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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thanks fn, that was very useful page!they
all seems fine again today,sunbathing,chasing eachother over the coup n round their penn, so i am hoping that it is just a blip in digestion, as the site suggests!
WHAT A WONDERFUL SITE THIS IS
thankyou so much xx
i was justwondering i got 10 ready to lays yesterday and was expecting to wake up to eggs this morning didnt happen..we have a good setup for them had help from our neighbours who have had chickens for years….so my question is how long after i get them should they start laying…do they need timeto adjust to the environment?
Hi,
I wonder if you could tell me what might be causing some of (not all) of my egg yolks to be an almost white color. I have 4 hens and I feed them Layers Pellets and Layers Mash. I also give them Greens and some crushed corn as a treat . Is there something I’m missing from their Diet ?
Thank you
Garry B
Hi Sonja
This must be scary. I haven’t had the problem myself so scoured the Internet and found this forum thread which looks pretty good
http://chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=42224.0
I do hope that you find an answer soon.
hi, i got 3 silkie cross chooks about 5weeks ago,they should be about 5months old now, but what i would like to kno is,is it normal at thier age to have a blooded up nest box? 3weeks ago there was a week where there was 3 different poops with blood at the end,then nothing until now, when i have opened the box this morning and there is red jelly blood rite down through the hay to the box floor!!! i am a little alarmed! i dont know wich 1 it is, they are all eating well,look and act fine, getting their wattles, please help!!
Dear Garry, A broody hen will sit each time she gets an egg to sit on. Removing them will discourage her and eventually she will give up. Her comb usually is pink instead of red when she is broody. Just keep taking the eggs away. The green eggs are coming from another hen maybe 2 others. Auracana chickens lay green to blue eggs. Since they are smaller I think you have 2 starting to lay. They will get bigger as the chicken matures in a month or so. Susie
Hi all Dear Hetti has gone off in the bracken again and is broody how often will they get like this as I can’t find her to take her off the eggs and I’m afraid we will end up with new chicks all year round
Hi Garry, If you have 22 Chickens, and you’re getting four eggs a day, it is probably wrong to say they are ‘all laying regularly” Its been my experience since boy hood that a chicken will average one egg a day. some chickens, depending on breed and circumstances will lay more — we once had a grey speckled chicken which regularly laid 7 eggs in one day .. my Dad used to call her ‘the machine” .. she was always laying..
But I’d suspect your four daily eggs, are probably all coming from the same four chickens,, otherwise if all were laying regularly a daily egg that should be 22 eggs per day you are gathering —- give or take an egg or two
I have one adult chicken of unknown age and 3 young chickens about 5 months old. When will the young ones start laying. Will i have to wait until spring? Also the older chicken produces about 5 eggs a week, small brown ones. The last 2 have been smaller and they are greeny in appearance. Whats that all about?
Hi FN.
I have four 22 week old chickens and they are all laying regularly , most days we get four eggs>
One of the hens has taken to continue to sit on the eggs, spending most of the day in the nest box. I have been taking her out and removing the eggs as soon as I see the other hens lay them. Am I doing the right thing and how can i deter her from sitting on the others eggs .
Thanks Garry