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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Hi Ban
I think that you are right. You probably won’t get eggs from the two hens until after Christmas.
Hello George
Your hens are still a bit too young to be laying so, like Ban, I reckon you will see the first eggs in January. Fingers crossed!
Hello
We have 8 chickens, they are all diffrent breeds and they are about 22 weeks old and they haven’t layed any eggs. Now its getting darker are we likely to see any eggs before christmas? We feed them on layers pellets and they are free range.
fn thanks for your response about not needing roosters to encourage laying. The question referred to the other 2 hens and not solo, as she is laying every day, so no problems there. I am not expecting the other 2 to lay quite yet because they are still too young to lay. As it is going into Autumn now, I dont expect eggs until after 21 Dec.
Hello R-Hawk
The first egg is so exciting!
It will be brilliant if you can raise your own stock from your very own eggs. Good luck.
Hi Ban
A hen will lay eggs without a rooster. But you need a rooster to fertilise the eggs, if you want to hatch a clutch of chicks.
Solo will lay eggs when she is ready. It just needs patience.
Hi Mo
We have a feeder permanently in the hen house (out of the rain) and out of the reach of rats at night when the hen house door is closed. Some hens feed little and often others feed at more regular intervals. None of our hens are fat.
We also feed wild bird seed in the morning just a big handful for the entire flock (4 bantams, 1 Maran and the Guinea fowl couple). Probably every other day they have a small saucepan of kitchen vegetable scraps. Every other week they have a bucket of freshly cut grass.
I hope that this helps.
Great website, i am learning so much. i have 7 hens and one rooster, all about 5 months old. one of the buff orps, laid 1 egg about 3 weeks ago but that was it. she laid it on the ground in the coop. i am trying to be patient. one question i have is how often do i feed them. they are let out in the morning in the corral with our horse and femail goat, they all get along fine. i bring them in at night and feed them laying feed. is that enough?? I give them scraps during the day also. thank you for your help.
fn thanks for your advice. Harmony is getting better and quicker than expected before I have even actioned your tips. Solo, the new hen laid an egg yesterday and also today, so I’m delighted. I have another question and excuse me if this has already been answered in one of the previous threads. Is it necessary to have a rooster in the flock to initiate egg laying, or is solo enough and or it’s just a case of patience?
WOO-HOOOOO! Today I got my first egg from My Old English! It is quite small and is a creamy-white.I am hoping that when my Golden Laced Cochin begins laying she lays fertilised eggs as the the cockerel does mate with her…
Hi R-hawk
I have no idea what ails your mother’s hen. It sounds to me as if she’s moulting – this happens towards the end of summer with some hens. She will stop laying during the process.
Sometimes you will find that you have a hen that doesn’t lay much in a flock and causes you concern.
This could be the hen that keeps the rest laying and feeling good. Hens are socially complex, they need a hen at the bottom of the pecking order.
Hello Nicola
You can pick up china eggs quite easily on the internet if not at your feed supplier.
Unless you have bought Rolls Royce laying breeds (such as our Maran, Carol, who at three years old still lays an egg a day, you will find that you have hens who follow the sun. As the days get shorter they will be less inclined to lay.
If the weather gets very hot, very cold, stormy, frosty or anything out of the ordinary they will not lay. If you introduce new stock this will affect laying patterns too. Between October and January you will be lucky to get an egg as they rest when the weather gets colder and the days shorter.
If you provide heat and artificial light they will lay for longer but they will die younger.
Hi Ben
I reckon that it™s best to introduce two new hens or a pair when you want to increase your flock. There is always bullying – it goes with the territory. If there are two, they always have a friend.
There are things that you can do to avert this scenario a bit.
Hang a cabbage in your run, high enough so hat the hens have to jump to reach it.
Put football in the run.
œI™m standiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing on it, now I™m not.
They love this challenge.
Distract the flock. They get bored. When they™re bored feather pecking, bullying and the rest bubble up fast.
Hi Travis
Great to hear about your flock! Brilliant that you are selling your eggs.
Good idea to raise chicks to sell as stock.
Happy chicks, contented pullets, good sales. You can™t lose.
It sounds like you have a great assortment of chickens, Travis. I wish I had the room and money for that many birds! Does anyone know if it is all right to give 7 month old bantam pullets and a bantam cockerel mashed-up regular size hen pellets to them?
Well had an older barred rock hen die this morning. Not sure what was wrong with her. Comb was still red, she was a little sluggish last night, but was walking around. No other hens displaying any sluggishness or acting the least bit sick. She was around 3 yrs. Any clue?
How soon after a pullet starts laying will she attract the attentions of the rooster? I have a few pullets laying now and the older rooster seems to want nothing to do with them. He only pays attention to the group of older hens. Also introduced some older Wyandottes last week and he shows no interest in them either. I have a couple young roosters too, but they don’t seem interested in any of the hens.
I’m officially a chicken addict now. Up to 70 birds and picking up a dozen Barnevelder eggs to hatch this weekend. I have:
15 Barred Rock hens, 1 Rooster
11 Buff Orpington pullets, 1 Rooster
12 Black Austrolorp pullets
3 Rhode Island Red hens
3 Barnevelder hens
5 Silver Laced Wyandotte hens
5 Golden Laced Wyandotte hens
5 White Rock pullets
2 Ameracaunas pullets
2 Crossbred pullets
5 Crossbred cockerels
Currently getting around 5 dozen eggs a week. Been selling them fairly quick. Plan to start hatching some chicks to sell as well.