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When you rear chickens for egg production, it is important that you know that they can lay eggs at least daily. This will give you value for your money with certain returns. You need to know that most breeds of hens begin to lay eggs at about 20 weeks. There are those that lay eggs daily, but others don’t. Some, owing to narrow pelvic or other problem do not lay eggs. Therefore, when keeping the chicken for eggs, you should be aware of this fact so that you separate such that don’t lay eggs from the rest. Certain conditions may affect normal routine for laying eggs. Shortage of daylight, especially during winter, interrupted molting, temperatures that are extreme, illness, stress, and lack of access to fresh water are some of the factors that may interfere with the laying routine of hens. Therefore, you should make sure that these conditions are corrected before you can return to a normal egg laying routine. Egg production for most hens begins declining after two years. With or without a rooster, hens will lay eggs since the roosters only role is that of fertilization. You should not be alarmed if your hen does not lay eggs daily over a continuous period of time. You should note that it takes time before an egg can be formed and eventually laid. When a hen lays an egg, it takes about 26 hours to form another egg fully. If you consider this time, the hour in which the hen lays an egg varies each day, and sometimes the hen will lay its egg in the evening. The hen may at times skip a day or even more. When selecting hens for breeding, you should take into consideration the length of time they will continue laying eggs. The length in which a hen will lay eggs will vary depending on the breed type. For instance, a number of the home flock will continue producing eggs for about three or four years. You should also know that the size and quality of the eggs change over time. Every year, the size of the egg will increase, but the quality of the shell will decrease. Therefore, you should consider selecting the right breed for your purposes. There are breeds that are specifically bred for commercial purposes, and hence their production of eggs will be high. If you have a small farm and live in an area where the climate is cold, then you should go for the Orpington Chicken. Their plumage which is fluffy make them adaptable to cold weather conditions. Orpington Chicken is known to be friendly and big. They can be reared both for eggs and meat which is of good quality. They can lay at least three eggs per week. Besides the Orpington, the domestic duck is also another bird that can be reared for both egg production and meat. However, if you compare chicken and the duck, you should rather go for chicken since ducks are relatively expensive and harder to maintain than chicken. In addition, many breeds are not reliable when it comes to sitting on the effs and raising the ducklings.
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