When will my chickens lay eggs?
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chickens | 661 comments
Even though I know that egg laying is unpredictable at this time of year, it’s always a bit disappointing when I lift the lid of the nesting box and there’s only one. An egg from Carol. She is firing on all cylinders now and producing one egg a day, the maximum that a domestic hen can produce.
“What’s going on with the other four chickens?” I think as I stump back through the garden in my dressing gown and wellies.
The other four chickens are elderly maidens, well into their third year. I know that after two years egg production diminishes but somehow I hoped that the organic food and beautiful adornments in the pen might make a difference. Of course they don’t. As the years roll by, the chickens will produce fewer and fewer eggs until they go to that great pecking ground in the sky.
The pretty white bantams, have never been very obliging on the egg laying front. In their prime, they probably only laid two or three eggs a week. They are not a laying strain and we knew this when we bought them. But we have discovered that they are very photogenic and are happy to model endlessly.
I’ve been checking the hen’s combs. A pink comb indicates that a chicken is going broody, and will not lay. They are all a bright vibrant red, including Mrs Boss (this chicken won The Broodiest of all Known Chickens Award 2004, 2005 and 2006).
So you can imagine my delight when I lifted the roof of the nesting box this morning and found two small eggs nestling beside Carol’s large speckled brown one. I sprang back to the kitchen to make the perfect breakfast omelette.
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Thank you Lee I hope that is all it is. I just don’t want anything to happen to her. Buttercup is special to me Tornado is special to but Buttercup is so mellow and more relaxed and she loves to be cuddled.
Hi susan, It sounds to me like Buttercup Is just moulting. This is a natural process that happens to all hens as a means of feather replacement so dont worry.
Hi, wee have three blackrock hens that are 21 weeks old and are still not laying, whats going on
Hi again I have been with out power for several days due to downed power lines. I have a question and not sure what to do or what is going on.
My Buttercup is still laying eggs but she is now loosing her feathers on her breast. What is going on and what can I do to get them to start growing again. New still to this.
Hi Kallith
Thanks so much for taking the trouble to answer this query. Much appreciated!
Hi Matt
Your hens will lay eventually when they have fully matured. At 19 weeks they are still too young to lay. Most of our hens started laying at eight or nine months (roughly two weeks after the shortest day (which is December 21st in the UK).
With a bit of luck they will start laying in the autumn for you. Make the nesting boxes tempting, filled with straw or wood chippings and make sure they are in a quiet dark spot so that the hens can get out of the light to lay. The china eggs are a good idea.
Good luck!
Hello Jeanette
Thanks for posting this comment.
We have two identical pekin bantams one lays brown eggs and the other white! I must examine their earlobes!
Araucana eggs are beautiful.
As a general rule a chicken with red ear lobes will lay brown eggs & a chicken with white ear lobes will be a white egg layer. There are some exceptions. The Araucanas lay blue/green eggs. They are called “The Easter Egg Chicken”.
Hello all,
I just found this chicken blog and I love the information. I have 3 Reds and 2 Americaunas at 19 weeks old. I just put in nesting boxes this weekend and started them on layer feed. Is their anything else I need to do? The chickens didn’t seem overly impressed with my nesting boxes but I’m no carpenter. My wife put in a couple of fake eggs. I am in south Texas and the days are long and hot.
I appreciate any feedback.
Matt
MJargeret,
Warrens are indeed excellent layers, and once they start to lay they are pretty much bombproof. When I last bought warrens they had just started to lay, by the time I had them home, a 20 minute journey, I already had an egg in the crate. They have layed consistantly every day since with no interruption despite being intergrated into an established flock.
I think yours just haven’t started to lay yet, but rest assured, they will! If your breeder is good like you suggest, he will have already wormed them, just need to wait a little longer.
Hi Kelley
It could be some time before they start to lay. Our Maron hen Carol hatched on April 23 and laid her first egg in January.
We have just started to raise chickens. Our “babies” are now about 8 weeks old. They sure look old enough to lay but realistically how long before they start to? They are New Hampshire Reds. We have not put nest boxes up yet.