Singing hens, when to expect eggs

[JChipowsky]

Hello, it's been a busy fall/winter in South Carolina. We have about 20 hens and 2 roos, who we started acquiring in July. We have cream legbars, light brahmas, black marans, Easter eggers, and a couple other mixed that we hatched out of my in-laws flock(very mixed flock with Easter egger roo and bym roo over olive egger and leghorn). Our first cream legbar hens have started singing. They are confined to the coop and run, so no possible laying in hidden places.
We expected them to hold off until spring, but starting Christmas eve we started hearing the singing. Today I was outside and heard the singing in the coop. I went to peek in and saw one of our original cream legbar hens on the roost bar on front of the nest boxes singing. She kicked our one roo out of the nest boxes and made herself a little nest(he mostly stays inside because he's not getting along well with the other boy, we'll be rehoming one in a couple weeks). She sat for a bit, then the roo annoyed her and she moved down the nest box row. Our nest boxes are an open row instead of individual boxes, mostly to have a bigger space for the brahmas.
We check in the coop, under the coop and in the run every day, just in case, but no eggs yet. We do have ceramic eggs in the nest boxes. Any ideas as to how close we are?

 

[springvalley123]

I'm assuming their combs are all nice and bright red too? That usually happens before the egg "song". I'd say any hour now. It's common to start laying when the days start getting longer, I had a group of leghorns hatched in july once start anywhere from New Year's eve to later in January. You do have a separate dish of oyster shells out, right?

 

[thecatumbrella]

Mine did a couple of fake out songs before laying, but you should see eggs this week! Also, their predator alert song sounds identical to the egg song… thought someone laid an egg, but they were just yelling at the neighbor’s cat.

 

[JChipowsky]

Mine did a couple of fake out songs before laying, but you should see eggs this week! Also, their predator alert song sounds identical to the egg song… thought someone laid an egg, but they were just yelling at the neighbor’s cat.

Our one roo crows every time there's a cat around...really annoying since our area is full of feral cats. There's 2 big toms that patrol our yard, the chickens are pretty used to seeing them.

 

[JChipowsky]

I'm assuming their combs are all nice and bright red too? That usually happens before the egg "song". I'd say any hour now. It's common to start laying when the days start getting longer, I had a group of leghorns hatched in july once start anywhere from New Year's eve to later in January. You do have a separate dish of oyster shells out, right?

We don't have a separate dish of oyster shells, we've been giving them layer feed with extra calcium (at least what the bag says) and crushed baked egg shells. Everyone from our first group has nice red combs(3 cream legbar, 2 Easter egger) and the one roo has been mounting them.
Will be getting oyster shells soon, haven't had any in store for a while.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Sometimes chickens sing the egg song when they were waiting to lay an egg and another hen boots her off the nest, and they are upset.

 

[aart]

Did the male mount them previuosly?
If not, it's good sign that they are near to laying.

Messing in the nests is the closest sign I've ever seen.

 

[JChipowsky]

Did the male mount them previuosly?
If not, it's good sign that they are near to laying.

Messing in the nests is the closest sign I've ever seen.

The males have been mounting most of the older hens, haven't seen them on the brahmas or merans, but definitely on the cream legbars and Easter eggers.

 

[aart]

The males have been mounting most of the older hens, haven't seen them on the brahmas or merans, but definitely on the cream legbars and Easter eggers.

A 'good' male won't mount a non laying female, they are very good indicators of impending laying in young pullets.

 

[JChipowsky]

This morning we got our first egg! I did manage to get them some oyster shell.