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.
Leave a reply
Hi everybody. I have five hens and although i know that pecking is normal i have noticed it may be becoming out of hand. In particular buttercup seems to be getting a really hard time with pecking. Can it become more bullying than pecking?. Also is there any way of reducing the girls pecking each other?
Hi Mardi, In terms of nests for egg laying they dont need there own. We have five hens and three nesting boxes and they are happy to use all of them. Although i have noticed that they may favour one nesting box over the other. Hope that helps.
Does each chicken need their own nest or will they share?
I have 5 pullets that I bought the week before Easter. They were all about 1-2 weeks old at time of purchase. We found 4 eggs upon our return from vacation last week. Not sure when they were laid as we didn’t expect to find eggs until Sept according to their age. We had not been checking the nests. In the past 5 days we’ve found 3 more eggs. No idea which one is laying. The eggs were brown,some small and some noticeably larger.
Is it common to find the bloody spots in the yolk? Do you eat them if they are? Or are 2 yolks common? How long is the egg good once you collect it? And if we are gone over night, would an egg laid in the nest the day before be safe to eat? I did crack and smell the initial 4 we found and there was no fowl smell, but chose to discard them until I have some answers. If they are laying this early, will they stop and start again?
I am new at all this and could use some answers to many questions. Thanks to all who are sharing their knowledge and experience. I guess it might help if you knew what breeds I have. I have a Barred Rock, Black Sex, RI Red, Cinnamon Queen, and an Araucana.
Thanks for that, really helpful!
Don’t you worry, I’ll look after! It’s why i am worrying about getting it right as often as possible.
🙂
Hi Ed
The cockerel will have his favourites. But most “laying” hens will not become broody. Some will if you chose hens with a tendency to become broody but even with these, they might never become broody.
If you remove the eggs every day, the hens are not encouraged to become broody. But if you do this leave china eggs in the nest as the hens might give up laying as all their eggs seem to be stolen every day.
Hens are brighter than people think. Treat them with care.
Thanks for that. Good plan!
The post cut off the other questions which were really my main ones. Which are…
Will having 4 hens be enough for the 1 cockerel, or will he damage them through over treating them?
Also with all that friskiness going on will the chickens only lay eggs to sit on them all the time, or will the cockerel & hen only try and make a family at particular times of the year?
Thanks again.
Hello.
I have read part of this very very long blog and am impressed with the detail of knowledge you have. I hope then you can answer me this question; i only hope it has not been asked before.
I am about to get 4 hens (unsure of breed at the minute) I have been offered a cockerel bantam by a friend, who says he is only 4 months old so is obviously immature. I plan to put them all together in one very large run in the garden (20m x 10m.)
A couple of questions come to light… my friend assures me that bantam cocks are quieter than
Hello Ed
We have a bantam cockerel. We wondered whether his cry would be small and piercing but it’s exactly the same as a big cockerel. No complaints from the neighbours as yet and we have passed the longest day now.
Sharing eggs with neighbours is a great way of keeping them sweet.
Hi
Do chickens stop laying when they are moulting our 2 sussex have stopped ?
Hi John
Yes chickens will stop laying when they are moulting.
Hi my name is maddi anderson and i have 2 bantims and a grey-purple-brown chicken and the bantims have not been laying for like two months and my other chicken has not been laying for one month im starting to get worried can you fix my problem?
from maddi anderson