- ✓Read the production targets: laying rate, egg weight, cumulative eggs
- ✓Calculate and plot your laying percentage every week
- ✓React to a drop in laying and manage production day to day
The strain’s production targets
| Age | Laying (% of hens) | Average egg weight | Cumulative eggs per hen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 weeks | 15% | 48 g | 1 |
| 22 weeks | 69% | 53 g | 9 |
| 25 weeks | 94.5% | 57.6 g | 28 |
| 30 weeks | 96.5% | 60.5 g | 61 |
| 40 weeks | 95.7% | 62.9 g | 127 |
| 50 weeks | 93.8% | 63.9 g | 192 |
| 60 weeks | 90.4% | 64.5 g | 254 |
| 72 weeks | 84.7% | 65 g | 318 |
| 80 weeks | 80.9% | 65.4 g | 362 |
Source: Novogen (Novogen Brown management guide, 2024).
- Laying (%): out of 100 hens present, how many eggs per day. The peak is around 30 weeks, then laying declines slowly.
- Average egg weight: it increases throughout the cycle, from 57.6 g at 25 weeks to 65.4 g at 80 weeks.
- Cumulative eggs per hen: the total number of eggs laid by one hen since the start. It is the real counter of the flock: 318 eggs at 72 weeks, 362 at 80 weeks.
Your figures in an open-sided house
The laying percentage is calculated as follows: number of eggs collected in the day ÷ number of hens present × 100. Example: 750 eggs collected for 1,000 hens present gives a laying rate of 75%.
- Calculate it every day, then take the average of the 7 days of the week.
- Count the hens present: remove dead hens and hens taken out of the flock.
- Plot your curve on a sheet, week after week, next to the curve from the table.
- Compare your curve above all with itself: a sudden drop from one week to the next matters more than a steady gap with the table.
Average laying of around 75% over the year in an open-sided house and in strong heat is a common result. What must not become a habit is a curve that falls suddenly: it is always the sign of a problem to be found.
When the curve drops: the checklist
A drop in laying almost always has a cause in the week before. Check in this order, from the simplest to the most serious:
| To check | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Water | Was there a cut? Was the water hot in the hot hours? Are there enough drinkers? |
| Light | Did the day length stay at 16 h? Power cut, burnt-out bulb, timer out of adjustment? |
| Feed | Did the hens receive 111 to 119 g a day? New feed, new supplier, badly stored feed? |
| Heat | Was there a heat wave? Were the hens panting? |
| Health | Is mortality rising? Coughing, diarrhoea, eggs with abnormal shells? Call the area’s veterinarian. |
Record the date of the drop and what you found. If you find nothing in water, light, feed or heat, do not wait: call the veterinarian.
Day-to-day production
- Layer feed: about 111 to 119 g per hen per day in full production. For 1,000 hens, that is about 111 to 119 kg a day: the quantity distributed is recorded every day.
- Collection: at least 2 to 3 times a day, more often when it is hot.
- Sorting: remove broken, cracked or dirty eggs.
- Storage: eggs are kept cool and in the shade, never in the sun.
Source: Novogen (Novogen Brown management guide, 2024).
To know what an egg costs you, use the site’s profitability calculator with your own prices for feed and chicks: no figure replaces your own.
For the entrepreneur
- ›Ask every week for the laying curve plotted next to the table’s curve, and the total cumulative eggs per hen.
- ›Insist on a written explanation for any drop in laying from one week to the next.
- ›Calculate the cost of an egg with your own prices: it decides your selling prices and the date of depopulation.
For the technician
- ›Count the eggs at every collection, calculate the laying percentage every day and the average every week.
- ›Collect at least 2 to 3 times a day, more when it is hot; sort and store in a cool place.
- ›In case of a drop, check in order: water, light, feed, heat, health.
The 3 questions to ask your technician this week
- What is the average laying percentage this week, and last week?
- How many cumulative eggs per hen do we have since the start of laying?
- How many broken, cracked or dirty eggs did we remove this week?
Key points
- •Target peak around 30 weeks (96.5%), then a slow decline: 84.7% at 72 weeks, 80.9% at 80 weeks.
- •In an open-sided house in strong heat, average laying over the year is often around 75%.
- •Laying (%) = eggs of the day ÷ hens present × 100; weekly average, curve plotted.
- •Feed: 111 to 119 g per hen per day; collection at least 2 to 3 times a day.
- •Drop in laying: water, light, feed, heat, health; veterinarian if nothing is found.
- •Target cumulative eggs: 318 per hen at 72 weeks, 362 at 80 weeks.