Chicken Egg Laying Calculator
Pick your breed, flock size, and season to estimate how many eggs to expect.
Eggs per day3.8
Eggs per week26.9
Eggs per year1400
Example
5 Leghorns in peak season lay about 1,400 eggs a year, roughly 27 eggs a week.
Laying rate by breed and age
Two things set your egg count before anything else: which breed you keep and how old she is. Production breeds were bred to lay almost daily and will outproduce a dual-purpose or ornamental bird two to one.
- Production layers (White Leghorn, ISA Brown, Golden Comet) — 280–320 eggs a year, about 5–6 a week
- Dual-purpose breeds (Rhode Island Red, Australorp, Plymouth Rock, Sussex) — 200–280 a year, about 4–5 a week
- Heavy and heritage breeds (Orpington, Wyandotte, Brahma) — 150–220 a year, about 3–4 a week
- Ornamental and bantam breeds (Silkie, Polish, Cochin) — 100–150 a year, about 2–3 a week
Age then applies a multiplier to whatever your breed is capable of. A pullet starts laying at 18–24 weeks and her first season is her best. Year two runs about 80% of that, year three about 70%, and output keeps sliding from there — most hens are down to a few eggs a week by age five, though they can live years longer. Hens also stop almost completely during the autumn moult, which lasts 6–12 weeks, and slow down every winter unless you add supplemental light. Not sure how old your birds are? The chicken age calculator works it out from a hatch date, or from comb and leg condition if you don't have one.
A rooster makes no difference to any of this — hens lay the same whether or not one is present, as explained in do chickens need a rooster to lay eggs. If your numbers have suddenly fallen off a cliff, start with why did my chickens stop laying.
How we calculate it
Eggs per year = breed base rate × hens × season factor (winter ×0.5). Per week = year ÷ 52; per day = year ÷ 365.
Based on:
- Productive layers average about 5 to 6 eggs per hen per week in peak season (Mississippi State Extension)
- Lay rate drops with short winter daylight, molt, and age (University of Minnesota Extension)
- Daylight length and light management drive laying rates (Penn State Extension)
Figures are typical guidelines for planning. Your birds, breed, climate, and feed will vary.
Frequently asked questions
How many eggs does a chicken lay per week?
A productive laying breed like a Leghorn or Rhode Island Red averages 5–6 eggs per week in peak season, dropping by roughly half in winter as daylight shortens.
Why did my hens stop laying?
The most common causes are shorter winter daylight, molting, age (laying declines after 2–3 years), stress, or not enough protein and calcium in the feed.
How many chickens do I need for a dozen eggs a week?
With a good laying breed averaging about 5 eggs per hen per week, 3 hens comfortably produce roughly a dozen eggs a week in peak season.