I have 32 laying hens, all between 19-21 weeks. I got my first egg last saturday, about 4pm. I have gotten several eggs this week, never anything in the morning, always after 2pm or so. I even got one the other night about 7pm. I always thought that chickens layed at like 6 am or something. Ok, no laughing, I'm a newbie...
Mine lay all day - all the way till bed time. If you have a specific hen that you can tell her eggs from the others, you'll notice a slow movement through the days. Example, monday she'll lay early morning, Tuesday an hour or so later and so on until its a late night lay - then she misses the next day and starts back to early morning laying!
Our ladies lay between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. They all have their own schedules. If your ladies are just starting to lay, it will take them a while to get into a routine.
Most of the year my birds lay whenever they want. I had an old gal that passed this summer that laid at daybreak. As soon as it was light enough to move from the perch to a her nest, she was move. Once finished she would go back to the perch to finish sleeping. I only caught 'Old Hefty' on the nest a couple times. Most mornings I would just find a fresh, really warm, jumbo size egg when I opened the houses in the mornings. As she got older the eggs only came every 2-3 days. During the summer, my birds lay in the mornings. If one lays during the day after it starts getting hot I may find the egg anywhere. That includes their mud holes I make for them to stand in to cool off. Matt
One person here had a chicken that laid an egg every 25 hours. Sometimes the hen "sleep laid" from her roost.
Mine lay anytime before daylight (they feel their way to the nest box) until before dark....I thought hens always laid before noon until I started raising them. As long as they produce...I'm happy