Hy-Line Brown: The Layer Standard, and the One Number It Shares With a Native Hen
256.2–270.8Eggs
Breeder standard, hen-housed, to 60 weeks of age. Hy-Line International, August 2026.
not publishedMature weight, rooster
Hy-Line publishes standards for the commercial layer hen. The male of a layer cross is not reared for weight and no standard is published for it. Hy-Line International.
1,810–1,913 gMature weight, hen
Breeder standard, at 26 weeks. Hy-Line International, August 2026.
Layer, hybridFree-range standard
Named in PNS/BAFS 262:2018 as a permitted line. The standard sets no minimum slaughter age for layers.
The short answer
The Hy-Line Brown is the bird behind most point-of-lay pullets sold to backyard keepers here. Its published standard is 256.2 to 270.8 hen-housed eggs to 60 weeks and 2.06 to 2.15 kg of feed per kilo of eggs. Pansinin po ang unit sa huling numero, kasi iyon lang ang figure sa buong site na diretsong maihahambing sa isang native na inahin.
Source Hy-Line International, Hy-Line Brown Performance Standards Guide, December 2025 (read on August 22, 2026)
The published standards
Straight off the December 2025 international standards summary. Ranges are Hy-Line’s own, not a band this page added.
| Standard | Figure |
|---|---|
| Days to 50% production, from hatch | 139 |
| Percent peak | 93.6–98.5% |
| Hen-housed eggs to 60 weeks | 256.2–270.8 |
| Hen-housed eggs to 100 weeks | 466.4–497.9 |
| Livability to 60 weeks | 97.17% |
| Egg weight at 26 weeks | 55.2–58.6 g |
| Egg weight at 100 weeks | 62.2–66.1 g |
| Body weight at 26 weeks | 1,810–1,913 g |
| Average daily feed, 19–100 weeks | 109.1–116.9 g |
| Feed conversion, 20–60 weeks | 2.06–2.15 kg feed per kg eggs |
| Feed per dozen eggs, 20–60 weeks | 1.48–1.54 kg |
Note what is not in that table: eggs per year. Hy-Line publishes cumulative eggs to a flock age, kasi iyon ang paraan ng pagpaplano ng isang layer cycle. Every “300 eggs a year” figure you have read is somebody’s conversion of one of these rows, and the conversion is not in the source.
The one figure that crosses over
Here is why this page sits on a site about Philippine backyard poultry rather than about commercial layers.
Hy-Line’s feed conversion is 2.06 to 2.15 kg of feed per kg of eggs. The eight-month Bolinao native trial in Abra measured 2.72 grams of feed per gram of egg. Pareho po ang unit: kg per kg is the same ratio as g per g. So for once a Philippine native figure and a commercial standard can be set side by side without a conversion in between.
The native hen sat above the whole Hy-Line band, 2.72 against 2.06 to 2.15, and the Bolinao paper says so itself: neither of its groups met the 2.2 figure the production indices treat as advantageous to a farm. That is the real cost of keeping a native layer, stated in the only unit anybody has measured both in. Hindi po iyon dahilan para huwag mag-native, because the native bird also forages, hatches its own replacements and sells for roughly double per kilo at the end. It is the number that should be in that decision and usually is not.
| Eggs | Not comparable directlyHy-Line publishes 256.2 to 270.8 hen-housed to 60 weeks. DOST-PCAARRD publishes 110 per hen per year for Darag. Different denominators, and neither source converts. |
|---|---|
| Feed per egg mass | Directly comparable2.06 to 2.15 for Hy-Line over 20 to 60 weeks, against 2.72 measured on Bolinao over eight months. Same ratio, same units. |
| Age at lay | Roughly comparable139 days to 50 per cent production, against 20 to 22 weeks to first egg for the four documented native lines. First egg and 50 per cent are not the same milestone. |
| Philippine strain-level data | None publishedNo Philippine institution publishes layer performance by strain. See this site’s gaps register. |
The conditions attached
Hy-Line states its own limit at the front of the guide: the genetic potential of the Hy-Line Brown commercial can only be realised if good poultry husbandry practices and management are used, and the guide is for guidance and education, recognising that local environmental and disease conditions vary.
Read that the way you would read the Ross 308 booklet. Ang mga numerong iyan ay kisame, hindi hula sa bakuran mo. The standards come from a global flock database of houses with formulated rations, controlled light programmes and a cull date. A backyard hen on a mixed ration under a Philippine roof is a different animal in every one of those respects.
What a Philippine keeper can actually check
Nothing in the Philippine statistical record describes a Hy-Line Brown as such. PSA counts layer chickens as a type and stops, at wala pong strain sa kahit anong opisyal na talahanayan dito. What you can look up is the money at both ends of the cycle: what eggs fetch at the farm gate and what they cost at retail.
So the useful habit is narrow and cheap. Write down the hen-day rate for your own flock each week and the sacks you bought each month, at pagkatapos ng anim na buwan ay may sarili ka nang FCR. That figure is the only one that describes your birds, and it is measured against a standard that is finally in the same unit.
Questions people actually ask
How many eggs does a Hy-Line Brown lay?
256.2 to 270.8 hen-housed eggs to 60 weeks of age and 466.4 to 497.9 to 100 weeks, on the December 2025 international standards. Hy-Line publishes cumulative eggs to a flock age rather than eggs per year, so a per-year figure is a conversion somebody else did.
When does a Hy-Line Brown start laying? Show the answer
139 days from hatch to 50 per cent production, which is just under 20 weeks. Peak lay is standardised at 93.6 to 98.5 per cent. For comparison, the four documented Philippine native lines are published at 20 to 22 weeks to first egg, which is when a native hen starts rather than when it peaks.
How much feed does a Hy-Line Brown eat? Show the answer
109.1 to 116.9 g per bird per day averaged over 19 to 100 weeks, with a feed conversion of 2.06 to 2.15 kg of feed per kg of eggs from 20 to 60 weeks. Feed per dozen eggs is 1.48 to 1.54 kg over the same window.
Is a Hy-Line Brown better than a native hen for a backyard? Show the answer
On eggs per bird it is not close, and on feed per egg it wins too. What the standards assume is a controlled house, a formulated ration and a bird that is culled at the end of its cycle. A native hen hatches its own replacements, forages, and is worth roughly double per kilo when it is sold.