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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My Babe and I rescued 3 ex Battery hens 14 weeks ago. We were led to believe that they were around 18 months old and their egg production had dropped off, which is why they were released. So far we have had over 200 eggs. We give most of them away to the family. What wonderful girls they have turned out to be.
Hi Bryan, This is the worst time for laying. The winter causes the hens to really drop production. Ususally they molted just as winter arrives as they change to winter feathers, so between one thing and another we all sit around waiting for the production to pick up, Mine have just started and its still just one more egg each day. I live in Florida US, we usually have mild winters but this year it is cooler for us. I expect by the end of february things should be looking up. Hope this helps. Susie
I have 4 hens who are at least 10 months to a year old. But I have only got a couple of eggs about every 2 or three months for awhile. They were about ready to lay before winter arrived. When should they begin to lay everyday? One recently layed about a month ago. Another I received from a neighbor and it layed and then just stopped. Hope you can help me.
Been a while since I have been here to ask for help. But for the past week or two we’ve been having problems with our leg horn and I am not sure what is going on.
All three girls have stopped laying, just stopped. Our white leg horn, looks like she is losing weight and is pulling all the fathers our from around the nape of her neck and shoulders. She looks sick. The other two (R.I.R and Jersey) seem to be doing fine and not effected any way like our leg horn except for the not laying part.
Any clue as to why she is like this?
They get feed and water every day plus they have a feed block in their coop.
Hi,
What a great site! gonna try a few things, see if my chickens will start laying again! thanks.
Does anyone know when Quails and Guinea Fowl should start laying? Have been waiting ages for the guinea fowl to start!
Thanks
Thanks Susie – it’s been an odd week of eggs but stil only one a day. Still deilberating about keeping the man or not. He’s quite magnificient though.
Take care and happy chickening
Hi Blakely, Dont worry about getting rid of the rooster. Hens dont need the rooster to lay eggs only to fertilize them is you want to hatch them. Sometimes one of the hens will get bossy and stop laying as she thinks she is the rooster. If you find a nice quiet rooster you can bring him in and she will go back to laying. Some breeds are more docile though they all crow. Hope this helps. Susie
BTW, can I just say thank you to everyone who’s posted comments on here? I never knew that it would be a January thing – just wish I’d have found this site earlier as I’d have not worried so much…..
I’m relatively new to keeping chickens. We bought four hens from the market in October however we discovered two and a half weeks ago one isn’t a hen lol – and boy is he loud! A raving loon of a cockerel – unfortunately, we can’t keep him. He’s quite boistrous. To make matters worse we had our first egg this week and we’ve since had one every day. I’m not sure which hen it is (I’ve got my suspicions) but if I get rid of the Cockerel will she stop laying?
Hello, Happy new year to everyone, i was wondering if anyone could help me i have 2 khaki campbell ducks and a drake they are all over a year old now and i’ve had less than 100 from both ducks and they haven’t laid for nearly 5 months. HELP!!