Q:

Do chickens always lay eggs?

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hühnerei says it takes up to 24 h for a chicken to produce an egg.
Is that dependent on the chickens nutrition, i.e., if it does not get enough food or the wrong kind, meaning it can survive on the food but it does not have everything to produce an egg?
Do we have data on this?

A:

In short; yes. It depends on the breed (not all lay up to 1 egg/day), the age of the bird and on nutrition. High yielding breeds of chicken are e.g. dependent on supplements of calcium to be able to produce new shells rapidly (e.g. in the form of ground-up shells). Some information on the nutrient requirements of chicken can be found at Feeding the Laying Hen. Egg production will also fluctuate over the year, and will generally decrease e.g. during molting, since energy and nutrients are then diverted to the production of feathers (see info at e.g. The Poultry site).

