End of lay hens for sale

[porterswoods]

It has come to that time of year again. I have free range Lohmann Brown end of lay hens available for £2 each.

60 weeks old and fully vaccinated.

 

[drstitson]

crikey - they're only productive/economically viable for 9 months?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I have a four and a half year old hen who lays 5 eggs in a fortnight

 

[porterswoods]

We have them until 72 weeks, when they will go for slaughter. telling people early gives people time to get things organised if they want some.

They are on farm for 56 weeks and productive for 52 of them. That is not to say they will not lay for many years to come, it is just not economical to keep them after 72 weeks on a commercial scale. Added to that most supermarkets will not buy eggs from old hens.

 

[Queens59]

Silly question...how can you tell if an egg is from an old hen??

 

[susbees]

I have a four and a half year old hen who lays 5 eggs in a fortnight

We still have several hens we moved here with...ten years ago this coming September. Not "viable" egg-wise but still have their uses as gardeners and providers of fertiliser.

 

[susbees]

Silly question...how can you tell if an egg is from an old hen??

Tend to get misshapen, lose shell colour, look dry and chalk-like.

 

[keithgrimes]

Tend to get misshapen, lose shell colour, look dry and chalk-like.

Rubbish. This guy is talking about hens that are 60 weeks old. I've been keeping hens since 1968 and have had cracking quality eggs from 3 year old hens (not many, granted). The quality of the egg is down to what they feed on, not their age, the only thing that changes with age is the frequency of laying. If I look back at my experience, the vast majority of double yolkers I have had (a sure sign of hen health) has been in their second year. He is selling them because their lay rate has dropped, fair enough, but it doesn't follow that eggs from old hens are inferior. You get more misshapen and pale eggs from hens that are just starting to lay than you get from 'old' hens.

 

[DarynWebb]

When buying eggs I Always look for pale looking shells, something to do with my grandmother she said they where better, cannot remember why?

 

[Luminos]

I don't care whether they lay eggs or not - I like having the hens around, they're real characters

 

[porterswoods]

Rubbish. This guy is talking about hens that are 60 weeks old. I've been keeping hens since 1968 and have had cracking quality eggs from 3 year old hens (not many, granted). The quality of the egg is down to what they feed on, not their age, the only thing that changes with age is the frequency of laying. If I look back at my experience, the vast majority of double yolkers I have had (a sure sign of hen health) has been in their second year. He is selling them because their lay rate has dropped, fair enough, but it doesn't follow that eggs from old hens are inferior. You get more misshapen and pale eggs from hens that are just starting to lay than you get from 'old' hens.

That is not strictly true. Whilst feed quality does account for weaker shells it is not the only thing that affects shell quality.

As the flock progresses egg size increases, there is the same amount of shell over a greater area. That is why pullet eggs have quite thick shells. Reject eggs will be between 15 - 20% at week 72, at week 25 it will be around 0.5%. A lot also depends on the breed of hen. My lohmanns have laid 253.73 eggs each over the past 43 weeks. Quantity will come at the expense of quality, which is why a really old hen that lays 5 eggs a fortnight lays good quality eggs.

At that same time feed consumption does not reduce, that is to say a 4 yar old lohmann will still eat the same amount as a 25 week old bird.

Today my birds have laid at 89.6%, this means that only 89.6% of the birds have laid an egg. This peaked at 97% and will decline to 75% at week 72.

Wrinked and abnormal shells are indicative of a disease challange past or present or of other stress related issues. Vermin, worms and redmite are the most common stressors.

Eggs from new hens are normally of superior quality that those of the flock just gone. This is when we get all of our double yolked eggs. They occur when the hen is immature and releases 2 yolks together that then become encased in the same shell. when the hen is over 28 weeks she has settled down and it is unlikely that she will lay double yolked eggs.

Egg size is a good indation of how old the hen was that laid the egg. A hen will lay a small egg first and all the eggs that follow will get bigger as te hen gets older. My current egg weight is 66.1g it started a 48g.

 

[FreeFall]

Someone isn't pulling their weight around here

 

[milkermel]

If you were local porters wood i would have some but cornwall is a bit of a distance. Totally understand where you are coming from and fair play that you try and pass them on rather than the easy option of sending them to slaughter.

Unfortunately todays market requires same sized eggs all looking perfect and without poo on. my daughter in law didnt even realise that eggs came out of chickens bum until she came down and found a speck of poo on my eggs!!

to produce eggs on large scale you have to provide what the buyer wants and make it viable. Hope you manage to sell as many as possible. atb

 

[porterswoods]

Does nobody want some?

 

[Frisbee]

I do........

pm sent

Frisbee