When should they start laying?

[Cloverr39]

I have bantams. I think bantams start laying a bit later than standard egg laying breeds. More specifically I have a 4 month old Brahma x Silkie mix,
a 2 month old frizzle Cochin and lastly, a 2 month old Silkie. All bantams.

Around when should they start laying? They'll definitely be laying by next spring, right?

 

[Duckmomof6]

My chickens (Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds) started laying around 3-4 months old. I realize we have different breeds of chickens, but maybe they all lay around the same age?

 

[Cloverr39]

I tried to Google it and it said that apparently silkies take 7-9 months to start laying, bantam cochins take 5-6 months and I didn't know what to look up for my mixed breed. No info on bantam brahmas, so I can't compare it to silkies.

I don't trust what Google has to say tho and I want to hear from people that have experience with these breeds. I doubt this info is correct.

 

[Duckmomof6]

I have learned too to not trust Google. I would rather hear from someone who has experience too. I joined this site for that reason. I wish I could help you with this. I only have those 2 breeds, and I just became a chicken mom 2 years ago.❤

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've learned to not trust everything I read on this forum either. No matter what I've seen somebody else has seen something different. Often I've seen something different. And don't forget, I'm just a stranger over the internet too, just like on Google.

Each chicken is an individual, we keep them in different climates and under different circumstances. We are all going to see something different. That's very true for when they start to lay. I've seen pullets start to lay at 16 weeks. I had some not start until 9 months. They were all raised the same and were often the same breeds or mixes.

Not every hen of a specific breed is identical to all others of that breed. Some breeds have tendencies but you have to have enough of that breed for averages to mean something. You don't. An average Silkie bantam might start to lay at a certain age but if you have several some can be really early, some way late. With only one, which do you have, the early, late or average? The time of year they hatched and how you feed and manage them might have an effect. The only way you will know they are going to start is when you see an egg.

Production breeds tend to start laying earlier than decorative breeds. Brahmas are known to be slow maturing and your others are decorative breeds. I'm not sure how much difference bantam versus full-sized makes. With your decorative birds I would not expect them to be very early.

I assume you are north of the equator since you talk about next spring. Your days are getting shorter. That's generally a sign to not lay eggs but wait until the days get longer in the spring to start because it is easier to raise chicks in the spring when food is abundant. That used to be part of the life cycle of chickens before they were domesticated and is still part of their instincts, sort of. But we have bred them to be more productive, we feed them well all year, provide them shelter, and often have artificial lights around. The days getting shorter doesn't mean as much as it used to. I've had pullets lay their first egg in early December when the days were still getting shorter but were about as short as they were going to get. I do not provide extra lights.

You may often read that they have to have a certain length of daylight to lay, 14 or 15 hours of light are often mentioned. Not in my experience. I've had many pullets lay throughout the winter with days as short as 10 hours. I've had mature hens finish a molt early and start laying with those 10-hour days.

I cannot tell you when they will start to lay. I don't know how early your spring will actually come. It will be different in Miami, Florida than it would be in Bismark, North Dakota. I would not be shocked if your 4-month-old started laying before Christmas but she could easily wait until the days get longer and warmer. I would expect your 2-month-olds to start laying next spring. Whether that is late January or sometime in April or May I have no idea.