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 i am looking to get at least 2 green laying chicks i understand they probably wont lay this summer but i wanted to get them when they was still small so they get to know us and our boys and our dogs etc we are planning on building a small coop for them and we have a fenced in back yard will it hurt them to be in the same fenced in area as our dogs the dogs are inside most of the time also was thinking about making a complete fenced in area for the chicks in the same area so i dont live in the country so need to keep them close. should i do anything different i am knew to this thanks so much.
Hello Fiona,
We have 6 hens, just over a year old. One of the hens is distinctly off colour. Her comb is pale, her poo is slightly runny, she is quiet and she is being picked on by the other hens. We have isolated her in a large dog crate within the run to give her some peace. She is eating and drinking but not very keenly. They were wormed last year and have Diatom and raw carrot regularly. No sign of any worms. Help!
Jane S.
I just got home. one of my hens just layed it” first egg.
Thanks to Jn and Stuart
for your help.
julie your hens have just come through there molt.sometimes the first egg is very tiny.sometimes there just see through shell and sometimes there like a hard piece of rubber.i guarantee within the next week theres eggs everywere and hard shell if theyve access to oyster grit
drumsolo if youve had your hens 10 month and there still not laying theres something drasticly wrong. even if your hens were a day old when you got them they should have started laying a month ago at least.even if its winter that any hen 9 month old any breed as got to be laying by now.if there outside check every nook and crany.because in all my years with hens ive never heard of a hen not laying for 10 month.
Most problems with chickens in the States come from parasites. Mites and lice are not really a problem. The poop should look like a brown turban with a white top. It should be relatively solid. It is the best measure of healthy birds. All natural powder is usually one and a quarter cup to a 50 lb sack of laying feed. Younger birds would have about half a cup to 50 lb. You should see improvement in the poop in 2 or 3 days. The woodchips make ideal litter for the coop floor but i find cheap coastal hay (about 6 dollars a bale) lasts a long time and makes a very good nesting material. Just stuff some in the box and the hens will make the nest. Do not disturb it if it remains clean. A little coaxing can be done cheaply by putting a couple of the plastic eggs, found now at Easter time, glued so they dont come open, in the nests help to have the hens laying. If your chickens are free range use troughs for the laying feed to keep it off the ground as thats where they pick up parasites. watch that none of the hens separates herself from the flock as that is a sign of sickness. If you need to, isolate the hen in a dog cage and feed her the white powder in a little water through a syringe. A half teaspoon several times a day plus the feed with powder mixed with lots of water to make a gruel and feed though a syringe several times a day. The poop will tell you when she is ready to join the flock. Hope this helps. Oyster shell ground up should be available all the time in a bowl under the coop.
hi our chicken stopped laying in october and still are not laying but yestrday we found they were but they were not stong(just a soggy lump)
we feed them grit every sunday and they have layers pellets and acsess to lots of water there bedding is small woodchippings and they have no artaficial lights!
are we doing something wrong or is there something we should be doing?
Thank you for your information. I bought a dewormer from mcmurry hatchery with flax seed. I am to mix it in the feed, But the rep seemed to be reading a script and did not answear my questions. my question do I have to give the dewormer every month or just once a year? It is organic I made sure of that. I also bought cedar chips for the nests as you advised. I plan to sell some eggs to friends and family. do I need anything special for that? I do not have a rooster
so no peeps to cause a problem.
Hi Drumsolo
Whenever I have chicks I always say to myself not to expect eggs for a year. I’m never disappointed.
Your hens will be laying by Easter, I expect. Hens that hatch in April or May often don’t start laying until April the next year.
I think that you’re right to worm them. A feed fountain is always a good idea – two if hens are being bullied and double up on the water fountains too.
Just be patient they will start to lay soon.
BTW if you introduce artificial light you will lengthen the laying period of your hens (when the start laying) but you will decrease the length of their lives. Ideally they need to sleep when it’s dark just like us.
I just looked up mites worms and lice. I do not have any of those on my birds. I guess I should get a de-wormer for them just as a precaution.