This was originally posted April 2022
This year I decided to purchase a few production hens to add to my flock. Never really been a fan, but I wanted to try to up my egg production. I lost my leghorns, and they were amazing. Production birds are usually hybrids and do not breed true. They are a good option for those starting out with birds. You can buy them as chicks, but you can get them as "started pullets". These birds are females that are very close to laying age, usually 16-18 weeks old. They don't require heat and you won't need to wait long, if at all, for eggs. This year they had 3 different ones, white, brown and black. I ordered 2 white, which look very similar to white leghorns and lay white eggs, and 2 brown, which are your typical looking production birds. Some people confuse these birds with Rhode Island Reds, but RIR are much darker in colour. We've had production birds before when I was a kid, my parent's bought what were called "spent layers". We called them the "Delong hens" because that's where they came from. They were 2 year old hens that were beginning slack off laying. Those birds are replaced every couple of years to make sure the farms were producing eggs at maximum capacity.
This is the first time I've ordered any from the feed store myself. My parents decided to get a few, too.
I showed up at the feed store with my carboard box that I cut holes in and walked out back. There I saw some tall crates, made of wire, maybe 6' high and a foot wide. Each cage probably had 6 tiers in them and each tier (that wasn't empty) probably had 20 birds in it. They couldn't move, couldn't stand up properly. And there were eggs everywhere. In the cages, smashed on the ground. I understand that they pack them tightly so they don't get injured during transport, but it threw me off just a little. I brought them home and set them up in the little coop in the back away from the rest of the flock. They will be there for a few weeks just make sure they are healthy before I integrate them. They look super healthy so far, except the white birds are dirty from being pooped on...
Went to check on them this morning and noticed that one of them has crossbeak. Hopefully it won't worsen. The white hens are already laying but the brown ones will probably be another couple of weeks
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