When do chickens start laying eggs? - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by 18kronesk 

I have 5 chicks there 13 weeks old know and they should be laying in the fall .    So chicks start to lay in like six or seven months. After they hatcht.

Yup!  The average is 24 weeks.  It's best not to "push" them - I do not begin feeding layer feed until I see that first egg.

The chickens you have sound REALLY fancy. :D Haha some of your chickens I've never even heard of. But just to say, I have 1 Amerucanuo, 2 Silver Wyandottes (or however you spell that) 2 Leghorns, and 1 Rhode Island Red. They are about the size of chihuahuas, but i'm not exactly sure how old they are. But let me just give a woraning, your first egg will NOT be in the nesting box!! This is a first- time thing, and the chicken has no clue whats going on! So, be sure to search! Good luck!

My Golden Laced Wyandotte, Greta, was hatched somewhere around mid January (about 25 weeks?) and she has not yet laid an egg. however, my speckled sussex, around the same age, has been laying for a month. Does anyone know if the Wyandottes mature slower, on average? And yes, they are both on layer feed w/ added oyster shells.
 

Most of the chicks we raise.. from Hatch or buy... usually start laying about 4- 4 1/2 mo with us. Right now we have some newbies in the yard.. Buff Brahmas.. waiting for them to start... its been just 4 mo now.. and they are getting red.  Now you said you give them egg shells??? if you have the oyster shell it should be enough... regular egg shells.. they may really like and then when they do lay you won't get any eggs... they will become egg eaters.. They only thing to do with them then is soup.

I have an ameraucana that is 22 weeks old.  Her comb turns bright red from time to time (usually when she's excited about something, like when I bring out treats or there's a rucus in the coop), but then goes pale again when she's calm.  Is this a sign she's getting ready to lay or do I have to wait until it's looks red all the time?  She's my oldest girl and this will be my very first egg layer ever, so I'm very excited.  And when I say "excited" I mean impatient.

That first egg from your chicken will be small and might not have a yoke. So to be on the safe side, any small eggs that you suspect might be first eggs open them in bowls to make sure you want to use them or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rthomp11 

That first egg from your chicken will be small and might not have a yoke. So to be on the safe side, any small eggs that you suspect might be first eggs open them in bowls to make sure you want to use them or not.

You can use an egg that does not have a yolk.  It's perfectly safe! 

At 27 weeks my americauna finally laid her first egg.  She put it right in the nesting box.  She's been laying for a week now and we've gotten 5 eggs total.  She puts them in the nesting box every time - it's so amazing!  It makes you wonder how they know to do that.  Each egg I get seems like a small miracle.  Here's a picture of her first egg.

Most by 23 weeks.  My easter eggers took for ever!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bananikaa 

The chickens you have sound REALLY fancy. :D Haha some of your chickens I've never even heard of. But just to say, I have 1 Amerucanuo, 2 Silver Wyandottes (or however you spell that) 2 Leghorns, and 1 Rhode Island Red. They are about the size of chihuahuas, but i'm not exactly sure how old they are. But let me just give a woraning, your first egg will NOT be in the nesting box!! This is a first- time thing, and the chicken has no clue whats going on! So, be sure to search! Good luck!

Owner of 6 chcknz (sorry thats how i spell haha) 2 furry tailed felines, a pup, and some other little critters. trust me, i KNOW all about animals. ;)  haha