Seeking the Earliest Egg

Anyone studying the Hoover’s Hatchery catalog or Website faces one easy and one challenging decision The easy one is deciding whether to buy layer or broiler chicks

With delicious fresh eggs the goal of most people it’s easy to rule out broiler hybrids, like Cornish Rocks

 

Other choices get challenging Hoover’s sells dozens of breeds and hybrids that all promise good egg production How does someone select chicks that are likely to begin laying at the youngest age and keep producing for many months?

 

Actually, that’s also a fairly easy decision but takes some planning and thought  Hoover’s lists the characteristics of

Time to Say Goodbye

Anyone who has kept a backyard flock eventually faces a dilemma As hens age their egg laying slows Eventually it nearly stops There’s a point where the girls eat expensive feed yet hardly lay an egg How does a flock owner decide when to get rid of aging hens and what to do with them?

 

A Laying Scenario

A young pullet starts laying when she is 18 to 24 weeks old If she’s of a productive breed she’ll soon lay like fury It takes about 26 hours for an egg to form, so every once in a while, she’ll take a