Buzz, the egg production of the "retired" hens is not as intense as the first 18months of their lives (the length of time that they are kept for and then normally slaughtered in a battery operation).
You will still get eggs, but instead of an egg a day, maybe only 3-4 per week, not enough for a commerical operation, and of course that amount lessens further as the chooks age.
Unfortunately because of the incredibly stressful conditions they live under for the first 18 months of their lives, ex-battery girls don't live very long lives. They usually only last a year or two after they come into retirement.
Out of the six girls we adopted a year or so ago, we have only one left. As a comparison, the purebred free-range hens we purchased 18 months ago (who were already a year old), we still have every one of them. The rescue girls are kept in exactly the same conditions, feed the same food, etc, just their poor little bodies have been through such trauma (and laid so many eggs, whilst the purebreeds don't) that their bodies just don't last very long 😞
At least they died after experiencing a little bit of freedom and pleasure in their short lives.
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