[kennelman]

Hi,

Has anybody out there got any warrens or black rocks in their 2nd year and if so what is the egg rate like? I know they slow down after the first year but was just wondering how productive they are after that?

[little blue]

Ask me in a few months! Ours are nearly 2 year old warrens, they have gone off lay then perked up again quite abit this summer, thought it could be the weather as well.  They should still lay but probably less frequently as the years go on.  Not much meat on them if you were thinking of Sunday dinners!

[chickenfeed]

i have black rocks in the 2nd laying year the eggs are bigger this year and they are still giving us plenty of eggs.
a farmer up the road has some 7 year old black rocks still in lay i dont think mine will stay here as long.

[kennelman]

I have so many customers asking me for eggs when they see my 5 (2 Spekledys and 3 light Sussex) that I thought it would be great to get a small flock (30 or 40) and sell the eggs as well as giving the kids some enjoyment. But it's a fine line between being productive enough in the second year to still produce enough eggs to cover feed costs and going fully commercial and replacing the birds every year! I'd prefer to be able to start with 30 then add 10 new birds the following year to cover the slow down in the first batch and so on. Hence wanting to know 2nd year egg numbers.

[chickenfeed]

  hi what i usually do is pick a colour leg band each year and sell either 1/2 or 1/3 depending on my mood! whilst they are still classed as pullets being under 2 years old thus getting a good ammount back at auction the others i leave to carry on laying until the following year i hatch around 100 - 150 chicks a year so i sell my surplas pol and rear the males for the table this way i always have money coming in from old and new stock aswell as new laying birds and by having a few hatchings a year i have pol at intervals this way it keeps the eggs coming.