Will she lay soon?

[GulfBamaChick]

22wks

 

[BantamLover55]

How old is she?

 

[Chickennorman]

how old is she

 

[Chickennorman]

how old is she

 

[GulfBamaChick]

22 weeks! I know she should be laying about now but there is no egg squat, no eggs, they are not mating with the rooster, nothing /:

 

[GulfBamaChick]

I hear you can tell by their comb

 

[JMarch]

she's getting close- her face will get redder and her wattles and comb will grow a little more

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I hear you can tell by their comb

Development f the comb/wattles is one of the clues you can use to assess a bird's closeness to laying, yes - as the bird gets close to the point of lay you will generally see a change in the size, color and texture/appearance of the comb/wattles -- generally speaking, in birds not yet ready to lay these will be small, pale and dry in appearance, in a bird close to or actively laying they are larger, redder and have a shiny/soft/waxy appearance/feel to them. Other clues that are part of the puzzle can be a reddening of the facial skin, the submissive squat (this is a female submitting to a male for mounting, which is part of showing a sexual maturity, ie the readiness to lay),

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

22 weeks! I know she should be laying about now but there is no egg squat, no eggs, they are not mating with the rooster, nothing /:

22 weeks is really on the "this is when you can start to expect to see eggs" end of the spectrum - it isn't so much that they "should be laying" now because they are 22 weeks, but that they "may" be laying by the age of 22 weeks. Your bird looks to be close to beginning her life as a laying hen, so just hang in there and be patient. Most breeds will begin to lay between 22-28 weeks of age, with some breeds (or individual birds within each breed) beginning sooner or later than that.

 

[MissMelMc68]

Oh my goodness...my hens have been doing the submission squat...I thought they were just too scared to move...maybe it's a little bit of both lol...they are 20 weeks old! <3