When did your Black Australorps start to lay?

[lorain's fids]

Quote:
I also have been thinking about adding a light for an extra hour in the evening, but then I decided against it and I'll wait and see what happens. But also since the clocks changed I have been letting them out of their coop at 7am instead of 8, this way they are getting an extra hour of light in the morning-

 

[BasicallyHeather]

I am doing the same, Lorain. I figure that mine are still getting about the same amount of sun that they have for the past two months, so

I am leery of running extension cords to the coop (it's not wired for electric) because it's just another thing for my kids to trip over and mess with.

 

[Baochickenbaobao]

Mine are 22 weeks and seem like they're warming up to a new month older roo we introduced to the flock as a couple with a hen. The hen however can be a bit of a diva with no snickers. She gives all the younger ones grief and plucked tail feathers. It's only been a week and heard it can take upwards of 2 weeks. I feel terrible for the 2 austra hens though because they're so sweet and passive. They may take longer to lay though bc of the distress of ms. moody. Hope you get a lot of eggs here soon.

 

[m.kitchengirl]

We cheated - I didn't really "add light", i just leave the porch light on for an hour in the eve & in the a.m. (I moved the hen house up to the herb garden outside my kitchen door for the winter. That put the hen house sort of near the light by the kitchen door. Probably about 5 feet from the light. I don't know if that is enough.)

It probably is in my head more than anything. Especially if you ask the man of the house.
But, I am afraid of extension chords as a rule, so if I can trick myself into believing the porch light made them FINALLY lay, I'm ok with being delusional.

 

[Stylinjinx]

16 weeks here and our too Coco has been mounting the girls. Its like watching paint dry.

 

[chickiema]

mine started last week at 23 weeks. I got 2 eggs a day for the first few days then they took a day off and today I had 2 more. We built the nesting boxes over the weekend and the eggs were laid on top of the nesting boxes. One egg appeared to be pecked at but I am not sure, since the entire shell was not broken and it was on an end. I am thinking one laid and the other when she flew to the top of the nesting box may have hit is with her toe. I have 6 hens. The last few weeks 2 have been very vocal and when they laid the first eggs they were so proud. They followed me in the coop and were strutting and bragging in chicken talk, Once I acknowledged the eggs they gave one last noise and out the door they went to their run.

 

[yolaleah]

We have three chickens and one is a BA. She's nearly 32 weeks and still no eggs, even though both of her sisters are laying. But both of her sisters are other breeds (Buff Orpington and Barred Rock). So we're waiting patiently with our Australorp but I'm wondering if we're going to be waiting until spring now that winter has reached Chicago! Seems likely but I'm still crossing my fingers!

 

[mlejneks]

Mine is now 38 weeks old, and still hasn't layed her first egg! One good sign though is I saw her squat down to be mounted about a week ago. I believe that is a sign she is finally close. Funny thing is I have no rooster. I have a 3 year old barred rock hen, and when a young hen squats, she beats the heck out of them, pecks at their heads, and even gets on their backs . Its a pretty rough treatment!

 

[mojavemike1]

I have 2 BA's pullets and got my first egg today. They are nearly 28 weeks old. I didn't expect them to be the first to lay, as I have a production RIR, BPRock and White Leghorn who seemed more likely to be first.
I have been checking the egg box every day for a month, and this morning, to my surprise, a BA was on the nest.

 

[mlejneks]

Update - a few days after my BA squatted, I saw her go into the two nesting boxes and reshape the nesting material. A couple days later, she started laying. It was during her 40th week, so patience was needed compared to the other breeds I have.