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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serena all chickens stop laying they cant lay forever if they are young birds they will stop and start till warm weather comes back usualy march time
hi emma you didnt say what breed they were warrens or hybreds will lay from 21 week old sussex from 26 week most other breeds 26 week to 30 week all laying depends on the light and the weather
my chickens stopped laying a few weeks ago and i dont know why,can anyone help?
Thanks Stuart, I’ve had the hens for about 3 months though, i got them from a breeder when they were about 4 months old so they have had plenty of time to settle in!
Today however, i collected my usual brown egg, let the chucks out for their usual mash mix, then this afternoon I returned them to their pen and thought i would check the nesting box’s just in case… low and behold there was a medium sized white egg :0) needless to say I am very happy with my little lady!
Hello everyone! I have not been on in a long time,but I am finally going to comment again!I have a new addition to my coop- she is a regular sized Polish Top Hatter. She is quite pretty. Unfortunatley she has not laid any of her white eggs since I got her becasue she is still adjusting to the coop. Now both my Golden Cochin and My Old English Game are laying eggs. I get a brown and a cream-white egg every day. After looking at Wikipedia, I discovered that Old English Game hens lay 2 eggs a week at most. My little Old English bantam must be very happy becasue she lays 7 a week!
i put a comment in on the 13th sept and obviously someone didnt agree ok leave your ex battery hens outside through the winter and watch how many die they need locking in a shed for a couple of month to keep warm if theyre not laying put them on wheat and barley.barley warms them up.if they are laying 20 percent pellets 80 percent wheat if you feed on pellets only its expensive and they wont lay any more eggs.trust me about battery hens i always keep 100plus for the last 10 years
hi emma i have about 100 hens including 6 light sussex your hens need at least a couple of week to settle in lock them up in a shed for 2 week with plenty of layers pellets or layers mash then let them out they will start laying but dont forget the dark nights and cold weather wont help
Hi, I have 4 hens, a light sussex (Suzie) a magpie (Maggie) and two un-named as yet light ambers. One amber and Maggie look around the same age, the other two a little younger although all purchased at the same time from one breeder. I am only collected one egg a day, i think from the amber but Maggie is definately laying (my father in law informs me!) but no egg in the box… I have looked in the garden but can not find any evidence of a nest… any idea’s as to where she’s laying and why she wont lay in the box (there’s are 3 so plenty of room for her to lay) it just seems such a shame if they are going to waste outside…???
P.S I am an absolute beginner so all suggestions welcome!!
Hello Scott
We use a feed hopper for our layers pellets. I have never seen an overweight hen in our flock – They just take as much as they need. Have you ever seen an overweight hen?
The feed hopper is good for 2 reasons – on demand food and if something goes wrong – such as the rare but real circumstance that you cannot feed your chucks – bad flu, car crash – your chickens have supplies. I top the hopper up every other day or so and it has about five day’s supplies. Similarly water fountains. Ours is refreshed each day but has water for a week if things go wrong.
If you are the only person tending the flock always make provisions for several days ahead just in case. Never just feed/water for the day.
helloo
how much laying pellets would u rekamend to feed her a day as at the min im just filling fer feed bowl up and leaving it till its all gone den re filling it.