Transfer requires careful planning and management.
Transfer should ideally be done 4 weeks before
production and certainly no later than two weeks before
egg production starts. The purpose is that recovery
from the stress is completed, and does not depress the
rapid ovarian development, which occurs prior to, the
commencement of egg production.
Late transfer bears the real risk of damage to the birds,
in particular to the ovaries. It is ideal to transfer when
the birds are 16 weeks of age, this will enable them to
be fully adapted to the layer housing and facilities well
in advance of the onset of lay. If birds are transferred
too close to the onset of lay, the subsequent risk of egg
peritonitis is high. The movement of birds with mature
ovaries may cause rupture of yolk follicles, which are
then deposited in the body cavity.