Seems that everyone is all
wrapped up in the bear in the coop thread. I have only been doing the
chicken thing for 4 years now, but hopefully Jill will hop on in to
this conversation, she is your best asset when it comes to poultry
raising.

I have found that it depends upon the breed, health and time of year
for chicks to start laying. My little leghorns are egg factories and
are the first to start laying. But leghorns are a high strung breed.
They are very active and flighty. They tend not to make very good
mums. Although I do have one that is just a little sweetheart. They
tend to lay an egg a day for the most part, for the first year or so.
My barred rocks and white rocks are next in line to start laying.
These are very calm, docile, friendly chickens. They will lay an egg
(on average) every other day. The rest of my breeds seem to follow soon
after, black sex links, rhode island reds, new hampshire reds, buff
orphingtons, araucanas and finally the two exotics that I inherited
(Marcy and Harriette). All of these breeds are good layers, giving an
egg every other day, sometimes every third day.

I can not tell you an exact time frame for the start of laying. I
believe it to be approximately 3-5 months for all of them to get on
board. It depends upon how many eggs a day you are trying to achieve.
I have 55 hens and gather about 2 dozen a day right now (late fall
here). In the summer time I average about 3 dozen a day. My girls are
all graduated in ages. I try to add 15 or so chicks each year to cover
the die off of the older ones and make up for those who have retired
from laying. (We raise special chickens for butchering, I figure my
girls gave me their best so I will give them my best until they pass
on, so they get to live out their lives here).

I understand that this is not exactly what you asked for in your post,
but it will give you an idea of what breed you are going to start with.
Once you narrow that down, it will be easier to help you with the
rest.

Good Luck,
Deb

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