Peak is the highest point of lay and persistency is how long you hold it. Here is how to get your flock to the top and keep it there.
Halaal Farms Ghana team23 September 2026 · 11 min read
When a farmer calls us about a flock that is a month into lay, the complaint is usually the same. The eggs are small, a few shells are thin, and the count is nowhere near what he expected from the breed sheet. Nothing has gone wrong. The first eggs sit at the bottom of the curve, not the top of it.
Peak is the point where your flock lays at its highest rate. Persistency is how well that rate holds once it arrives. Two flocks can reach the same peak and finish the year with very different totals, because one held its numbers while the other slid steadily from the top. Most of the money in a layer house is made in the holding, not in the climbing.
So be clear about the job. You are not forcing eggs out of the birds. You are giving them the conditions to lay well every day, for as long as the strain can keep it up.
Every strain has its own laying curve, and the breed sheet gives the target week by week. Ask us for the curve of the strain you bought. Do not copy a neighbour's numbers. A Hy-Line Brown and a Bovans Brown do not climb at the same pace, and a flock that started in the harmattan will not look like one that started in the rains.
In a healthy house you see a steady climb over the first months, a plateau where the flock sits near its best, and then a slow decline. The decline should be gradual. A fall that lasts several days in a row is never normal, and it is the first thing to investigate.
Use the table below as a checklist. Each stage has its own job, and the tasks change as the flock moves through it.
| Stage | What you should see | Your main job |
|---|---|---|
| Early lay | Small eggs, some soft or thin shells, a flock still settling down | Steady feed, quiet sheds, no sudden changes |
| Climb to peak | The daily count rises from one day to the next, with fewer eggs on the floor | Hold feed intake steady and keep the lights on a fixed schedule |
| Peak and plateau | The highest and most even count, with good sized eggs | Protect the routine and check water and mortality every day |
| Slow decline | A gentle fall over weeks, with the eggs still sound | Review feed and house conditions, and decide what the flock is still worth |
| Sudden drop | A fall that lasts several days running | Investigate now: disease, heat, stress, then feed and water |
Read the table as a sequence. Many owners do well in the early stages, relax on the plateau, and only notice the slide when it is already under way. The slow decline usually starts when attention drops, so keep the routine tight at the top of the curve as well as at the start.
Feed is more than half of what it costs to keep a layer, so this is where most of the money is saved or lost. The broad range we work from for a 50 kg bag is GH₵400 to GH₵470, depending on brand and season. That works out to roughly GH₵8 to GH₵9.40 a kilo. The hen does not care what the bag cost. She cares whether feed is there every day and whether it is the same feed she was eating last week.
Sudden feed changes are one of the quickest ways to lose a few days of lay. A new mill, a different batch, or a supplier who mixes the ration differently can knock a flock back. When you have to switch, do it over about a week. Mix the old and new feed in rising proportions, and watch the egg count each morning while you do it.
Water is the other half. A hen that cannot drink properly stops laying before she stops eating. Walk the drinkers twice a day, and in the hot months check them again in the afternoon, when the shed is at its hottest. Clean lines and a steady supply matter more than most people expect.
Keep the feed store dry as well. Feed that has sat through the rains and picked up damp will mould, and mould costs eggs long before it costs birds. Check the bags for a musty smell and for clumps, and do not top up old feed with new until the old is finished.
Hens respond to day length. A fixed lighting schedule, switched on and off at the same times each day, keeps the flock on one rhythm. Irregular lights, or a shed that stays dark until late because someone forgot the timer, make the flock lay late and unevenly. Pick a schedule and keep to it through the harmattan, when mornings are hazy and the temptation is to leave the lights off a little longer.
The routine matters as much as the light. Feeding, egg collection and your walk through the house should happen at roughly the same hours every day. A flock that knows what comes next is calmer, and calm hens lay better. Nervous birds bunch up, miss meals and drop eggs in corners.
Make the first walk of the day a looking walk, not a working walk. Look at the birds before you touch anything. Are they standing evenly? Are the combs bright? Is one bird off by herself? Five minutes of looking catches more problems than an hour of fixing later.
The plateau is where most of your eggs come from, and it is also where owners get comfortable. The flock is laying well, the house looks busy, and it is tempting to move on to the next job. That is the moment to tighten things, not relax them.
Start with the nest boxes. Hens that cannot find a clean, quiet nest lay on the floor or hold eggs back. Keep the boxes dry and lined, check them each morning, and make sure there is enough nesting space for the number of hens in the house. A crowded flock with too few nests is one of the quickest ways to lose floor eggs.
Next, look at the feeders and drinkers the way the birds see them. Can every bird reach them, or are the bold birds at the front taking everything while the quieter ones stand back? A bird that eats less at the feeder lays less, and you will see it in the count before you see it in the bird.
Then keep the litter and the house in order. Wet litter raises ammonia and makes the birds uncomfortable, and a comfortable bird is a productive one. Remove wet patches, keep the ventilation open, and do not let damp feed sit in the house. None of these jobs is glamorous, and that is the point. Persistency is built from small, dull routines done every day for months.
Finally, keep a close eye on the egg count. A flat plateau is healthy. A plateau that starts to lean, even slightly, over a few days is your first signal that something in the house has changed. Write it down, check the usual suspects, and act while the problem is still small.
When a flock drops suddenly, the cause is usually one of four things: disease, heat, stress, or feed and water. Work through them in that order, and start with the birds rather than the paperwork.
Track mortality every day, not just when you happen to notice a dead bird. The general Ghana figures we use put well-managed mortality at 3 to 5 percent and poorly managed flocks at 10 to 20 percent. Treat those as a rough guide only, and confirm the right target for your own flock with your vet. If your numbers creep toward the upper end, the egg count often shows the problem before the mortality does.
The peak you get is decided largely before the birds reach your house. Breed, hatch quality and how the chicks were raised set the ceiling. Here is where our layer list stands. These are "from" prices as of October 2026, and you should confirm today's figure before you pay, because prices move with import costs and the season.
Point-of-lay pullets skip the early months, which is their main attraction. Those early months are where many new keepers lose patience, so be honest with yourself about what you can wait for. If you buy chicks, you are paying for the climb as well as the peak.
Whatever you choose, ask three questions before you commit: when the hatch date is, what vaccines were given, and what delivery to your town will cost. Before any payment, we confirm the price, the hatch date and the delivery cost with you. Chicks that arrive dead are replaced free in the next hatch, so tell us early if your road or your timing changes.
It depends on the strain and on how the birds were raised. The breed sheet gives the target week by week, so ask us for the curve of the breed you are buying and judge your flock against that.
Small eggs are normal early in lay. Later on, a drop in egg size usually points to feed, water or stress, so check what changed in the house over the last few weeks before you blame the birds.
Not by overfeeding. A steady ration and clean water do more for the curve than a sudden increase, and a sudden change of feed is one of the quickest ways to lose lay. Make any change slowly.
No. An order starts with a message, not with money. We confirm the price, hatch date and delivery cost first, and you pay by cash, mobile money or bank transfer.
A good peak starts with the right birds, on the right day, going into a house that is ready for them. If you are planning a layer flock, send the order form or call 024 915 1503, and we will go through the breed, the hatch date, the price and the delivery cost with you before anything is paid. If your chicks are arriving soon, read feeding day-old chicks in the first 24 hours, and check today's chick prices before you set the budget. Once the flock is laying, keep a daily record so you can see the curve for yourself.
Written by the Halaal Farms Ghana team. We hatch and import day-old chicks at Opeikuma, Kasoa, and deliver to all 16 regions. This article is general guidance for farmers. For diagnosis and treatment of sick birds, speak to a vet or your district veterinary office.
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