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
thanks for answering six of the hens have medium crest on their heads 3 look like battery hens which i got last week and have alot of feathers missing and their crest are quite big and 3 are free range layers and their crest are medium.
Hi Teresa
They may be too young to lay yet or to old to lay much. Have you any idea how old they are?
hI WE HAVE RECENTLEY BOUGHT SOME WARREN HENS THE FIRST LOT OF 6 WE BOUGHT AT AUCTION ABOUT 3 WEEKS AGO AND ARE DOING QUITE WELL ON LAYERS PELLETS AMD MIXED ETC WITH COOKED POTATOE PEEL BUT WE HAVE HAD NO EGGS PLEASES COULD YOU TELL ME WHY
THANKS TERESA
Hi Jane S
That’s really interesting – using the broody coop as a naughty coop. Thanks.
Hi Kim
Do you use china eggs in the nesting boxes? Hens often start to lay away from the nesting boxes if they think that you are stealing all their eggs.
Hello Heather
That seems very strange. Two of ours stopped laying at about five years old. They were hybrid layers and giving us an egg a day in their prime.
I’m sorry but I don’t have the answer.
Hi Jules
I agree with Susie, a water pistol does the trick.
Hello Susie
Thanks for your advice.
Hi Jules, I have always had good luck using a childs water gun to correct behavior in my animals. It doesnt hurt them and after getting a few squirks of water in the face they dont do it anymore. I hope this helps. Susie…
Hi
Our cockerel is very over-protective of his girls. They come running to me, he follows and then takes aim, jumping my leg. He is a small bantum and it hurts!
Can anyone advise how best to deal with this situation, please. I don’t want to have to give him a new home though.
Thanks.
Jules
please help, my chickens have not laid for four months!! they both seem healthy and happy,4 years and 3 year old. they are fed on corn, layers pellets and scraps, they are out for most of the day in the garden, eating well.the youngest one has just moulted, she is a bluebell. is there anything i could do to help in making them lay again.
Please help, Untill about 4 weeks ago my 7 hens were laying daily then suddenly down to 2 or 4 eggs a day, i was a bit confused by this but excepted it as the norm, whilst doing the garden 2 weeks ago i come across a stash of 12 eggs in undergrowth? i marked 1 and put it back(removing the others) kept checking but no more were laid there. Only this week again clearing the garden i find approx 30 eggs in a nest under the lavender bushes, all very amusing i thought but what a waste of eggs. I now check the garden daily but have not yet found more, does anyone know why this is happening??
Lee, we have 5 hens, one of which is clearly dominant. She will always chase one of the Light Sussex hens away from treats such as corn or general scraps and I have seen her peck at her. A few weeks ago, however , she was being so nasty and other hens were copying her behaviour so she was put in the broody coop within the run and kept there four 4 days. It seemed to cure the excessive behaviour, although she still remains the dominant hen. Hope this helps.
Hello Songbird2sing
There are often two yolks in the eggs of first time layers. Blood spots are not uncommon too – perfectly safe to eat.
Eggs last as long as the supermarket ones – for at least a week. If you use the egg test you will know exactly how fresh each egg is – fill a bucket with water if the egg floats it is bad if it falls to the bottom it is fresh.
Hi Mandi
Ours share a long nesting box and are fine.
Hi Lee
This is a tricky problem to solve. Although recently I read that getting a cockerel can do the trick http://moonovermartinborough.com/2009/07/25/old-man-henry-and-the-chook-house-race-wars/
Good luck