How Many Eggs Does a Cochin Lay Per Year?

Use the egg production calculator to model your specific flock.

Production ranges

Scenario	Annual eggs	Avg / week	Avg / day	When this happens
Low	~120	~2.3	~0.33	Two or three broody spells a year, older hen, sitting allowed to run its course
Normal	~160	~3.1	~0.44	Typical hen, Year 1 to 2, one or two broody breaks, layer feed
High	~200	~3.8	~0.55	Brooding interrupted early, Year 1, good condition

The Normal row is the most realistic starting point for planning. It assumes a healthy first or second year hen on layer feed who broods once or twice over the year. Cochins are kept for temperament and for their brooding more than for eggs, so plan around three eggs a week rather than a daily egg.

“When not brooding” is the whole story. The Livestock Conservancy’s 150 to 200 figure carries that qualifier explicitly, and it is the reason published Cochin numbers scatter so widely — 150 to 180 from My Pet Chicken and Mile Four, 175 from Hoover’s Hatchery, up to 200 from the Conservancy. Those sources are not really disagreeing about the bird. They are describing hens whose brooding was managed differently.

By year, month, week, and day

Time period	Low (~120/yr)	Normal (~160/yr)	High (~200/yr)
Per year	120	160	200
Per month (average)	~10.0	~13.3	~16.7
Per week (average)	~2.3	~3.1	~3.8
Per day (average)	~0.33	~0.44	~0.55
Dozens per year	~10.0	~13.3	~16.7

A hen lays one egg every 24 to 26 hours at full production and skips days, so the daily average never reaches 1.0. For a Cochin the yearly average is dragged down further by brooding, since she lays nothing at all while she is sitting. Counting on one egg every two days from each Cochin across the whole year is a realistic planning rule.

The formula

Scale to any flock size:

Weekly eggs = Number of hens × 4 × Age Factor × Season Factor

The baseline of 4 is a Cochin’s weekly output while she is actively laying, taken from the top of the Conservancy’s not-brooding range. Adjust it down with the factors below as the flock ages and the seasons change.

Factor	Multiplier
Year 1 (peak)	×1.00
Year 2	×0.84
Year 3	×0.66
Year 4	×0.50
Year 5	×0.38
Spring / Summer	×1.00
Fall (Sept to Oct)	×0.90
Winter, no supplemental light	×0.75
Winter, 16-hr light schedule	×0.95

Example: 6 hens × 4 × 0.84 (Year 2) × 0.75 (winter, no light) = 15 eggs per week.

The age and season multipliers above are our standard curve, applied across the site rather than measured on Cochins specifically. One caution particular to this breed: the formula gives the rate while hens are laying. A brooding hen contributes zero for the four to six weeks she sits, so a real Cochin flock lands below the formula figure for stretches at a time — usually in spring and early summer. Use the egg production calculator to model your flock by age and season, then subtract for the broody spells you expect.

How production drops year over year

Production slides down gradually rather than stopping at a set age. The table applies the age factors to the Normal annual figure of ~160 eggs.

Year	Per hen / year	Per hen / week	6-bird flock / year	6-bird flock / week
Year 1 (peak)	~160	~3.1	~960	~18
Year 2	~134	~2.6	~806	~16
Year 3	~106	~2.0	~634	~12
Year 4	~80	~1.5	~480	~9
Year 5	~61	~1.2	~365	~7

Cochins are long-lived — My Pet Chicken gives 5 to 8 years and Mile Four 8 to 10 — so a hen will usually outlast her productive laying by several years. Strong output holds for roughly the first two to three years and then tapers. Many keepers add a young pullet or two every other year to keep eggs coming while the older hens settle into being ornamental, which is what most Cochin flocks are for anyway.

Month by month (first-year hen)

Cochins are genuinely good winter layers. The Livestock Conservancy calls them very hardy and cold-hardy, and their dense feathering means the short-day dip is shallower than you would see from a production breed. The bigger swings come from brooding, which clusters in spring and early summer.

Month	Natural light only	With 16-hr coop lighting	Notes
January	14	15	Holds up well; cold suits this breed
February	14	15	Steady
March	16	16	Days lengthening, best month
April	13	13	Broody spells often begin
May	11	11	Peak brooding season
June	11	11	Brooding continues; heat starts to bite
July	12	12	Hottest weeks, shade matters more than light
August	13	14	Recovering
September	15	15	Strong fall laying
October	15	15	Reliable
November	13	14	Holds through cooling weather
December	13	15	Shortest days

Supplemental light does less for Cochins than for most breeds, because their limiting factor is brooding rather than daylight, and because they already lay through the cold. If you do add light, start in early September before the days shorten and aim for 14 to 16 total hours. Interrupting broody spells will move your annual total far more than lighting will.

What changes the number

The single biggest lever on a Cochin’s annual total is how often she broods, followed by summer heat, her age, and her condition.

Brooding

The Livestock Conservancy is blunt about it: “As a broody fowl, they have no equal,” and a Cochin hen “will hatch more than one batch per year, if allowed.” That last clause is the one to plan around. A hen lays nothing while sitting, and a spell runs four to six weeks, so two uninterrupted broods can remove ten to twelve weeks of laying from the year. Frequent egg collection and a cool, open broody-breaker pen discourage sitting. Many keepers go the other way and use the trait deliberately — the Conservancy rates Cochins the best fowls for hatching and brooding ducks and turkeys, so a Cochin can incubate clutches your other birds abandon.

Heat, not cold, is the risk

This is where Cochins differ from most heavy breeds and where sources disagree. The Conservancy states that Cochins “suffer in the heat and need shade and cool areas so they can escape the summer sun.” My Pet Chicken and Mile Four agree, with Mile Four rating heat tolerance low to moderate because the heavy feathering overheats easily. Hoover’s Hatchery is the outlier, listing them as both cold and heat hardy. We would plan for the majority view: deep shade, cool water, and airflow through the summer, and no concern at all about winter.

Slow maturity

Cochins are slow to develop, and the published first-lay ages spread more than for most breeds — Mile Four says 22 to 24 weeks, My Pet Chicken says 5 to 6 months, and the Livestock Conservancy says a Cochin may not begin laying until about 8 months old. Anywhere in that 22-week to 8-month window is normal. Do not worry if a young Cochin is months behind her flockmates.

Egg size and what to expect

Cochin eggs are brown and run medium to large — roughly 21 to 24 ounces per dozen under USDA size classes. Mile Four describes the colour as brown to light brown rather than the deep tone some heavy breeds give. They are ordinary table eggs; nothing about them is unusual except how few of them there are.

Feed and condition

Keep layer feed at 16 to 18% protein with added calcium, and offer free-choice oyster shell. Cochins are slow movers — Mile Four’s description — so they forage less of their own diet than an active breed and will eat what you put in front of them. Watching condition matters for the same reason it does with Silkies: dense feathering hides the bird underneath, and a Cochin that has quietly put on weight lays worse. Pick a hen up now and then rather than judging by eye.

Foot feathering and wet ground

The Conservancy notes that the feathering “extends down the legs to the feet and toes, with only the inner two toes being naked.” That is a keeping consideration rather than a laying one, and this part is our judgment rather than a published finding: feathered feet collect mud and, in freezing weather, ice. Dry bedding and well-drained runs are worth more to a Cochin than to a clean-legged breed, and foot feathering gives scaly leg mites more cover, so check legs when you check condition. If a hen stops laying with no obvious brooding or seasonal cause, or shows lameness, weakness, or weight loss, consult a licensed poultry veterinarian.

How Cochins compare

First-year production under normal backyard conditions.

Breed	Annual eggs	Egg color	Type	Vs Cochin
Cochin	140 to 180	Brown, medium to large	Heavy / ornamental	Baseline
Silkie	100 to 120	Cream to white, small	Ornamental	Lower
Brahma	150 to 200	Brown	Dual-purpose	Similar
Buff Orpington	200 to 240	Light brown	Heritage	Higher
Rhode Island Red	250 to 300	Brown	Heritage	Higher

The honest verdict: a Cochin will not fill an egg basket, and a Buff Orpington of the same size and temperament will out-lay her by a third. What a Cochin offers is a very large, very calm, genuinely cold-hardy bird that goes broody reliably enough to be useful — the Conservancy rates her unequalled at it, and better at hatching ducks and turkeys than the birds that laid the eggs. She was admitted to the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection in 1874 and sits on the Conservancy’s Conservation Priority List with Recovering status, so keeping a few does a little more than fill your fridge. For a family flock kept for temperament, hatching, and looks, with eggs as a steady bonus, the Cochin earns her space. For an egg basket, look elsewhere.

Use the breed selector quiz to compare breeds against your goals and setup.

Frequently asked questions

How many eggs does a Cochin lay per year?

A Cochin hen lays about 160 brown eggs per year. The Livestock Conservancy puts the breed at 150 to 200 when not brooding, and that qualifier does most of the work — a hen who sits two or three times a season finishes well under 150.

How many eggs does a Cochin lay per week?

A laying Cochin produces about 3 medium to large eggs per week. That rate drops to zero during each broody spell, which is why the yearly total lands lower than the weekly rate suggests.

When do Cochins start laying eggs?

Sources spread widely. Mile Four gives 22 to 24 weeks and My Pet Chicken 5 to 6 months, while the Livestock Conservancy says a Cochin may not begin laying until about 8 months old. Anywhere in that window is normal for a slow-maturing breed.

Why do Cochins stop laying so often?

Brooding, not illness. Cochins are among the broodiest chickens kept, and a hen lays nothing for the four to six weeks she spends sitting. Left alone she will raise more than one batch a year, which removes a large slice of the laying season.

How many eggs will 6 Cochin hens lay per year?

Six Cochin hens lay roughly 720 to 1,200 eggs in their first year, depending almost entirely on how often they are allowed to brood. Run your own numbers with the egg production calculator, which adjusts for flock age and season.

Do Cochins lay eggs in winter?

Yes, and better than most breeds. The Livestock Conservancy describes them as very hardy and cold-hardy, and their dense feathering carries them through cold weather without supplemental light. Summer heat is the season to worry about, not winter.

What color and size are Cochin eggs?

Brown, and medium to large — roughly 21 to 24 ounces per dozen under USDA size classes. Mile Four describes the shade as brown to light brown rather than a deep chocolate tone.

Sources

No cooperative-extension service publishes an egg figure for Cochins, so the number on this page rests on a breed-conservation body, a hatchery, and two breed-keeper sites, weighted in that order. Each source below is named for the specific claim it supports, and the ones that are commercial or editorial rather than research are labelled as such.

• Egg range, weight, feathering, temperature tolerance, broodiness, APA recognition, conservation status: The Livestock Conservancy — Cochin Chicken. The source of the 150 to 200 figure and, more importantly, of the “when not brooding” qualifier the whole page is built around. Also gives 8.5 lb hens and 11 lb roosters, the feathering that extends to the feet and toes, “they suffer in the heat and need shade”, “as a broody fowl, they have no equal”, admission to the APA Standard of Perfection in 1874, and Recovering status on the Conservation Priority List.
• Placement of the breed: Poultry Extension — Selecting a Chicken Breed for Small or Backyard Poultry Flocks. This is the only extension coverage of Cochins we could find, and it is one clause: the Asiatic breeds “are large and have feathered feet” and include the Brahma, Cochin, and Langshan. It gives no production figure, no broodiness rating, and nothing else about the breed. We checked four further extension pages on behaviour, egg production, and breed selection; none mentions Cochins at all.
• A hatchery production figure: Hoover’s Hatchery — Cochin, which lists 175 medium brown eggs a year. Hoover’s also rates Cochins both cold and heat hardy, against the Conservancy and both breed-keeper sites below; we followed the majority and named Hoover’s as the outlier rather than dropping it.
• Age at first lay, lifespan, activity level — commercial and editorial sources, not research: My Pet Chicken (150 to 180 eggs, first lay at 5 to 6 months, 5 to 8 year lifespan) and Mile Four (150 to 180 eggs, first lay at 22 to 24 weeks, 8 to 10 year lifespan, heat tolerance low to moderate, “slow moving”). Both are retailers of poultry feed or stock. They are cited here because the Conservancy does not cover these details, not because they carry equivalent weight.
• Ours, not published: the Low, Normal and High scenarios, and the age and season multipliers. No source we could open gives a Cochin figure below 150; our Low of ~120 follows from the Conservancy’s own logic, since its 150 to 200 range explicitly excludes hens that are brooding. The multipliers are our standard curve, applied site-wide rather than measured on this breed.

We were unable to open Cackle Hatchery, Hobby Farms, Lafeber or Murray McMurray, so nothing from those sites is used here or cited. For health concerns about your flock, consult a licensed poultry veterinarian.

Last reviewed July 2026.