I am afraid I don't have a discerning eye because I don't know what to look for to tell if they are at the point of laying. The only thing that is obvious to these old eyes is that a couple are laying.
How do you define laying? Is it at the first egg or do all or most of the hens have to be laying? This is critical for the health of the birds, laying feed can damage their insides. To date, I have five eggs and six birds, there appears to be a difference in the hue of some of them (the eggs)...
Thank you for all your suggestions. I have a plan, just got to see if it will work. If all goes well, I will save the $130 I had allocated for the wood.
Again, thanks for all the helps.