How many eggs does a backyard chicken lay per week?

Why a hen can't lay every day

The ceiling is one egg a day. As Jacquie Jacob of the University of Kentucky explains on the Cooperative Extension poultry site, a hen starts forming the next egg shortly after laying one, and it takes about 26 hours for an egg to form fully. So each egg comes a little later in the day than the one before, until it would come too late and the hen skips a day before starting again.

That is why even a hen in her best weeks does not lay seven eggs in seven days, and why a weekly count bounces around. It is also why counting eggs per hen per day, rather than eggs per week for the whole flock, gives a steadier picture. The same article points out that hens in a flock do not all start laying on the same day or stop on the same day, so a flock's numbers rise and fall more gradually than any single bird's.

What a year of laying looks like

The University of Florida IFAS Extension publication "Factors Affecting Egg Production in Backyard Chicken Flocks" lays out a typical cycle. Laying begins at about 18 to 22 weeks of age, depending on breed and season. Flock production rises quickly to a peak of about 90 percent six to eight weeks later, then gradually declines to about 65 percent after twelve months of lay.

Turned into weekly numbers, 90 percent is about 6.3 eggs per hen per week and 65 percent is about 4.5. A flock of six hens near its peak might bring in 35 to 40 eggs a week; the same six a year later, closer to 27.

The cycle ends in a rest. According to the Florida publication, good layers lay for about 50 to 60 weeks and then molt, while poorer layers and older hens molt more often and lay less consistently. The Extension poultry site notes that hens typically stop laying until the molt is over; late molters lay for 12 to 14 months first and replace their feathers over two to three months, while early molters can take up to six months to finish.

Breed sets the ceiling, age lowers it

Breeds differ more than most people expect. The Extension poultry site's breed article says a White Leghorn can produce 260-plus eggs in twelve months, about five a week, and that hens from breeds developed for egg production can lay more than 300 eggs a year. The University of Kentucky's "How Much Will My Chickens Eat?" gives a similar figure of almost 300 eggs a year for egg-type breeds, against 10 to 12 eggs a year for the wild red jungle fowl that all chickens descend from. Dual-purpose breeds, kept for both eggs and meat, are described as laying reasonably well rather than at those levels.

Age pulls every breed down. The Florida publication says that after two or three years many hens decline significantly in productivity, though it varies greatly from bird to bird. The Extension poultry site describes many home flocks laying on and off for three to four years, with production lower each year while egg size increases.

Daylight and the winter slump

Chickens lay in response to day length. The Florida publication says hens need about 14 hours of day length to maintain egg production, and that the shorter days of fall and winter would be expected to cause a severe decline, or even a stop, in laying unless supplemental light is provided. Hens on natural light alone would be expected to start again in spring.

The Extension poultry site makes the same point from the other side: many flocks without supplemental light go out of production during the fall and winter months. Some keepers add a light on a timer; others let the hens rest. Either way, a December week with a handful of eggs is the expected pattern for a flock on natural light, not by itself a sign that something is wrong.

How to work out your own flock's lay rate

A lay rate turns a pile of eggs into a number you can compare from week to week. Count the eggs collected, then divide by the number of hens multiplied by the number of days, and multiply by 100. Count only hens of laying age; roosters do not lay, and pullets that have not started yet will drag the number down.

1. Six hens over seven days are 42 hen-days. If they laid 31 eggs that week, 31 ÷ 42 = 0.74, a lay rate of 74 percent.
2. If a hen joins partway through, count each day with the hens you actually had: five hens for three days and six for four days are 15 + 24 = 39 hen-days, and 28 eggs makes 72 percent. Dividing by today's six hens instead would understate the week.

Measured this way, you can line your flock up against the Florida curve, peak near 90 percent and about 65 percent a year in, and more usefully against itself: this October against last October, the same hens a year older. If you would rather not keep the tally on paper, CluckLedger counts eggs from a home screen widget and works out the hen-day lay rate by week or month, using the flock size you had on each day.

Common mistakes when judging a flock's laying

Comparing hens with the best number a breed can reach. Figures like 260 or 300 eggs a year describe egg breeds in their prime. A mixed backyard flock, partly in its second or third year, will sit well below them.

Judging from a few days. With a 26-hour laying rhythm, skipped days are normal. A month tells you far more than three days.

Ignoring the calendar. Shorter days and the molt both cut laying. A drop in November is a different question from a drop in May.

This guide summarizes Extension publications on egg production and is not veterinary advice. A sudden drop in laying, especially with other changes in the birds, is a question for a poultry veterinarian or your local Cooperative Extension office.

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