[Stereo]

Say you have 50 hens hatched in early 2013 so now 18 months old. How many 1-2 year old birds would you expect to lose over a year, just from heart failure etc? We've lost a few this year although we didn't hatch any of the ones which died. All our home brewed birds seem pretty hardy.

Is it poor breeding or should you just accept a few to fall of their perches? At least 2 of mine showed clear signs of heart problems.  Another just looked old and one day curled up and died with no obvious issues but she was inherited so I have no idea how old she was.

[Mammyshaz]

I don't know about mortality rates but I purchased 5 ex barn hens at 15mths old in November, all laying. I'm down to two and a doesn't-know-whether-to-die-or-shout-for-food one left. Of hybrids bought at pol or hatched I have 4/8 The oldest coming up to 4 yrs the youngest 15months.

I think the ones bred for high egg yield, ie lay every day, just wear themselves out after a year of non-stop laying. The girls I have left of pol or hatched have never layed every day and seem much healthier in general. The ones I lost ( except a legbar which died suddenly with no symptoms and only a year old ) were daily egg layers, even through winter.

[Stereo]

Yeah, our welsummers stopped laying totally last winter but seem much more robust. We've also found that with hybrids made only for laying that the shell quality drops dramatically after their first season to the point where the eggs are thin and useless.

I was initially frustrated with the lack of winter laying but now realise it fits much better with our demand patterns from our egg customers.

[Mammyshaz]

Same here with poor egg formation second year. And the amount of prolapses associated with it has done my head in. I won't get ex batts/barns again that's for sure. They may have a few months of freedom but the high degree of prolapsed and usually culling when they reprolapse is heartbreaking. Saying that, two of the pol bought hens we also culled due to several prolapses but at least I had their humour and  their eggs for 2 years.

[HesterF]

I came into the year with 15 ducks, 4 geese and 17 chickens (I think), most a year or two although a pair of ducks was definitely older. The pair of ducks both died and I think that was just old age although supposedly they were only about four years old. I also lost one young cockerel of unknown causes, one goose from egg peritonitis and one hen from heat exhaustion whilst brooding (still feeling awful about that). The rest remain fit and healthy - or a few have been sold on. So about 14% loss but that was from mostly young birds and not all 'natural causes'.

Once I'm over the hurdle of hatching, the youngsters seem pretty resilient too, touch wood. One humane dispatch of a gosling with a malformed foot and a duckling got eaten by the cat - that was from fifty odd birds hatched. Oh, and the fox took three ducks (blame husband for that). Mind you some will get eaten by us too because I have ended up with a lot of cockerels and drakes. Surprisingly I'm finding it slow to clear the hens too but have had lots of phone calls about ducks.

So it depends how you add it up but I think that's fairly low if you exclude the predation of cats and foxes and my stupidity re. heat.

[Clansman]

Say you have 50 hens hatched in early 2013 so now 18 months old. How many 1-2 year old birds would you expect to lose over a year, just from heart failure etc?

Commercial layers would average around 5% mortality between 6 and 18 months old so for 50 birds I'd reckon losing half a dozen or so from day old would be around average

[twizzel]

The majority of my laying hens are commercial layers, they don't seem to have much common sense in coming home at night during the summer- I started the year off with 36 and now I'm down to 21. I've lost a few to general old age, they seem to give up pretty quickly a little like sheep!

The chicken/ducks I've hatched this year though are very healthy and I'm really pleased with how they've grown, they all seem to be hardy types so next year will carry on the same routine and hope to reduce the amount of commercials. I'm still toying with the idea of having a total cull come the autumn, the commercials are at the end of their 2nd and 3rd years laying so thinking of culling anything not laying and looking old. 

[Victorian Farmer]

We need to look at laying in winter marran etc The old typ hens black rock etc. You can hatch in may hens will lay november december whith little light . Good utilatey hens will lay more in a season than most and you don't need large numbers. 20 good hens will out paform 30 mix and match .Make time next spring to hatch or get some stock bought in. My hens I'm planning will be Marran /cuckoo marran and cream leg bars all sex linkt German line dark egg and cream legbar both should last 48 months and food chick crumbs mixt whith maze grain and a role of dog food 1 day a week .