what clues are there to know when a chicken is going to start laying eggs

I have 15 buff orphingtons and 10 new hampshire reds that are 22 weeks old and have not got an egg yet. I have nest boxes in the coop. At what age do they usually start laying?

Because it's winter & the hours of daylight are to a minimum, many will delay their start of lay. Orpingtons in general take a longer time to mature than other breeds. IMO- They make up for it in their wonderful personalities.
 
OK. Since spring has finally sprung, egg production is finally growing.

Funny story: On this beautiful sunny day, DD & her friend decided to open a cupcake & juice stand. The girls baked cupcakes & had the great idea of selling them on the corner to other kids after school. No lemonade at her friend’s house, so they made OJ instead. DD wanted to contribute, so she ran home & raided our fridge. She grabbed some eggs & sold them on the street – literally!!! In fact, our eggs were the 1st item to sell out. Everyone loved how we write the names of the hen & date on each egg. Now my daughter is a pusher & our neighbors are getting addicted to fresh eggs!
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Depends on the breed as to when they start laying.
Also the time of year plays an important part. Harder for just about every breed of pullet or hen to lay when it is cold BUT it is hot HOWEVER two Months old is too young to lay for any breed.
Even amoung pullets within the same breed it could vary from one to another.
What kind do you have?
No Matter what their ages are they all love that dirt bath.
It gets those mites off and keeps them off?
It helps to cool them off?
They love to play in the dirt.
Scratch it, lay in it and roll in it.
I have sand for mine.
But they still find that dirt when out for a stroll.

The first time my husband saw our chickens taking a dust bath he ran in panicked to tell me. The chickens had dug their holes and were laying in them to cool off, but he thought they were sick! LOL I told him to wait a few minutes. Sure enough once they got used to him watching them "bathe" they went back to dusting and having a good ole time. It was so funny. He was SO worried :)
 
I have pine shavings in my nesting box, but I may get a fresh bale of straw for my garden and the nesting box. I put herbs in the box, too. I don't know if the chickens like it, but it's pretty and freshens it up. It also helps me determine if she's been in there, because they're disturbed.

So far, Janet has laid her second egg, and I thought she was on an every other day schedule, but she missed that schedule yesterday. Penny should be laying her first soon. I know people say they can tell the difference between the eggs laid by their different chickens, but as a newbie, and with two girls just starting to lay at the same time, it will probably take me a while. I just want more eggs! I was worried about Janet for the first one, but now I'm feeling greedy.

What herbs do you use in their nest boxes? I have a herb garden so herbs are readily available.
 
It's our first time having chickens so we get surprised quite often.
We added our 4 nesting boxes yesterday and Mr. Rooster hopped in and sat on each of the wooden eggs for about five minutes each.
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I don't know if he was instructing the hens in their duties or telling them to get on with it, but he was giving them a talking to the whole time.

The funniest part was ALL of the hens were standing there like they were actually paying attention to him!





 
It's our first time having chickens so we get surprised quite often.
We added our 4 nesting boxes yesterday and Mr. Rooster hopped in and sat on each of the wooden eggs for about five minutes each.
idunno.gif


I don't know if he was instructing the hens in their duties or telling them to get on with it, but he was giving them a talking to the whole time.

The funniest part was ALL of the hens were standing there like they were actually paying attention to him!


That's so funny. My 1st roo did the SAME THING!
We thought that perhaps he was jealous about the hens laying eggs & getting all the attention. He jumped in a nest, made some hen "laying noises" then hopped out & sang the egg song. I think he was trying to trick me into believing he just laid the golf ball that was sitting in the nest. LOL He continued to sing the egg song with the girls. He would also pace back & forth when his fav hen was laying an egg. The other girls would wait & watch.


 

Hatched some pretty Orpingtons & Bielefelders back in April. Here's our likely keeper. This big boy started crowing at only 3 mo old & started mating the hens about 2 weeks after that. He now hangs out in the coop to spend some quality time with the older ladies. (Not wasting his time with the non-laying pullets of his own age.) The funny part is that I often see him sitting in a nest box. He obviously know he's male, so why is he trying to lay an egg? None of the females from his hatch are anywhere close to laying.
 

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