A few questions

[sambia62]

I have been reading a few sites they say that some chicken will lay as early as 4 months mine are at 4 months now will it hurt to put the nest boxes in now just for GP and will giving egg pellets encourage them to lay sooner will it hurt to give them egg pellets now and mix it with their scratch or corn

 

[gale65]

It won't hurt to put in the nest boxes. They might go in them and poop so be sure the roosts are higher than the nests. Feeding layer feed will not get them to lay sooner and it's best to wait maybe a couple more weeks at least before you do that. From what I understand the extra calcium in the layer feed isn't good for young pullets. We started it around 18 weeks. Our chickens didn't start laying until about 20-21 weeks old.

 

[LT]

I agree. The nest boxes are fine to add, but of our 8 chickens, the earliest one started at 18 1/2 weeks, but the next one didn't start until 24 weeks. With the shorter days ahead, I would guess you have at least another month, if not more. But all of our laid in the nest boxes from day one (except for one minor mishap), and I think it was because we added the nest boxes around 17 weeks. Good luck!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think it is time to put in the nest boxes. I've had them start at 16 weeks, but that is pretty unusual. The breed and the time of year can affect when they start. It is also a very individual thing. Some of the same breed can start a lot later than others.

If you put the nest boxes up now, you'll find out if you have a problem you need to correct. They may try sleeping in there, which you don't want. They poop a lot at night. Messy eggs!!! I also suggest putting a fake egg in there to show them where to lay. If you find it scratched out on the floor, you may need to raise the lip to keep them from scratching out bedding and eggs.

Good luck!!!