800th egg!
- Thread starter Icemaiden
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Those Chalk Hill birds do go on and on, don't they? How old is she now? And well done, you, for keeping egg records so meticulously!
chrismahon
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That's pretty astounding Icemaiden, as the general consensus seems to be that hens are only capable of laying 600 eggs maximum in their lifetime and most don't get anywhere near that.
On another astounding note we have a neighbour with a hen called Ukkie (Dutch for pipsqueak according to Google) that was 16 years and two weeks old a month ago- they hatched her. The neighbour was told by someone that the Guiness record was 15 years and something.
On another astounding note we have a neighbour with a hen called Ukkie (Dutch for pipsqueak according to Google) that was 16 years and two weeks old a month ago- they hatched her. The neighbour was told by someone that the Guiness record was 15 years and something.
Hen-Gen
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I'm assuming, Icemaiden, that you know that a Chalkhill Blue is a kind of butterfly so 800 eggs is not that remarkable. Though it does take a hell of a lot to make an omelette.
Congratulations. Clearly good stockmanship.
Congratulations. Clearly good stockmanship.
dinosaw
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Well done to your bird, and you for keeping a count all this time Icemaiden, it would be a hopeless task for us I'm afraid. With regards to how many eggs a chicken can lay in it's lifetime the 600 figure is an old one Chris, the NYT had this little snippet about egg laying.
"Backyard chickens are another matter. In 2013, a cosseted British hen, Victoria, thought to be the oldest in the country, squeezed out two last eggs at the remarkable age of 17.
Two American “long-distance layers,” as they were called, became celebrities in poultry circles in the early years of the 20th century for continuing to lay eggs in old age. Cornell Endurance died at age 12, having laid 1,232 eggs. Cecilia, who was merely 10, was closing in on her record, The Farm Journal reported in 1922.
At the time, the normal maximum was believed to be 600 eggs, but selective breeding has since raised the limit. All the eggs a hen will ever lay are present in undeveloped form in the body from the start."
"Backyard chickens are another matter. In 2013, a cosseted British hen, Victoria, thought to be the oldest in the country, squeezed out two last eggs at the remarkable age of 17.
Two American “long-distance layers,” as they were called, became celebrities in poultry circles in the early years of the 20th century for continuing to lay eggs in old age. Cornell Endurance died at age 12, having laid 1,232 eggs. Cecilia, who was merely 10, was closing in on her record, The Farm Journal reported in 1922.
At the time, the normal maximum was believed to be 600 eggs, but selective breeding has since raised the limit. All the eggs a hen will ever lay are present in undeveloped form in the body from the start."
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My oldest hen is a purebred CLB from Chalk Hill,now 6 and a half. I haven't kept count, but she has laid indefatigably all her life and even this summer has been producing 3 eggs most weeks, besides ruling the roost in the run. I also have a Chalk Hill Brown Leghorn hybrid, now 5, who is also still laying about 4 per week, and another sort of golden Chalk Hill hybrid, 4 years, who reliably lays pale green eggs most days in the season. I don't think they sell purebred CLBs any more, I had my Nutmeg as a sexed chick (along with Marigold of sainted memory, R.I.P.) I would go for purebred CLBs any day, lovely little birds, but don't know of anywhere near enough that sells 'real' ones.
Threads like this one make you realise how much awful waste of life there is in the egg industry, 'harvesting' all the flock before they're two years old.
Threads like this one make you realise how much awful waste of life there is in the egg industry, 'harvesting' all the flock before they're two years old.
bigyetiman
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Well done on the 800th egg. We had a hybrid Barred Rock type who was a very elegant lady and was called the Magnificent Margot who laid an egg daily for 3 years then still went onto produce 2 eggs a week into her 5th year, hence the magnificent. She was a grand lady who in her 6th year just quietly came and sat by feet and died as serenely as she lived. Our stroppy Bluebell is 5 now and still producing eggs.
As you say Marigold such a lot of waste
As you say Marigold such a lot of waste
RichmondHens
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Up till last September I had a gorgeous little black crossbreed bantam who died aged 13. She laid fantastically well all her life including a few eggs in her final year.
Minorcafan
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The record so far is 16 years and 7 months for a Minorca hen in Eire. I did have a bantam mixture who just missed taking the record from her in 1982
valeriebutterley
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What a wonderful thing to celebrate!
Well done, you and your hen, they couldn't do it without your care, could they?
Well done, you and your hen, they couldn't do it without your care, could they?
Thank you! She's still going strong & enjoying life. It'll be interesting to see how she & my remaining ex-batts get on with their new "sisters" next month- one will be a pure breed cream legbar & two will be leghorns, so I'll be relying on my "old girls" for cuddles as I'm not likely to get many from the leghorns & legbar. I'm hoping that my new Light Sussex might be cuddly though. Eggs are lovely but you can't buy chicken cuddles in Sainsbury's 
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chrismahon
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As ours are all getting rather old, we aren't getting many eggs at all now Icemaiden. As we have now moved we decided a 1 hour round trip was too much to use our old farmyard supplier and decided to buy Bio (Organic) from the Supermarket. What a huge disappointment! The eggs were small yolked and completely tasteless, so we have decided to attempt to 'rescue' some hens from the local free-range chicken producer who slaughters them at about 12 weeks (big business here). They are brown Cou-Nu, which is the French hybrid based partly on TNN's, so they should lay very well, when they are not broody of course. We won't be getting a cockerel though as we have been warned they are extremely aggressive.
Looking back, my post from 2017 shows how wrong you can be. Holly (one of my White Leghorns) turned out to be really affectionate & quite happy to snuggle up in my arms. She laid her final & 1288th egg on my husband's birthday last month.Thank you! She's still going strong & enjoying life. It'll be interesting to see how she & my remaining ex-batts get on with their new "sisters" next month- one will be a pure breed cream legbar & two will be leghorns, so I'll be relying on my "old girls" for cuddles as I'm not likely to get many from the leghorns & legbar. I'm hoping that my new Light Sussex might be cuddly though. Eggs are lovely but you can't buy chicken cuddles in Sainsbury's
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bigyetiman
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Well done on her 800th egg.
My longevity record for a hen was Izzie who lived for 9 years, most of the hybrids seem to manage 4-6 years.
I have always found Light Sussex to be very fond of cuddles with a laid back attitude, don't stand if you sit, and don't sit if you can lie down somewhere. They never joined the mad rush to get outside when the pop holes opened it was a case of " another half hour at least"
My longevity record for a hen was Izzie who lived for 9 years, most of the hybrids seem to manage 4-6 years.
I have always found Light Sussex to be very fond of cuddles with a laid back attitude, don't stand if you sit, and don't sit if you can lie down somewhere. They never joined the mad rush to get outside when the pop holes opened it was a case of " another half hour at least"