19 and a half weeks old and still no eggs :( egg countdown anyone??

[vjwilmoth]

I'm STILL waiting!

I have 9 hens at 23 weeks and only ONE is laying and she's been laying since she was 16 weeks. I'm going to go crazy! I have others that are younger so they get to catch a break for a while.

 

[Nomibear]

ok, i understand that i'm prob jumping into this thread a bit early. My batch of 19 Leghorn pullets are only 16 weeks old. I''ve read all of this thread i think, and have seen several reports of early layers.
Here are a couple pics of my girls. Most of them are clearly weeks away from laying. Combs and waddles are still small and pink. One of my girls (Floppy) is well developed and is coming closer to me then ever before, nearly following me around the coop.


Floppy with Celeste.

 

[PoultryGirly]

I didn't get any eggs yesterday, but I got 2 this morning in the same nesting box!

 

[Macro]

ok, i understand that i'm prob jumping into this thread a bit early. My batch of 19 Leghorn pullets are only 16 weeks old. I''ve read all of this thread i think, and have seen several reports of early layers.
Here are a couple pics of my girls. Most of them are clearly weeks away from laying. Combs and waddles are still small and pink. One of my girls (Floppy) is well developed and is coming closer to me then ever before, nearly following me around the coop.


Floppy with Celeste.

Pretty chickens! My leghorn is around 19-20 weeks and she hasn't started laying yet. She also seems to be developing a little slower than the others, perhaps because she is less dominant?

 

[FirewifeJess]

Are Leghorns very personable? I like the look of a plain white chicken...purdy! But I like chickens that do well with my kids too. Thoughts?

 

[RedIII]

FirewifeJess, Leghorns can be a little flighty. However, I had one that would orbit me and wait to be petted or picked up and carried around. I'm pretty sure that she was raised around small children ever since she was a baby, so she was used to being handled. If you work with them, they might be okay.

And I have three girls that are 26 weeks old, with no layers among them yet. One 25 week old. They are RIR, BSL, EE, and a GLW. However, I'm pretty sure that the RIR has been rearranging the nest cubby to her liking

 

[sezjasper]

Gee I feel dumb, but so many people talk about when their girls squat for them and that's how they know they are ready to start laying...If this is true, my girls (20 weeks on Friday) are nowhere near ready. They are all over me when I have treats for them, but let me try to pick one up and they turn into greased pigs! Could someone give me some insight into this squatting behavior, is there something I can do to encourage it so maybe it will shorten the wait for my first egg? Thanks!

 

[RedIII]

Gee I feel dumb, but so many people talk about when their girls squat for them and that's how they know they are ready to start laying...If this is true, my girls (20 weeks on Friday) are nowhere near ready. They are all over me when I have treats for them, but let me try to pick one up and they turn into greased pigs! Could someone give me some insight into this squatting behavior, is there something I can do to encourage it so maybe it will shorten the wait for my first egg? Thanks!

Sometimes it just takes them a little while to get to where they want to squat. I have a RIR that has been red in the face for a few weeks now, but she never squatted for me. Yesterday, my brother went to scratch her back, and she squatted for him! She still wouldn't do it for me, until today. You will know the squat when you see it. The chicken hunkers down and kind of raises their shoulders, almost like they're about to take a huge jump.

 

[FirewifeJess]

Quote:
Yes, this! A couple of my girls were squatting for about 2 weeks and then all of a sudden I would walk through the yard and all of the chickens would squat (it looked like they were bowing, LOL!) as I walked by them.

 

[sezjasper]

Ohhh okay, thank you, Red and Jess...now I know what I have to look forward to LOL Chickens are so funny!!!