Normally, we don’t retire all our hens at once. Typically, we keep a hen for two years and replace about half of the flock with new birds each year. The advantage of that practice is that there are always young birds laying eggs in greater numbers while the older birds lay fewer eggs of better size.
This year went differently. We kept some of the Ideal 236 hens for a third year because they were still laying well at the age of two. The Delaware hens turned two this year, as did the few other hens that were retained from last year. During the summer, they almost finished laying and they started eating eggs. So, they all had to go.
As it has been getting colder, we have been moving the pullets into the coop. Each time I go to the pullet pen, I catch one and take it to the coop on the way back to the house.
Some of the pullets are already laying eggs, which technically makes them hens. I suspect it is the Pearl White Leghorns, because they are supposed to begin laying at a young age and because the eggs are white. Our other pullets should begin laying colored eggs.
The first eggs a pullet lays are often irregular. So, it is fun to see what they make for us. We get yolkless eggs, shelless eggs, eggless shells, double-yolk eggs, and all sorts of oddly-shaped eggs.
Eventually, the birds get their quality control mechanisms working properly and their laying cycles stabilize. Their first year of laying is usually the best. The eggs come more frequently and the size is good. In the second year, the eggs are usually bigger, but the frequency begins to drop off.
The best hens can produce 400-500 eggs during their life and can lay eggs over a span of 4 years (sometimes longer, but it is uncommon). However, at some point their lay rate decreases so much that the value of their eggs is not worth the cost of the feed they consume. That is why we typically retire hens after their second year of laying.
