We’re often asked here at The Happy Chicken Coop: “how long will my hen lay eggs for”?
Like so many ‘simple’ questions there is no straightforward answer, there are many variables – within each breed and each individual hen. A bit like people, no two hens are the same…
However with that said, we have put together some information and guidelines for you so that you can accurately assess how long your hens should lay eggs for.
We are also going to give you a brief ‘bio’ on a few heritage and production hens so you can compare and further research to find a suitable breed for you.
A small word of advice – if you get your chicks from a feed store, don’t rely on the staff to know about the chicks. Many of the folks working there don’t know any more about chicks than beginners, so be prepared.
So How Long Do Chickens Lay Eggs For?
Choosing your Breed
The biggest factor which determines how long your hen will lay eggs for is the breed.
When you choose your breed, you need to ask yourself a couple of questions – do I want a hen that is a prolific layer for a couple of years, or do I want hens that produce a little less over the short run but lasts longer?
Many modern industrial production birds are explicitly bred to be excellent producers for the first eighteen months to two years. After this, production drops off dramatically.
In a production setting, these hens would be considered ‘spent’ and sent for slaughter even though they will still produce some eggs. Keeping them is just not profitable if your bottom line is money.
On the other hand, so called ‘heritage’ breeds have been around for years and although shunned by the big egg producers, they are a great type of hen for small scale poultry keepers such as ourselves.
Although they may not ‘bury’ you in eggs in the first couple of years, they will keep up a steady production for many years longer.
Let’s now compare heritage and Industrial breeds.
Heritage Breed Advantages
- Will lay for longer – up to 5 years is not uncommon
- Genetically diverse – have a large genepool
- Tolerant of a wide range of climates
- Most will bear confinement pretty well
Heritage Breed Disadvantages
- Will stop laying in winter (unless you add light)
- Slower growth rate
If you live in an urban setting and want hens that will supply you with eggs for a long time, heritage breeds may be the way to go.
With heritage breeds laying for a more extended period of time, for me, they are the better choice if you want decent egg production over an extended period.
I have a variety of heritage breeds in my flock and some lay better than others – it’s very much an individual thing. Ms Crabby, a seven year old Welsummer laid an egg just the other week! Of course, it was probably her ‘egg of the year’, but nevertheless she laid one.
So, how long will heritage birds lay for? Again, it varies from breed to breed, but most of my girls laid consistently for 3-4 years before I noticed a drop in production.
Industrial Breed Advantages
- Bred to produce eggs
- Easily sexed at birth
- Mature faster (will still lay at 16 weeks)
- Confine well
- Winter is hardy (for most climates)
- Won’t go broody
Industrial Breed Disadvantages
- Relatively shallow gene pool
- After 2nd year production drops noticeably
Production hens will lay well for a couple of years and then will decline in egg laying noticeably.
If you are interested in production hens, you need to think: ‘What will I do with them after a couple of years?’
If you live in a city with livestock ordinances, you are likely restricted to the number of hens you can keep.
When your hens are done laying, what are you going to do with them?
Many animal shelters are finding themselves the recipients of hens that have been given up or abandoned and are overwhelmed with chickens.
Choosing your Heritage Hen
Which heritage breed you choose will depend on what you want from your hen.
Do you simply want eggs or do you want to have a bird that can provide both eggs and a decent amount of meat once her laying life is done?
The original purpose of ‘dual purpose’ heritage hens was to produce eggs and when done with that, supply a good chicken stew.
Good egg producers are Rhode Island Reds, Sussex, Barnevelder, Fayoumi, Minorcas and White Leghorns.
Many other breeds out there produce a good amount of eggs per week.
In general, the Fayoumi, Leghorn, and Minorcas’ are known to be ‘flighty’.
They don’t care too much for being handled and can lay their eggs anywhere and everywhere, so they are actually better kept confined.
As for ease of handling and care, it’s better to stick with the more steady breeds such as the Rhode Island Reds or Barnevelders.
In general, you can expect these heritage hens’ to lay consistently for 3-4 years, with some slowing up towards the end of that time.
Most of these girls will live to around seven years on average – if they are protected from predators and treated royally, they can last much longer!
Choosing your Production Hen
Most, if not all, of the industrial production hens are ‘proprietary’ brands.
These birds have been genetically manipulated (not genetically altered) and refined for increased egg production and feed efficiency: the bottom line is minimum input and maximum output. I found it interesting that birds were labeled as ‘products’ rather than livestock.
Today’s broiler chicken is four times larger than in the 1950s and matures in six to nine weeks.
There is a downside to this fast maturity – with Cornish Crosses, they are generally unable to bear their own weight at 9 weeks and may suffer from heart failure.
The egg layers mature quickly also and should be laying by 18 weeks – some earlier.
There are several varieties out there that are suitable for your backyard being docile and friendly for the most part.
A few of the more well-known varieties are Lohmann Browns, Black Star, Golden Comets, and Freedom Rangers.
Nutrition and Care for Egg Laying
A laying hen uses a great deal of calcium, protein, and calories putting out those eggs for you, so it’s important to feed her well.
Layer ration for the laying period should be 16%, pellets or crumbles, whichever they prefer.
If you have a small flock you may want to ferment their feed, it releases more nutrition and stretches the feed further also.
Don’t forget to give them extra calcium – separate from the feed – as with most things, too much is also bad.
Giving them the correct nutrition is extremely important for maintaining their health and vitality, it’s essential if you want them to keep on producing.
A lack of calcium and other essential vitamins and minerals may lead to thin-shelled eggs, no-shell eggs, or other egg-laying issues.
Egg Laying Problems
As we noted earlier, not all hens are the same.
Some heritage breeds will start laying at sixteen weeks some will start later. Industrial hens can be counted on to begin laying at sixteen weeks.
Occasionally you will get a hen that just doesn’t seem to lay well at all right from the start.
This is usually resolved once the ‘egg machinery’ gets into top gear, but there may be one or two that never seem to produce well.
This is usually a genetic ‘oops’, and little can be done to resolve the issue.
If the hen is laying internally, she will likely get egg yolk peritonitis and succumb to the infection.
Hybrid hens tend towards reproductive problems a little more than heritage hens.
This is understandable since the reproductive cycle is almost continuous in these birds. Heritage birds do suffer from reproductive issues, but it’s unclear if it’s because hens are now living to be much older than before.
Health problems associated with ‘old age’ in chickens have not been well studied since it’s only fairly recently that chickens have become so popular.
In general, healthy chickens never completely stop laying eggs.
While heritage vs. industrial breed plays a vital role in the speed and quantity a hen lays eggs, it’s not a matter of how long the chicken will lay because they can lay eggs up until the day they die, even if it’s old.
For example, I have a 9-year-old Orpington hen that lays eggs, gets broody, and even hatches out chicks. It’s incredible that she’s still kicking, let alone raising her chicks.
She’s a beast!
If you’re ok with the slowing egg production, and money isn’t the driving force behind the reason for your flock, you can keep your favorite hens around and still expect to receive lovely eggs for the rest of their lives…just not as frequently as before.
How Long Do Chickens Lay Eggs For? Summary
As we promised – no easy, quick-fit answer, but we hope this has helped show you what to expect from the heritage and production hen.
The first two years will be full of lots of lovely eggs, whichever type you choose; beyond that will depend on the variety you chose and the breed itself.
Regardless of which you choose, always try to do some research beforehand.
I know how tempting baby chicks are, but if you buy the wrong breed for your expectations, you will be very disappointed.
On the subject of baby chicks, if you want eggs, buy sexed chicks – otherwise, you may end up with a bunch of roosters who definitely won’t give you any eggs!
Do you have a preference: heritage or production? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Read How Long Do Chickens Live: 6 Factors That Impact Life Expectancy
I definitely prefer the Heritage chickens over production as eggs for a longer time period is more important. There are many breeds like the Houdan and Delaware which are dual purpose and are in decline. To help sustain a breed it’s important to choose Heritage chickens.
We just got some chicks this easter they haven’t laid any eggs what I’m I doing wrong
Hi Lori,
What breed did you get and how old were they when you got them?
Claire
We work full time,chase a good sized garden, live in Midlothian, Scotland, we are looking for a couple of chickens to produce eggs for us, as store bought eggs make me ill, I did consider ex battery, but now doubt they will he any good. Do you have any suggestions for a good all rounder, thanks.v
Hi Ann,
You can’t really go wrong with the beautiful Buff Orpingtons 🙂
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/buff-orpington/
Claire.
We have Buff Orpintons and we LOVE them!
They are good egg layers and if they were people they would be described as “super nice.”
I think they are super nice “chicken people!”
I have some Columbia Rock chicks..when can I expect Eggs
Thank you
It depends on how old they are Bill. Anytime after 24 weeks though normally 🙂
Claire
I am Venesh from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I prefer the heritage breeds. Currently have 10 white rock hens 2 white leg horn hens 2 black leg horn hens and 3 new hamshire hens. My favourite is the new hamshire , friendly and they lay x large to jumbo eggs. My white rocks lay large eggs , leg horns also large eggs.
With 2 girls, our egg supplys are as exciting as the time we spend with them every evening. Thanks for your info, it has helped a great deal.
Thank you for the kind words John 🙂
Claire
I have only one chicken left out of my little flock. Mae is a white Australian who is 11 years old and still laying, 4 lovely white eggs this week. We live in Sydney, Australia and she has a long break from laying after she goes into moult in our hot summer but always returns to laying late winter. She is still a beautiful chicken who looks half her age!
We are getting about 4 eggs a day right now, from 10 Rhode Island Reds. Last evening I watched a hen drop an egg right beside me on the grass, and before I could grab it she snatched it up!! Now we are wondering if they are laying around our property and consuming their own eggs. What should we do??
Hi Martha,
It sounds like they certainly could be. Take a look at our article on how to stop hens eating their own eggs…
Claire
Does the 3 fingers width test at the pelvic area work when chickens are molting? I know that they don’t lay while molting, but will the width still be there to indicate that they will resume laying after molting?
I have a year old White Leghorn that we just adore ! About 6 months ago she was attacked by the neighbors dog An was severally injured on her backside , my husband insisted we put her down but I was adamant about saving my precious Tippy (she got her name for being solid white with a single black speck on the tip of her tail feathers ) anyway with a lot of nurturing an sleepless nights tippy made a full recovery ! All this time she never laid a single egg An would run from our rooster avoiding him at all cost then last week we saw him get to her an 4 days ago my husband found a stash of 3 eggs . 2/3 of the eggs was covered in blood the first was real bad ! The last (from what I figured) had just a speck of blood , my questions are should laying start to get easier for her now ? An should she start to produce fértil eggs soon ? We really hoping for some baby chicks soon . She’s one tough ole bird but I wouldn’t trade her for a million bucks , to me she’s part of our family !
It is normal for the first few eggs to have blood. It should start getting better as time goes on. The only way you will ever have baby chicks is if she eventually goes broody and is allowed to sit on the eggs for the 21 to 24 days required to hatch chicks. Or you can get an incubator and hatch them yourself. 🐥😊
My hen who is about 3 years old now lays eggs without a shell is there anything I can do to help with this problem.
Frank
Hi Frank,
You can read our article here 🙂
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/double-yolk-eggs-and-other-egg-anomalies/
Claire
My Leghorn makes an announcement everytime she lays an egg. Is that normal for this particular bird?
Abraham Lincoln said that “chickens are the smartest animals in the barnyard because they don’t cackle until after they lay the egg.”
Nice to join this group
I am desperate for someone to help me. I have a 7-8 yo RIR that is splayed on the floor of my coop. She does not have pasty butt and I can’t feel an egg to be able to say that she is egg bound. However, her underside feels swollen but I do NOT feel anything except she feel puffy or squshy. Does anybody have any idea what I may be dealing with. She is my last RIR. Raccoons got the rest of her family of RIRs. Now she is in a family of Austrolorps and Comets. Please help me try to figure out what is going on with her. Thank you in advance. Anna