Chicken Keeping Timetable (a Chicken Keeping 101 Resource)

August 30, 2013 | No Comments

Experienced chicken keepers have developed their own schedule based on years of experience. But if you’re new, sometimes it’s hard to know when to change things or when to expect changes in their chickens, so I’ve put together this little chicken keeping timetable. At the same time I’m including as many links as possible to other chicken keeping articles where you can find more information. You might also find my New Chicken Keepers Dictionary useful.

Eggs

Up to 10 days	Storage of eggs for incubation without serious loss of viability
21 days	Incubation
2 weeks	Refrigerated eggs are at their best quality
4 weeks	Unwashed and unrefrigerated eggs are at best quality.
90 days	Refrigerated eggs safe for eating by government standards.
7 months	Refrigerated eggs are probably still safe for eating, though quality diminishes with time.
1 year	Frozen eggs are safe for eating.

Chicken Care

First 5-7 days	Keep chicks on paper towels to avoid sour crop from eating bedding.
When you begin feeding anything but starter	Offer chick grit or allow outside regularly.
Until at least 2 weeks after regularly allowing outside	Feed medicated starter
2 -4 weeks after regularly allowing outside	Switch to unmedicated starter or grower
6-8 weeks or until fully feathered	Keep in brooder with heater
About 10 weeks (until at least half the size of potential flockmates)	Earliest introduction of new chicks to an existing flock. The exception is chicks who hatched in the coop and are being protected by mother hen.
16 weeks or start to lay	Switch to layer feed. Alternatively, continue grower feed oyster shell and/or crushed eggshell in a seperate feeder.
About 16 weeks	Sexual maturity or start to lay for production breeds. Heritage chickens and special breeds may mature later, even up to 1 year of age.
16-18 weeks	Best time to butcher for the most tender meat. Heavy breeds but not Cornish Cross. None of this timetable applies to Cornish Cross.
2 years	Production breeds will often stop laying near 2 years of age.
8 years	Heritage breeds will often lay for up to 8 years. 8 years is also the most typical natural lifespan of a chicken barring illness or injury.
20 years	Rarely a chicken will live up to 20 years with excellent care and barring illness or injury.

Seasonal/Cyclical Timeframes

2-4 weeks after mating	Hens can still lay fertile eggs after a rooster is removed from the flock. Probability drops after 4 weeks, but it is still possible to have fertile eggs even up to 8 weeks later.
6-8 weeks	Broody hens who are not allowed to hatch eggs will stay broody about 6-8 weeks if not broken. Broodiness might last longer if there are other broody hens in the flock (broody hens make broody friends). Hens are most likely to become broody in the spring.
Spring	Heaviest egg laying period.
Summer	Lighter egg laying due to heat stress.
Fall	Molt. Many production breeds have been bred not to molt or to have a very light molt. Chickens will not often molt their first fall, but each fall after that. Chickens will rarely lay during a heavy molt.
Winter	Lightest egg laying due to shorter daylight hours. Some keepers supplement light to keep hens laying. Others allow their chickens a "vacation". The exception to this rule are production pullets that started laying late summer to fall. They often continue to lay well throughout their first winter.