I had a comment on one of my posts about chickens the other day that gave me the idea for this post. So for this post, I will be talking a little bit about switching out laying chickens every two or three years.
Common laying hens include ISA Brown, Cinnamon Queens, and Golden Comets. The names of these specific breeds of chickens will often vary depending on the hatchery that they are coming from, but they are very similar. These chickens devote all their energy to laying eggs and they do a very good job at it. On average, and through our personal experience, they will start laying eggs at about 4½-5 months and will lay steadily up to the age of two. They will lay a nice egg just about every single day and will very rarely miss a day. These are just a few of the big advantages to selecting a chicken that will lay an egg every day.
One issue that arises with these types of chickens is that they need to be switched out about every two years. The reason for this is because, around the two year mark, they begin to slow down on their egg production and will lay fewer eggs per week. They will continue to lay eggs, but if you want efficiency, it is best to switch them out every two years. This is why we get another group of hens that will begin laying around the same time the others start to slow down. Then when the younger hens start laying we remove the older hens from the flock. (Below I will post some pictures of both our smaller and younger laying hens.)
We have always used these types of laying hens and are very satisfied with their ability to lay a big egg every day without missing. Anytime someone asks what type of hens to get, we always recommend a breed similar to these. Thank you for your time. I hope you enjoyed it!