Best Egg-Laying Chickens
- Pink-shell laying hens: One of the breeds with the highest laying rate, with an annual egg production of up to more than 330 eggs.
- Barred Plymouth Rock chickens: Under favorable feeding conditions, they lay 180–200 eggs per year.
- Xianju chickens: Under general feeding and management conditions, the egg production at 500 days of age is 180–220 eggs.
- White Leghorn chickens: The average annual egg production is more than 200 eggs, and excellent strains can exceed 300 eggs.
- Roman Brown laying hens: They lay 280–295 eggs at 72 weeks of age.
- White-shell laying hens: The annual egg production at 72 weeks of age is about 288 eggs.
Timely Elimination of Chickens to Improve Laying Efficiency
Laying hens typically initiate their egg-laying cycle at approximately 21 weeks of age. During the initial phase of egg production, the laying rate grows exponentially on a weekly basis, following this pattern: 5% → 10% → 20% → 40%. Once the laying rate reaches 40%, its growth shifts to a half-fold increase, progressing as 40% → 60% → 80%, and eventually climbs to over 90% after 6 to 7 weeks of continuous egg-laying.
Notably, a laying rate of 60% at 160 days (equivalent to 22.85 weeks of age) is considered a normal occurrence. The peak egg-laying period begins between 189 and 203 days (27 to 29 weeks of age), during which the laying rate usually reaches over 90%—this peak typically emerges about 6 to 7 weeks after the start of egg production. The peak period should be maintained for a minimum of two weeks.
After the peak phase, the laying rate enters a steady decline, following a linear trend. It generally drops by 0.5% per week, with the maximum weekly decline not exceeding 1%, and the decrease amplitude remains consistent each week to ensure stability. By 72 weeks of age, the laying rate typically falls to the range of 65% to 70%.
Once hens reach 72 weeks of age, non-laying individuals can be culled (this usually occurs at 16.5 months of age, meaning their productive egg-laying period lasts approximately one year). Alternatively, culling can be delayed until 74, 78, or 80 weeks of age. If forced molting is implemented when hens are 60 weeks old, they can be reused for an additional 40 weeks of egg production following the molting process.
Feed Addition
- Feather meal addition method: Add 3%–5% feather meal to the daily ration, which can increase lean meat and improve the laying rate by 20%.
- Gypsum powder feeding method: Feed 0.5–3 grams of raw gypsum powder to chickens every day. For flocks undergoing molting, it can accelerate molting and restore laying earlier; for laying flocks, it can increase the laying rate by more than 12%.
- Zinc addition method: During the molting period of hens, add 2% zinc (such as zinc sulfate) to the daily ration every day and feed continuously for 7 days. The laying rate will rebound by 5% after 1 week and increase by 10% after 2 weeks.
- Fly maggot feeding method: Mix 10% fly maggots into the daily ration and feed twice in the morning and evening, which can increase the laying rate by 20%.
- Healthy pig blood or placenta feeding method: Add 15% healthy pig blood or pig placenta to the daily ration, which can increase the laying rate of chickens by 20–50%.
- Small trash fish feeding method: Add 20% small trash fish to the daily ration, which can increase the laying rate of chickens by 25%.
- Green vegetable feeding method: Add 10% green vegetables to the daily ration, which can increase the laying rate of chickens by 10%.
- Germinated feed feeding method: In winter and spring when feed is scarce, often supplement chickens with germinated feed, which can make hens lay more eggs. According to experiments, feeding chickens with germinated feed in winter can increase the laying rate by 10–20%.
Fifteen New Methods to Increase Production (for Reference)
1. Starvation method: One month before the laying period of hens, gradually reduce the feed every week, and then control the feed within 20% of the normal food intake, focusing on drinking water. After one month, gradually increase the feed, and the egg production can be increased by about 30%.
2. Wing-clipping method: In recent years, wing-clipping has been performed on chicks abroad, with an average weight gain of 5–8%, an increase in egg production by 8–20%, and an increase in meat yield by about 10%.
3. Bentonite method: Add 3–5% bentonite to the daily ration of laying hens, which can increase feed intake and egg production. It is better to add 3% bentonite to the daily ration of broilers, which can increase the weight gain rate by 20%.
4. Vitamin C addition method: Studies have found that adding 50 grams of vitamin C per ton of feed can increase the laying rate of hens by 11.7% with less feed consumption.
5. Cold drink method: In hot seasons, let laying hens drink cold water, which can stimulate appetite and increase feed intake, and the laying rate can be increased by about 12%.
6. Coloring method: Paint the hens’ feed troughs with gorgeous colors, which can greatly increase the chickens’ appetite and increase the laying rate by more than 10%.
7. Feather meal addition method: Add 35% feather meal to the feed, which can increase the lean meat of chickens, reduce fat in fat meat, and increase egg production by about 200%.
8. Light-dark method: Let hens be exposed to light for 2 hours and then kept in a dark room for 6 hours, which can make hens lay more large and uniform eggs.
9. Waste paper feeding method: Cut waste books and old newspapers into pieces, knead them into small balls and mix them in chicken feed. After one month, the laying rate of chickens can be increased by 30%.
10. Red chili powder feeding method: Add 1% red chili powder to chicken feed and feed it with a little vegetable oil, which can increase the laying rate by 8%.
11. Music listening method: Foreign researchers have found that when other conditions remain unchanged, continuously playing beautiful music in the chicken house can increase the size of chicken eggs after three months, and the laying rate can also increase by about 10%.
12. Egg-increasing method by letting chickens watch chicken slaughter: Experiments have proved that letting hens watch when slaughtering chickens can promote hens to lay eggs. The theoretical basis is the “negative feedback” signal of animals, that is, when animals are dying, they will send signals to their companions, requiring the surviving companions to reproduce faster to avoid the extinction of the species.
13. Lifetime immunization method: American poultry experts soften a part of the eggshell with acetic acid when the egg is incubated for 18 days, and inject the vaccine into the embryo with a syringe. In this way, the hatched chicks can basically be immune for life.
14. Aromatic method: Uniformly add about 10% aromatic plant feed, such as scallions, garlic, ginger, leeks, celery, etc., to the feed during the laying period of hens, which can increase the laying rate of chickens by 10%.
15. Rapeseed cake feeding method: Add 7% rapeseed cake that has been boiled to remove toxins to chicken feed, which can increase the laying rate by 10–15%.
Suitable Feeding Environment for Chicken Egg-Laying House
The suitable temperature for hens to enter the laying period is about 24 °C. If the temperature is low in winter, most free-range chickens have stopped laying. Poultry houses with automatic laying hen cages adopt heating methods to keep the temperature in the chicken house at about 24 °C so that hens do not stop laying in winter. Therefore, the temperature of the chicken coop should also be noted and should not be too low.
Feed management should be strengthened. The dryness of the feed should be ensured, and the troughs of the chicken flocks should be cleaned and treated in a timely manner to prevent hens from eating deteriorated, expired or residual feed. Automatic feeding systems can be used for automatic cleaning and quantitative feeding.
The feeding amount of the chicken flock’s feed should be reasonably controlled, neither too much nor too little. Too much or too little will lead to a decrease in the egg production of hens, usually by about 12%. The amount of feed should be controlled according to the data of chicken weight and egg production. A-type and H-type laying hen cages can be used to maximize and rationalize the breeding quantity of laying hens and increase egg production.
Water intake and water quality should be controlled. Sufficient water sources should be provided for laying hens, and water shortage should not occur. Otherwise, if there is water shortage for one day, the laying rate will decrease by 30%. Therefore, during the laying process of hens, water resources should be supplemented in a timely manner. It should be noted that when chicks are transferred to cages, the supply of water intake should be controlled. Automatic water feeding equipment can be used, which not only ensures that laying hens have filtered water sources but also can uniformly add additives to prevent and control diseases.
Good feeding and management can improve the production performance of chickens, including laying rate, egg weight and eggshell quality. The feeding process environment is directly related to the growth and laying environment of chickens, and a suitable feeding process can effectively improve the laying rate of chickens. In addition, disease prevention and control is also an important guarantee to ensure the stable exertion of the laying performance of chickens.
