egg numbers

[hodge911]

stupid question probably but i,ve got 14 chooks now 10 ex batts 2008 birds 2 black rock p.o.l and 2 maran coucou p.o.l .
today i had 8 eggs yesterday 3 day before 7 day before 3 so my stupid question is how many should i be gettin per day am i wrong in thinking 1 a day per chook i,m feedin layer pellets they have a constant water supply and the odd handfull of mixed corn

[Snadger]

Their is no ammount you 'should' be getting. If there's been something snooping around this can spook them. If they are moved to new quarters this can spook them. If they are molting this can have an effect. There are loads of other reasons like age of birds and type of bird to take into consideration.I have 30 birds and get an average of 20 eggs. Sometimes 15, sometimes up to 25.In a 'battery', if they don't lay every day they are discarded. We have saved them from this fate and I personally just take what I am given.

[Bramble-Poultry]

ai - wel said snadge. in an ideal world, a POL hybrid layer should churn out around 300 per year. however, this is affected by feed type, wellbeing of the bird, mites, distrubance, moulting, daylight intensity - loads of variables.

i work on the fact that if i have 10 birds, expect 5 eggs per day (averaged over a week) and anything over that is a bonus

[MaureenHall]

Yup, I agree totally. From my 16 who could be laying, some days I get 9 and some days 15

[zanush]

Yep.. varies here - I have 7 chooks and can get 6 eggs one day and only two or three the next.

[matthew2riches]

Because chickens have a slightly different body clock, it doesn't always work out an egg a day per bird - they're also allowed a break

[sheena]

I have 5 ex batts and more often than not get 5 eggs a day, the lowest amount I have had is 3. They still continued to lay consistantly in the winter to the same affect - even with the shorter days.

But I did read somewhere that a chicken takes 25 hours to produce an egg, so everyday expect an egg an hour later than the previous. Maybe that backs the theory up of them having a day off.

Don't worry, as Snadger said there could be a number of reason why they aren't laying. Just keep with the routine and see what happens in the next few days.

[BUFFS]

we have just stopped giving our birds some afternoon rice,and low and behold,we only got 2 eggs today,it seems they have gone on strike,we usually get 7/8 each day from 10 birds,they are doing an awful amount of moaning but the rice only started when the nights went down below -10,they will just get a handful of corn each night now,i suppose they are like spoiled kids now,well they will have to get used to it

[CaroltheCarrot]

i have four and sometimes i get four eggs sometimes i get none!
i thought it was a 27 hour cycle

[jessmorris]

Doesn't sound very much to me - I've got daft booted banties and a right old ragbag of 8 (in total) banties and get 2-5 eggs per day....

[Suechooks]

i have four and sometimes i get four eggs sometimes i get none!
i thought it was a 27 hour cycle

It's a 24 - 26 hour cycle so averages at 25. however I'm not sure that ALL hens have read the research so may differ from that!

[Glutton4...]

I've got 37. 3 are in their second year, the rest are older, mainly ex-Batts. I'm getting 15 - 22 eggs a day at the moment. I think most of them are laying every 2 - 3 days. Bless 'em!