Olive egger laying

[Smileybans]

Maybe this belongs in genetics but I’m not too sure.
I have a question about the frequency of olive eggers laying. Since my OEs came into lay I was getting one egg every two days. I looked it up and google says they lay every two days depending on the parent stock. But I’m wondering why. Does the ovum take longer to drop?
My RIR and Buff orpington, I was going to abreviate BO but it made me think of body odor, lay every day. I know they’re high production breeds but what’s the difference? What makes the olive eggers skip a day or two? Google wasn’t really much help so I though I’d ask the people who actually know chickens.

 

[hysop]

Interesting question. Following for the answers you get.

I’ve heard the color of the egg takes longer or something. That’s why the chocolate egg laying hens lay less often but not sure if it’s fact.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I agree that it is most likely just genetics depending on the breeds used to create her. Marans are not everyday layers, so if she is part Marans that might explain it. I got 4-5 eggs per week from my olive egger. My leghorn cross lays every single day. My Marans also lays 4-5 eggs per week. Hope this helps.

 

[aart]

I agree that it is most likely just genetics depending on the breeds used to create her. Marans are not everyday layers, so if she is part Marans that might explain it. I got 4-5 eggs per week from my olive egger. My leghorn cross lays every single day. My Marans also lays 4-5 eggs per week. Hope this helps.

This^^^

 

[Smileybans]

I agree that it is most likely just genetics depending on the breeds used to create her. Marans are not everyday layers, so if she is part Marans that might explain it. I got 4-5 eggs per week from my olive egger. My leghorn cross lays every single day. My Marans also lays 4-5 eggs per week. Hope this helps.

They are marans crossed. And I was confused that I wasn’t finding an egg everyday. But I feel better knowing not to expect one everyday from them.
So it does help, a little. But, and I may sound dumb for asking, how does one chicken breed lay everyday but not others? Genetic manipulation by people for production? Or just genes? I was told all chickens laid one egg a day. So it kind of baffles me that some don’t.

 

[linguini]

They are marans crossed. And I was confused that I wasn’t finding an egg everyday. But I feel better knowing not to expect one everyday from them.
So it does help, a little. But, and I may sound dumb for asking, how does one chicken breed lay everyday but not others? Genetic manipulation by people for production? Or just genes? I was told all chickens laid one egg a day. So it kind of baffles me that some don’t.

I have one Olive Egger, she is about 7.5 months old now. She started laying when she was 6 months old. In the first 3 weeks, her egg laying schedule was very irregular, every other day or sometimes she'd rest for two days in a row. But since the end of December, she has been laying almost daily! Her cycle is between 24 - 25 hours. (we record every egg laying time and weight, first-time chooks' parents In Feb, she hasn't taken any day off yet. She is the most productive layer of our flock of 8 pullets (we have 7 different breeds).

Everyone of our young hens has her own schedule, and they definitely don't lay one egg everyday! One thing I observed: They all take a day off after they lay an egg at their
individual "latest time of day" ( ranging from noon to 4pm). And their egg laying cycles range from 25 to 28 hours among our 8 pullets. After a pullet takes a day off, you can almost guarantee that she will lay an egg the first thing in the morning! Sometimes, for some unknown reason, they may just take a day off not following their schedule, but most of the time their egg laying are quite predictable!!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

They are marans crossed. And I was confused that I wasn’t finding an egg everyday. But I feel better knowing not to expect one everyday from them.
So it does help, a little. But, and I may sound dumb for asking, how does one chicken breed lay everyday but not others? Genetic manipulation by people for production? Or just genes? I was told all chickens laid one egg a day. So it kind of baffles me that some don’t.

Yes it is breed dependent and genetic manipulation. In the wild, chickens will lay an egg a day until they get around 12, then sit on them for 3 weeks until they hatch, then raise these babies for about 6 weeks, then start the process over. So they do not lay eggs for about 2 months at a time. Over generations egg production has been emphasized. Generally these are the lighter, leaner breeds that are also most feed efficient, start laying early and then also slow way down after about 2 years. This is when many people switch out their hens for new layers. Also what the large egg producers do. The dual purpose breeds (both for meat and eggs) like the Marans, Orpingtons and Wyandottes do not lay as often as they were also bred for their meat qualities as well as egg qualities. This is why they are larger birds. For the backyard chicken owner, we enjoy the different qualities of the different breeds for different reasons. Maybe we like temperament or egg color over production, so we pick the breeds accordingly. Hope this all makes sense.
3-5 eggs a week is not bad!

 

[Smileybans]

I have one Olive Egger, she is about 7.5 months old now. She started laying when she was 6 months old. In the first 3 weeks, her egg laying schedule was very irregular, every other day or sometimes she'd rest for two days in a row. But since the end of December, she has been laying almost daily! Her cycle is between 24 - 25 hours. (we record every egg laying time and weight, first-time chooks' parents In Feb, she hasn't taken any day off yet. She is the most productive layer of our flock of 8 pullets (we have 7 different breeds).

Everyone of our young hens has her own schedule, and they definitely don't lay one egg everyday! One thing I observed: They all take a day off after they lay an egg at their
individual "latest time of day" ( ranging from noon to 4pm). And their egg laying cycles range from 25 to 28 hours among our 8 pullets. After a pullet takes a day off, you can almost guarantee that she will lay an egg the first thing in the morning! Sometimes, for some unknown reason, they may just take a day off not following their schedule, but most of the time their egg laying are quite predictable!!

I try to monitor mine just as closely. Now anyway. My buff orp is laying around 830am and if I leave it out there it gets frozen. My RIR lays a half hour later than her. But my OEs are laying around 5pm. And I’m not sure who is laying. I have 3 OEs and I thought only one was laying. But maybe two are and are on opposite days. It’s hard to catch the OEs in the nest box when it’s that late and everyone, the chickens that is, is getting ready for bed. My OEs are six months and expect they’ll even out as they go. Or they won’t. It’s okay either way. Just really different from my RIR and buff orp.

 

[Smileybans]

Yes it is breed dependent and genetic manipulation. In the wild, chickens will lay an egg a day until they get around 12, then sit on them for 3 weeks until they hatch, then raise these babies for about 6 weeks, then start the process over. So they do not lay eggs for about 2 months at a time. Over generations egg production has been emphasized. Generally these are the lighter, leaner breeds that are also most feed efficient, start laying early and then also slow way down after about 2 years. This is when many people switch out their hens for new layers. Also what the large egg producers do. The dual purpose breeds (both for meat and eggs) like the Marans, Orpingtons and Wyandottes do not lay as often as they were also bred for their meat qualities as well as egg qualities. This is why they are larger birds. For the backyard chicken owner, we enjoy the different qualities of the different breeds for different reasons. Maybe we like temperament or egg color over production, so we pick the breeds accordingly. Hope this all makes sense.
3-5 eggs a week is not bad!

Okay. It all does make sense. I knew that the birds used in commercial egg production were bred for, well egg production. But I didn’t think about the dual purpose birds. I also didn’t know marans was a dual purpose bird. Makes more sense as to why they lay differently now when you put it like that. I wasn’t satisfied with what the internet gave me, which was just because they do.
I’m more than okay with the amount of eggs I’m getting. I just thought that she might be laying somewhere else or because she didn’t lay every day, like my other two girls, something was wrong. I’m glad nothing is wrong and know what to expect now.

 

[aart]

Careful cross breeding, rather than genetic manipulation,
is how some birds are high producers and other much less so.

Some birds, especially those that lay daily, will not always lay at the same time of day.
It takes about 25 hours for an egg to form, a new ova is released shortly after an egg is laid.
A new egg could be laid approximately every 25-26 hours, so an hour or so later every day until one is laid late in the day and another ova might not be released until the following day, so a day off. BUT..very hen is different and only time will tell what a particular hen/pullets schedule might be. Not every hen/pullet lays every day..some only lay a few a week.