Egg Production In Poultry - What Is Normal

I have had a flock of chickens in my backyard for years and I never really stopped to think that I could get sick from them. That is exactly what has happened to a lot of unfortunate people when they bought chicks for their backyard chicken flocks. Click here to find out more about this Salmonella outbreak affecting kids and adults and find out if it has happened in your state.

Egg production in poultry varies from day to day. There are a lot of factors that will affect the egg production in your flock. A chicken flock that appears to be happily scratching around in your backyard or in their chicken run is probably doing great. Hens that are active and are eating and drinking normally are probably producing the amount of eggs that they are supposed to. So, as long as your flock is healthy and there don't seem to be any obvious problems going on, the egg production of your flock is probably normal.

If you notice that any of your hens are listless, sitting in the chicken coop for no good reason or are not eating or drinking, there is a problem. I would recommend that you take any affected hens to the veterinarian to have them checked out. At the very least, separate any affected hens from the rest of the flock until you can determine what the problem is.
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Even with a healthy, happy flock of hens, there are still several things that can affect egg production in poultry.

Chicken Breeds
Some chicken breeds have been bred to produce more eggs than others. They tend to lay eggs much more prolifically than your average chicken. So if you want a high egg production, then you need to carefully choose the breeds of chickens that you buy. Some chickens are just better egg layers, some do better as free range chickens and some are better for meat. Do your research carefully so you end up with what you want. While I'm sure you will love your chickens no matter what, it can be a huge let down if your chickens don't perform the way you expect them to.

Hen Age
It's a fact that the younger your chicken is, the more eggs she will produce and the older the hen is, the less eggs she will produce. If you want a high egg production in poultry then you need to keep a young flock of hens. You will need to plan to either buy or raise a new batch of young hens (like the young pullet pictured) to add to your flock every single year. This will lead to a larger and larger flock so some people chose to cull the older birds as needed.

Weather Conditions
During the cold winter months and the sweltering heat of the summer, egg production in poultry is always affected. During the hot summer, there really isn't much you can do about egg production. I live in Kentucky and my 14 hens laid anywhere from 5 -8 eggs every day until about the first week of August when egg production dropped to only 1-3 eggs every day. I don't expect egg production to recover until it cools off late in the fall.

But, during the winter months, you can put a heat lamp in the chicken coop to keep your chickens warmer. Egg production in poultry still drops but you can keep it from stopping altogether if you want by doing this. I don't know how healthy it is for your chickens but it will work.

Disease And Parasites
It is a fact that disease and parasites will impact egg production. Your hens will show signs of distress if they don't feel well. To find out how to diagnose Mareks Disease or chicken parasites and health problems, click the links to find out more.

Egg production in poultry will be what it will be as long as your hens are healthy and happy. There really isn't a lot you can do to impact the weather in your area and not everyone is willing to cull older hens from their flock to make room for new younger pullets. So you have to decide how many eggs you want or need every day and then decide what steps you are willing to take to achieve the egg production you want or need.

This summer was very hot in Kentucky which is where I live. It was so hot that I was having trouble keeping enough water out for them so in addition to their waterers, I put out several shallow rubber maid horse feed bins to give them extra water. I placed them around the yard in the shade so they would have water wherever they happened to be. My chickens were very stressed and I actually caught several of them standing and laying in a low water dish that I put out for them. I couldn't believe it the first time I saw them standing and laying in the shallow watering pans. I guess they are smart enough to stay cool however they can.

Egg production stayed fairly consistent until the last week in July when it screeched to a halt. I was actually surprised that my hens continued to lay for so long given how hot it was. There was no relief for them anywhere they went. Egg production was almost non existent until the first week in September when cooler temperatures arrived and the hens started laying again. Even my pullets are starting to lay which was a surprise because the last batch was hatched kind of late and I didn't expect to get any eggs out of them this year. The pullet eggs are very easy to identify because they are so much smaller than the other eggs.

Keeping chickens in your backyard is a great way to have fresh eggs around all the time. If you are really brave, you can also have fresh meat for you and your family.

Some commonly asked questions are:
- Can I break even keeping a flock of chickens?
- How old do my pullets have to be before they start laying eggs?
- Which chicken breeds are best for producing the most eggs?
- Which chicken breeds have the best meat?

You can find the answers to all of these questions and more by CLICKING HERE. This site has a ton of useful information about keeping chickens and chicken care. You can also sign up for a FREE chicken keeping newsletter

Click the image to get your FREE e-course on the "7 Deadly Mistakes When Keeping Pet Chickens At Home". Once you click the image, go the very bottom of the page and get your FREE e-course.

Do you want to build your own chicken coop? Click Here to get a great collection of chicken coop designs and chicken coop blueprints.

The answer to that question really depends on the breed of chickens you have. Some breeds fly better than others and some breeds (like Junglefowl) just really refuse to be contained. But other breeds (like Silkies) can easily be contained with a very low two foot fence.

Generally speaking, a four foot tall fence should work in most cases, especially if you are keeping some of the heavier chicken breeds in your backyard. Keep in mind that there is always a rule breaker in every flock and sometimes the only way to contain that chicken is to lock them up which isn't always practical. I have a mix of large breed chickens and most of them stay put behind my four foot fence. However, I have one Rhode Island Red hen that can nimbly scale any fence she decides she wants to get over. She regularly roosts on top of the chicken coop.

You can also try clipping your chicken's wings but that is a real pain since it has to be done whenever your birds molt. I don't know about you, but I don't like trying to capture them and clip them, even at night. But a light bird is still going to be able to get where they want to go regardless so you are probably just wasting your time doing this.

You can also reduce the chance that your chickens will fly out by not making the top of your fences look great to perch on. Chickens naturally want to perch up high and a wooden fence makes a nice comfy perch for your entire flock.

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I hope this review of Chicken Keeping Secrets was helpful.

I designed this lens to provide general information on chickens and chicken care for anyone looking for it. But, you should know that I do this for a living and this website generates some revenue through affiliate marketing. If you click a link and purchase something from that link, I will make a percentage off that sale.