What time of day is normal egg laying time?

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bruinfan

bruinfan

In the Brooder
9 Years
Sep 12, 2010
55
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I have a 1 year old RIR that justed started laying eggs for me about 2 weeks ago. We got her from a family whose coop was raided by a critter, and she (Cheddar) was the lone survivor. She stopped laying for about 5 weeks, and now is back laying consistently. In fact as of today it is 8 days straight. The only thing is she lays anywhere from 6:30 a.m. till 3:30 p.m.. Is this normal? I've only started raising chickens about 2 months ago so I'm very new to this.
p.s. Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone!
 
On average they lay about every 25 hours.

Most of my eggs are laid by 9AM in the summer and by 2PM in the winter.

Right now I'm hardly getting any.
sad.png
 
According to the books, they lay on a 26-hour cycle, so each egg is an hour later each day, until they reach dark, when they take a day off and start again.

I don't think mine are that precise, but they do lay at odd hours through the day. It's another good reason to only free range a couple of hours before dark - they've usually laid most of their eggs by then, in the nest box.
 
I have found all but one egg in the coop. In the coop she laid most in the box, but 2 I found in the middle of the coop floor. The one that she laid at 3:30 pm was in a 12" round flower pot about 20' from the coop. I know what time she laid it because DD came home at 3 and no egg, and I found it at 3:30 when I came home and the egg was still warm.
 
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On my first trip out to the chicken yard, I find warm just hatched eggs. Rarely if ever, do they lay in the afternoon.
 
We definitely have afternoon layers. First thing in the morning there is usually 1 but later in the day when I round them up from free ranging, they lay a few more around 3pm.
 
My chickens -- two separate flocks of four each -- have always "rotated" around the day, laying a little later each day (26 hour cycle), until they reach nightfall, when I thought they would "hold it" until the morning. On the other hand, I have also recently been in the coop after dark, and found a chicken in the nest box at night. So, perhaps they lay at night as well, and I had previously been counting them as morning eggs.

With a small flock of different breeds, I know who lays which egg because the eggs each have their own characteristics. The BR's eggs are squat with thick shells and sometimes extra calcium. The BA's eggs are lighter and slightly pointy. The SLW's eggs are larger and smoother than the BR's. The Welsummer hasn't started laying yet but I am hoping for darker from her. Knowing who lays which egg means I can track time of day, at least on weekends when I am home.

As far as I can tell, the idea that chickens lay more in the morning is a myth.
 

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