When chickens start laying eggs: age and duration of egg production at home

Chicken eggs - a product indispensable in nutrition. They contain proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and a small amount of carbohydrates. The medical norm for the consumption of eggs per year per person is 260 pieces. Prices for store-bought eggs are constantly rising, and many summer residents would like to equip chicken coops on their plots, but do not know when chickens start laying eggs in order to get chickens of the right age and calculate feed needs.

When and what determines the timing of the start of the egg-laying period

The onset of the egg-laying period in young hens at home is associated with internal and external factors. The first include the genetic characteristics of the bird's body associated with the breed and heredity. External factors:

• containment conditions;
• feeding rations;
• the season in which the hens were born.

When the optimum temperature is from 16 to 25 degrees, the humidity in the chicken coop is not higher than 70 percent and the illumination is at least 13 hours a day, egg production occurs when the body weight reaches about 75 percent of the mass of an adult .

Low air temperature, light, insufficient bird activity and an unbalanced diet delay the onset of puberty in chickens. In this regard, chickens born in March enter the egg-laying period 1-2 weeks earlier than those born in late summer, autumn and winter. During the first weeks of laying, the eggs may be small, but as the body weight of the bird increases, the egg sizes increase to the average values for the breed or cross.

Laying hens

Laying hens are hens of egg breeds. They have egg production earlier than other breeds, at the age of 17 to 22 weeks. Too early start of laying eggs leads to the development of defects in the musculoskeletal system of chickens and the rapid depletion of the body. Chickens of egg breeds show the highest need for movement. When they are kept, a paddock protected by a net from predators should adjoin the barn. Annual egg production is 240-340 eggs.

Meat-egg breeds

These breeds of domestic chickens begin to lay eggs later than egg breeds, at about 24-28 weeks. For a year they can give 170-200 eggs. An ideal option for summer keeping in the country is to receive egg products during the summer, and prepare excellent chicken carcasses for the winter by storing them in the freezer.

Meat breeds

Meat hens start laying eggs at about 30 weeks of age.The total annual productivity is at the level of 120-170 pieces. The eggs of such birds are the largest, exceeding the weight of 60 grams. Individuals actively gain weight and therefore quickly move on to molting, during which egg production stops.

To find out what age chickens should be bought on the market, you need to subtract 3-4 weeks from the approximate date of entry of the selected breed of chickens into the egg-laying period, which should go to acclimatize the birds in new conditions.

How long do chickens lay?

The physiological duration of the egg-laying period in chickens is 12-15 years. In the body of each chicken, approximately 2-4 thousand eggs are laid. However, it becomes economically inexpedient to keep laying hens for so long, since their productivity in 1-1.5 years is annually reduced by 15-20 percent. The meat of chickens of all breeds older than 3-4 years acquires a coarse-fibered structure.

At home, laying hens are kept for 1-2 years, meat and egg chickens for 3-4 years, then they are replaced with young ones. There are times when a chicken is very fond of the owners, then the bird becomes a real pet.

In summer cottages it is easier to keep chickens during one warm season without arranging a heated barn.

Possible reasons for stopping production

In addition to the natural drop in production and the molting period, a bird may stop laying eggs as a result of stress. Young chickens are highly sensitive to the following types of stress:

• temperature fluctuations;
• change diet;
• lack of lighting;
• appearance of rats or predators.

Let's consider the balanced feed compositions in percent recommended for egg breeds.

Age 9 to 21 weeks:

• crushed wheat - 48;
• crushed barley - 30;
• sunflower meal - 2;
• feed yeast - 3;
• wheat bran - 5;
• herbal flour - 6;
• meat and bone meal - 2;
• bone meal - 1.4;
• chalk - 1.2%;
• table s alt - 0.4.

Age 22 to 47 weeks:

• crushed corn - 35.3;
• crushed wheat - 30;
• sunflower meal - 13;
• feed yeast - 3;
• fishmeal - 5;
• herbal flour - 4;
• bone meal - 0.6;
• chalk - 3;
• shells, limestone - 4.7;
• table s alt - 0.4.

Age 48 weeks and older:

• crushed corn - 40;
• crushed wheat - 20;
• crushed barley - 7.5;
• sunflower meal - 11.7;
• feed yeast - 3;
• herbal flour - 4;
• fishmeal - 4;
• bone meal - 0.8;
• chalk - 3;
• limestone - 4.6;
• table s alt - 0.4.

In addition to grain feed, mashes are prepared for poultry based on potatoes, milk, cottage cheese, where ingredients in the form of flour and table s alt are added. Vitamin and mineral premixes and a sufficient amount of water should be present in the daily diet.

In addition to stress, diseases of chickens can be the reason for the lack of egg production. Signs of disease in poultry:

• lethargy, drowsiness, reduced mobility, lowered wings, refusal of food and water;
• pale comb;
• bird wheezing and coughing;
• yellow-green diarrhea or bloody;
• weight loss;
• the bird constantly scratches itself with its beak;
• loss of feathers without shedding, holey feathers.

Important! If you notice any of the above signs of bird disease, contact your veterinarian immediately!

The most egg-laying bird species

Crosses tend to be more productive than breeds. In terms of the annual number of eggs laid, pullets of brown egg hens excel:

• Novogenbrown - 351 pieces with an average weight of 61.5 grams;
• Highsex - 346 - 61.7;
• Loman - 339 - 62.5;
• Isa Brown - 342 - 61.6;
• High Line - 337 - 61.9;
• Super Nick - 330 - 62.3;
• Tetra - 330 - 62.1;
• Bovans - 327 - 62.7.

Chickens with white coloration are inferior to the above crosses:

• Leggorn - 200-240 pieces per year with an egg weight of 56-62 grams;
• Dawn-17 - 256-268 - 60-62;
• Start - 248-282 - 58.8;
• Belarus 9 - 246-260 - 58-60;
• Russian White - 175-190 - 57-60;
• Orlovskaya - 150-160 - 55-58.

Productivity of meat and egg chickens:

• Rhode Island - 170-180 pieces per year with an average egg weight of 56-58 grams;
• New Hampshire - 170-190 - 58-59;
• Plymouth Rock - 180-200 - 56-50;
• Moscow - 210-220 - 56-58;
• Australorp - 160-180 - 60-62;
• Orpington - 160-180 - 60-61;
• Sussex - 160-170 - 56-58;
• May Day - 150-180 - 58-63;
• Livenskaya - 150-180 - 55-60;
• Yurlovskaya - 100-150 - 65-70.

Influence of the rooster on the process

Eggs are the female sex cells of birds, regardless of fertilization, they mature in the bird's body and from the ovaries through the oviducts begin to move in the form of yolk. The average time of maturation of one egg is 25 hours. The yolk gradually acquires a protein shell, film and shell, and in this form comes out.

The oviducts of the bird communicate with the cloaca - the place where the seed of the rooster falls if the mating process took place. In this case, the egg will be fertilized. However, mating is not required to produce eggs.

Pay attention! To prevent salmonellosis infection, the hard shell must be washed in running water at a temperature of 45 degrees before heat treatment of eggs!

Since the chicken flock is a kind of bird collective, when keeping chickens, the main role of the rooster is to maintain discipline with all the chickens. For 10-12 laying hens, one rooster is enough. If there are several roosters, and they are of different ages, then competition for territory arises between them and fights are possible.

We hope that you have received an exhaustive answer to the question of when chickens of various breeds and crosses begin to lay eggs in order to acquire young animals of the right age for their subsidiary or summer cottages. With proper care and hygienic conditions in the hen house, the eggs of the birds will occur in due time.

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