16 Weeks And Already Laying?

[machoman]

I have three Production Red/Sex Link Cross Pullets who turned 16 weeks this past Monday. Is it too soon for them to be laying? I have two, two year old Production Red hens that don't lay everyday ( maybe one egg from each every two or three days ), but the past couple of days I've seen two eggs in the coop each day. What's weird is they're bigger than usual. I know first eggs are usually small, so I'm a bit confused. Too soon to lay or just my older girls being freaky?

 

[aoxa]

I have three Production Red/Sex Link Cross Pullets who turned 16 weeks this past Monday. Is it too soon for them to be laying? I have two, two year old Production Red hens that don't lay everyday ( maybe one egg from each every two or three days ), but the past couple of days I've seen two eggs in the coop each day. What's weird is they're bigger than usual. I know first eggs are usually small, so I'm a bit confused. Too soon to lay or just my older girls being freaky? 

Are your younger girls ready by appearance? Are their combs and wattles nice and big and red?

It could be either situation. RSLs have been known to lay at 16 weeks.

 

[CJkid]

I don't know about the pattern of your older hens. But I have 20 chickens, 10 barred rocks and 9 rhode island reds. Several started laying at 16 weeks old. The first few were small but there was one that layed a bigger egg and it got to full size pretty quick. They are now 22 weeks old and everybody's laying, some are big and some are still small. So depending on the individual chicken size could vary.

 

[machoman]

No, they're much smaller than when my leghorns started to lay. But, their mother hardly has a comb or waddle at all. It's like a chicken soap opera. Never thought chicken behavior could keep my on my toes like this.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It's not the size of the combs and wattles that are important but the color. Regardless of size if they are bright red, there is a real good chance it is them. Different chicken breeds have different sized combs and wattles regardless of age.

Them being Production Reds/Sex Links crosses does not tell me a whole lot. Both names are used to mean different things by different people. Sex links may be the commercial laying crosses or they may just be crosses between standard breeds, for example. Those behave a whole lot differently. So there are no guarantees with yours. But both names suggest a possibility that they are bred for laying large eggs early and regularly.

With a cross of certain Productions Reds with certain Sex Links, them laying decent sized eggs at 16 weeks is certainly possible. If the combs and wattles are bright red, I'd think that is a real possibility with yours.

Something else you can do. Look at their vents. If the vent is small and dry looking, they are not laying yet. If the vents are fairly large and moist they are either laying or real close to laying. Look at the vents on your older hens that are laying to get a comparison.

 

[machoman]

Thank you Ridgerunner! Two of them have deep red, very small combs. The father is a sexlink rooster, but the gentleman I bought him from called the black star roosters, if that helps. He looked a little like a barred rock.