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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i have now have Kate in a broody coup how long will i have to keep her in it i feel so mean wont it her her feet thanks for you help
Hi Michelle
It probably won’t work as she needs day and night in a broody coup to shake her out of this state. The longer you leave her the harder it is for her to get back to normal.
I’d love to hear how she gets on.
thank for the advice i have shut Kate in her run and not letting Kate back to her nest box hope this works
Hi Michelle
I’m no expert but it sounds as if your chicken has gone broody. Silkies have a tendency to go broody.
She needs to be shaken out of this state or her broodiness will go on all summer. There are instructions for making an anti broody coop here https://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=289.
If you have a cockerel or access to fertilised eggs, you may want to put them under her so that she will raise a brood of chicks.
A broody hen will go off lay.
my sikly stared to lay one egg a day for the
last 15 days but now all she dose is sit on her
nest and she has not layed an egg for 3 days she let you pick her up and touch and dose not
seem to be in any pain why is she not laying
Hi Emma
Sounds like Matilda is not quite ready to lay just yet.
Hope that you don’t have to wait too long!
Thanks for your help. Sarah has now given us two eggs on two consecutive days! I’m hoping that she is now going to carry on like this. Still nothing from our other chicken, Matilda, but she still looks quite small compared to the other two girls. I had a feel of her pelvic bones at the back and she still feels very narrow, so maybe not quite ready. Her comb is less well developed than the others, but she is a completely different looking bird, like a black rock I’ve been told. Fingers / claws crossed for us!
Hi Emma
Some chickens will never lay an egg every day, you need to get a breed well known to be great layers for that to happen. By the end of the summer you will be able to assess the amount of eggs you can expect from your flock.
Often it takes a while for a chicken to get into the egg laying routine. I’ve never found an egg without a yolk but there is a very good site with loads of information about eggs here http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodrin/poultry/pdfs/eggqual.pdf
I do hope that this is useful.
Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can advise me…
I bought 3 pullets just two weeks ago. One has started laying as regular as clockwork each day, one has not yet started and one has layed three times since, but spaced out over the last two weeks, and the last egg did not have a yolk. She has not layed again since the yolkless egg. They are all about 22 weeks, but as they are all different types, I can’t be sure excactly. My question is this… Is it normal for a chicken’s first season to start off with erratic egg laying such as my third chicken, with some eggs and then none? Will she settle down to become more regular, should the laying be consistent?
They are on layers pellets with lots of free range.
Thanks for any advice you can give me…
Emma
Hi Lavon
Just going to bed but caught your comment!
Chickens need to settle when you get them. Just like us. You need to be very gentle with them and gradually make friends. Even now, after 4 years our chickens are frightened of children. Unfortunately we don’t have children so if any appear they rush for cover.
Give your chickens treats every day when you go down to change their water and feed them. In time they will trust you and when you go into the pen they will not be rattled. When this happens you will be so pleased.
With chickens, you need patience.