Egg production rate (EPR) is the percentage of birds that produce eggs over a given time frame. For instance, daily, weekly, and monthly.
EPR is best measured during a flock’s full egg production capacity phase. Typically, a layers flock has 3 egg production cycle. Additionally, the egg production cycle is unique for each breed or variant. Below is a generic egg production cycle:
| Egg production phase | Duration |
|---|---|
| Start of egg production | Week 16 – 24 |
| Full egg production capacity* (Flock in its highest production capacity) | Week 25 – 84 |
| Peak egg production (Egg production capacity begins gradual decline) | Week 85 – |
Also see
- How you can maximise flock performance via data insights
- 3 Tips how to keep accurate poultry records
What is an egg production rate?
EPR is expressed in percentage. A flock with a daily EPR of 95% means that 95% of birds in that flock are laying eggs daily.
Most commercial layers flocks have well known EPR. Flock suppliers will usually inform farmers of their flock’s EPRs. A high performing flock will have a high EPR.
How to track egg production rate
You can track EPR in any number of ways. For instance, you can use paper and pen, some paper based poultry record sheets from Etsy, Excel or poultry apps.
In this article we want to showcase how you can use Kukufarm poultry app to track EPR by day, week, month and all time. You can get Kukufarm from Google Play and App Store.
In addition to helping you track EPR, Kukufarm presents EPR data in simple charts. This makes it easier for you to understand EPR trends over time.
Even more, Kukufarm reminds you log egg production when you’ve missed some entries.
Benefits of tracking EPR
Tracking EPR is a core aspect of poultry record keeping for layers poultry farmers. To begin with, EPR enables you to track your flocks performance over time.
Secondly, EPR enables you to determine a flock’s performance in comparison to supplier benchmark. For instance, say your flock supplier said that your flock has an EPR of 92% and you only achieved 80%. In such cases, you have EPR data to verify supplier claims.
Last but not least, tracking EPR enables you to practice data based poultry farming. For example, if your flock’s EPR is below supplier benchmark, it drives you to investigate your farming practices. However, if you would find out that your flock supplier misinformed you, then you would make an informed decision in your next flock purchase.
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