Why can't they lay at the same time?

[MeatyCluckers]

We have 6 hens - 21-22 weeks old. 5 of the 6 have started laying - 4 for a couple of weeks now, and 1 just started a couple days ago (the other is her Delaware sister, who I'm expecting will be another week or two since she's been slower to develop).

ANYWAY, we have four nesting boxes in a 4 x 6 coop for our 6 hens. Every single morning it is just 2 hours worth of chickens screaming because they refuse to lay at the same time as each other. They don't even always use the same box, but if one hen is in a box trying to lay, another one will come in and scream and interrupt that one so that they leave, then the new one tries to lay an egg and the same things happen. It's like an egg laying stand-off and they all just scream and scream and go in and out of the coop and boxes until they each get their privacy in the coop to finish their process.

Is there anything we can do to help them adjust? Curtains over the boxes? A separate nesting box in the run someplace? Time? Or is this the norm?

FWIW our flock is: 2 Wyandottes (laying), 1 white Leghorn (laying), 1 Black Sex Link (laying), and 2 Delawares (1 laying, 1 not). Photo of one of our SLW's for interest.

 

[3KillerBs]

At that age they're hormonal teen girls and hormonal teen girls can be very dramatic.

It will work out in due time.

 

[MeatyCluckers]

At that age they're hormonal teen girls and hormonal teen girls can be very dramatic.

It will work out in due time.

Oh, they are VERY dramatic. Especially the laying Delaware, who is louder than like five roosters combined.

 

[WPchickens]

I have 4 Delawares that are 19 weeks old and haven’t started laying. This one that is the most mature is squatting and chatty. How long until she starts laying I feel like she’s ready!

 

[CFLRanching]

At that age they're hormonal teen girls and hormonal teen girls can be very dramatic.

It will work out in due time.

Hahaha. Yes! Good description Catfights in the hallway. Haha.

 

[Callender Girl]

Well, some girls calm down with age. I have years-old hens who still scream at each other. Here, the yelling is, in no small part, because laying their eggs in someone else's coop is nearly always preferable to keeping their fluffy butts in their own house.

I try to keep everyone cooped as long as possible in the morning, but once the doors are open, it's like musical chairs as everyone races to another coop. A few hens even object when there is another hen in an adjacent nest box in a neighboring coop.

The egg songs are often accompanied by one or two of the roosters, proudly announcing the events.

Anyone who dreams of a quiet life in the country has never spent time where I live.

 

[KyCoop]

I have 4 boxes and 5 laying hens (9 counting the not yet teenagers) 2 of the hens went broody in the 2 "best" boxes. Have mercy the screaming from the broody girls and the girls wanting to lay in the good boxes. They worked it out. The girls would just climb on top of the broody girl and lay their egg on her back!

 

[saysfaa]

...Is there anything we can do to help them adjust? Curtains over the boxes?

Curtains seem the easiest to try. If they don't work, you aren't out much.

 

[MeatyCluckers]

I have 4 Delawares that are 19 weeks old and haven’t started laying. This one that is the most mature is squatting and chatty. How long until she starts laying I feel like she’s ready!

Oh she looks ready! One started Sept 26 and my other one started just three days ago! Both had similar comb size the biggest tell was the squatting. Within a week of hen number 2 squatting, she laid her first egg. They are late April babies.

 

[MeatyCluckers]

I have 4 boxes and 5 laying hens (9 counting the not yet teenagers) 2 of the hens went broody in the 2 "best" boxes. Have mercy the screaming from the broody girls and the girls wanting to lay in the good boxes. They worked it out. The girls would just climb on top of the broody girl and lay their egg on her back!

Mine have started sharing boxes of the one they want is occupied!