Egg laying
Age at first egg, peak, seasons, regularity: Elsanor's answers, backed by the laying rates measured on our farm, breed by breed.
33 perguntas
They are measured. Every run is recorded daily — eggs laid, bird numbers, incubation — and the published rates are worked out from those records, season by season. We currently publish S2026, S2025, S2024, that is 3 complete breeding seasons across 40 breeds. In the S2026 season the average across all breeds stands at 41 % laying, 77 % fertility and 85 % hatch. These figures move every year: that is what a real measurement does.
Yes, all of them — otherwise there would be no chicks. The difference lies in the number: across our lines annual laying runs from 75 to 180 eggs depending on the breed, with the ornamental breeds sitting at the lower end of that range. Keeping conditions — season, feeding, quiet — account for the rest. A so-called ornamental hen is not a hen that does not lay, she is a hen selected on other traits alongside laying.
Across our lines, 75 to 180 eggs a year depending on the breed — the lowest figures belonging to our ornamental breeds, the highest to our best layers — heading our measured ranking: Coucou de Rennes. These are measured figures, the average of our last three breeding seasons, not an estimate: each breed page shows its own, and the statistics table ranks them all. A commercial layer may exceed 300 eggs, but over a short working life and under closely managed conditions: the meaningful comparison is breed against breed, not a purebred hen against a production hybrid.
Over our last three breeding seasons the best layers in our catalogue are Coucou de Rennes, Poule de Bielefeld, Amrocks, Araucana, Galinha sedosa barbuda. That ranking shifts every season, following the breeding work and new blood brought in — a breed may slip one year because type was given priority, and climb back later. Note too: these figures apply to our lines, under our conditions. The comparison tool lets you set up to three breeds side by side over the same period.
Between 4 and 6 months depending on the breed — and here it is measured run by run rather than estimated. The spread is in fact narrower than people imagine: the Pekin is among the earliest, at around 19 weeks, and the Leghorn among the latest, at around 24 weeks. What really shifts the point of lay is the hatch date as much as the breed: a pullet hatched late in the year will wait for the light to return. Point of lay is shown on each breed page.
In the first year yes, and the gap is clear: a hybrid brown has been selected for decades on that single trait. But the comparison reverses over time. The hybrid burns out quickly and her laying falls sharply from the second or third season, whereas a purebred hen holds a more modest but steadier rate over a far longer life. Count eggs over five years rather than twelve months and the gap narrows considerably.
Three criteria to combine: laying (number and colour of eggs), temperament (calm, sociable, suited to children) and the space you have — size of the breed and above all flight height, which is nearly always overlooked. On laying alone, our top three are Coucou de Rennes, Poule de Bielefeld, Amrocks. Settle your priority first, then refine with the other two. Our listing filters on each of these criteria, and the comparison tool sets up to three breeds against one another on our real data rather than on averages found elsewhere.
Because laying is governed by light, not by temperature. As the days shorten most hens slow down and then stop — which is natural, and lets them rebuild their reserves. Laying picks up again of its own accord as the days lengthen. It is also why our statistics are read over a complete season: a rate recorded in December would mean nothing.
Because a hen only comes into lay once her body growth is complete, and a large frame takes longer to build. That holds in principle, but our records call for some nuance: the gap between our earliest and latest breeds is counted in weeks, not months, and some light breeds start as late as large ones. Frame counts; line and hatching season count at least as much. It is exactly the kind of received idea that measured data can put right.
Several causes, to be worked through in order: the moult, shortening days, broodiness, recent stress, a deficiency, illness, or simply age. The first four are normal and sort themselves out. If the stop is abrupt and comes with another sign — dull plumage, pale comb, falling appetite — look towards health. A gradual stop in autumn, on the other hand, is nothing to worry about.
Consistency and volume are not the same thing: one breed may lay heavily for three months then stop dead, another lay less but spread it across the whole season. That is exactly what the weekly laying curve in our comparison tool shows: two breeds with similar annual totals can have very different profiles. Look at the shape of the curve as much as at the final figure.
Yes, and it is common: sexual maturity comes before the end of growth. Her first eggs will be small, sometimes irregular, and the size will rise over the weeks. A pullet that starts very early while staying thin does, however, warrant a look at her feeding — laying demands a great deal, and a young hen cannot manage everything at once.
Markedly. A pullet that has wanted for nothing starts sooner than one held back by inadequate feeding or by illness. It is one of the reasons our point-of-lay figures are values measured under OUR conditions: at your place, with different feed and a different hatching season, the same bird might start later.
The peak generally comes two to three months after the first egg, but the spread between breeds is far wider than people imagine. The Pekin peaks as early as 25 weeks, while other breeds only reach their maximum after a year of laying. Half of our breeds sit at around 30 weeks. What counts as much as the timing is the level reached: the Rennes Cuckoo tops out at 69 % at 28 weeks. Each breed page shows both figures.
A few weeks in the strict sense: the curve rises, levels off and then falls away gradually. But the width of that plateau varies a great deal from breed to breed — some hold a high level for a long time, others drop quickly after a sharp summit. That is precisely what the weekly curve in the comparison tool shows, where a single figure says nothing.
No, and the gap is considerable: more than double between our earliest and our latest breeds. The Pekin reaches her maximum at around 25 weeks, the Leghorn at around 60. It is not only a matter of frame — line and hatching season weigh just as heavily. The statistics table gives the age at peak breed by breed.
It is the most telling figure, and the rarest: weekly laying rate by age of the breeding hens. It shows the rise, the peak, the plateau and the decline — four pieces of information that an annual total flattens into a single number. Our comparison tool displays up to three breeds side by side over the same period, and also lets you follow one breed from season to season.
It declines slowly until the end of the season, then stops with the moult and the short days. The following season restarts at a level below the first peak, and so on: each year takes a share away. That is the normal cycle of a layer and reflects no health problem.
In three stages: a quick rise after the first egg, a peak, then a gradual decline. The very first eggs are small and irregular, and the rhythm settles within a few weeks. For that reason a judgement based on the first weeks is worthless — it takes a full season to judge a layer.
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That is exactly what our statistics measure: the number of eggs per hen over a complete season, breed by breed, and not an estimate borrowed from elsewhere. Depending on the breed it runs from 75 to 180 eggs over the year; heading the ranking, a single breed: Coucou de Rennes. The first season is generally the most productive of the hen's whole life; the following ones decline gradually, as the season-by-season curves show.
In the height of the spring season, allow two to five eggs a week depending on the breed. Each breed page shows an estimated figure for that period, worked out from the peak rate measured in our own runs. Over the full year the average necessarily falls, since laying stops during the moult and slows with the short days. Both figures are useful: the rate at the best moment, and the annual total.
No, or only quite exceptionally. Forming an egg takes about 24 to 26 hours, some twenty of them for the shell alone: the cycle simply cannot complete twice within the same day. Because it runs a little beyond twenty-four hours, a hen lays slightly later each day, until she skips a day altogether and resets to the morning.
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Most often in the morning, in the hours after daybreak, because the forming cycle finishes then. Since that cycle takes a little over twenty-four hours, the laying time shifts from day to day. That is why a hen lays early for a few days, then later and later, before skipping a day and starting again in the morning.
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No, and that is a good thing. Laying stops during the moult and slows sharply with the short days. That pause allows the plumage to be renewed and reserves rebuilt. A hen pushed to lay all year burns out sooner. It is also why our statistics are read over a complete season rather than a single month.
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Strong heat blunts the appetite and diverts energy into temperature control: the hen eats less, therefore lays less, and the shell may thin. It is not inevitable — a mild summer changes almost nothing — but a heatwave leaves a clear mark on a laying curve. Permanent shade and regularly renewed fresh water greatly limit the effect.
Yes, since day length governs laying: extending the lighting restarts laying in winter. Should you do it? That depends entirely on your aim and on how well you handle it. A breeder preparing birds for shows manages lighting deliberately, with the insulation that goes with it. For anyone who simply wants eggs and a few chicks, following the rhythm of the seasons is simpler, and leaves the bird its natural rest.
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Considerably. The first season is the most productive, and each following one takes a share away. In return the eggs grow larger with age: what is lost in number is gained in size. That is why our statistics always state the age of the breeding hens — comparing a first-year hen with a third-year hen would make no sense.
She lays for practically all her life, but less and less. The first three seasons account for most of the production; beyond that laying becomes occasional without ever quite stopping. As a hen commonly lives 8 to 12 years, she spends far longer laying little than laying well — a reality worth knowing before you buy.
The sum is straightforward from the laying rate: four hens at 60 % give about seventeen eggs a week, six hens about twenty-five, ten hens about forty-two. But that rate is not constant across the year: it climbs at point of lay, tops out at the peak, then declines, and the season weighs heavily. Over a full year it is better to think in eggs per year — our published breeds range from under a hundred eggs to 180 for the most productive, figures measured on our own holding.
At the peak a hen lays almost every day, but the exact level depends on the breed. Our best lines top out at around 69 % — that is roughly two days in three across the group — and that summit holds for a few weeks before falling away. The peak rate says more about a breed's potential than the annual total: two breeds with the same total can have very different summits. Each breed page shows the measured peak rate and the age at which it occurs.
For a limited period yes — but never all year. Forming an egg takes a little over twenty-four hours, so the laying time shifts from day to day until the hen skips one. Add to that the season, the moult and age, all of which stop or slow laying. A hen laying every day for several weeks at the peak therefore stays well below 365 eggs over the year, even in the most productive breeds.
Laying in clutches means an alternation: several days of laying followed by a pause. It shows up mainly at the level of the individual bird; once you go beyond a dozen hens the various rhythms offset one another and the group curve flattens. Our records are kept by line and not by bird, which mechanically smooths that effect. That said, the length of the pauses does genuinely vary with breed, feeding, keeping conditions and climate.
Point of lay is the first egg; the peak is the moment when the line produces most. Between the two, two to three months of gradual climb usually pass. The two figures are independent: an early breed does not necessarily reach a high summit, and a late breed may well peak high. The Pekin starts at around 19 weeks while others wait more than twenty. Each breed page publishes both ages, measured on our own lines.
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