At what age do Black Australorps begin to lay their first eggs???

Pics
Date sort Score sort
Hi Kathleen, Rock can be hard on their feet if that's all they have to walk on. You wouldn't need to pull it all out, just add layers over top to add cushion and things to scratch in. That is if I am understanding what you are saying it is like. Could you show a picture of their run?
 
Hi Kathleen - You didn't mention a coop. Do they have a secure coop they can go into at night to roost? Are there appropriate nest boxes in the coop? They need a safe, dark, secluded place to lay their eggs.

With regard to the run (fenced pen), 1000 square feet is a pretty big area. I'd recommend thoroughly checking it for eggs, beginning with the area under the pine tree where you mentioned the hens go to hide. Thoroughly check around and under all vegetation and any other potential hiding places in the run. If they've started laying in the pen, you may need to confine them to the coop for several days to re-train them to lay in the nest boxes. If you see no signs of eggs after searching the pen, it may just be a case of them being late bloomers. They may start laying in a month or so due to increasing day length.

I'd also recommend raking the rock and stones away from a portion of the pen, so they have a place they can scratch around in. A 10 x 10 foot area should be fine to start out. After the stone is raked away, there should be exposed, natural soil. You could throw some scratch into that area to encourage them to scratch around in the soil. The only problem would be if this would create an erosion problem, so consider your local conditions (soil type, slope, erosion potential, etc.).
 
Last edited:
Here is my BA, Morticia. 24 weeks hope she starts laying soon!
400
 
Hello Everyone,

I'm new here. I've been reading and learning for a couple months and just joined today.

A friend loaned me 2 White Leghorn/RIR cross pullets last fall to help clean out my gardens. They became quite friendly, so they became permanent residents and started laying in January and February at 24-28 weeks. They seemed to go thru the typical signs of maturing-larger, redder combs and wattles, doing the "chicken squat" and practicing their egg song for a month or more before actually laying.

2 weeks ago I added six 15 week old Black Australorps to the family. They have settled in nicely; everyone is getting along. The new girls are becoming friendlier. In the last 10 days their combs/wattles/faces have started getting darker. They have all done the "chicken squat" occasionally, but not as reliably as the older girls did when they started. One of them has a larger/mature looking comb and wattle.

Now, at barely 17 weeks, 3 of them are laying. Maybe more if they are taking turns. Today (Saturday) 3 perfect, but very teeny, eggs. 2 days ago, 1 perfect teeny egg, one thin rubbery shell smashed in the bedding and one medium size odd looking misshapen egg. I am quite surprised as they do not look like they have matured yet! Hoping they will still get their nice big combs and wattles!

Does anyone else have experience with such over-achievers? If they were laying before their combs/wattles developed, did they develop?

Thanks in advance for any comments,

Teresa
 
"At what age do Black Australorps begin to lay their first egg"? ......I wish I knew.

I got my BA 'Kathleen' back in November as a POL....and almost 6 months on still nothing. Her comb and wattle are huge and red and have been for weeks now.

All my other chooks of the same age have been laying almost from the day I got them. SO frustrating.

I also introduced 2 new girls on the weekend and my BA has been the bully of the lot and has been seen trying to 'mount' the older chooks. I was wondering if It's normal dominant behaviour on show for the new girls or do I have a gender confused girl on my hands.....hence why she hasn't laid yet. Is that even possible?
 
RuthiePoo said:
"At what age do Black Australorps begin to lay their first egg"? ......I wish I knew.

I got my BA 'Kathleen' back in November as a POL....and almost 6 months on still nothing. Her comb and wattle are huge and red and have been for weeks now.

All my other chooks of the same age have been laying almost from the day I got them. SO frustrating.

I also introduced 2 new girls on the weekend and my BA has been the bully of the lot and has been seen trying to 'mount' the older chooks. I was wondering if It's normal dominant behaviour on show for the new girls or do I have a gender confused girl on my hands.....hence why she hasn't laid yet. Is that even possible?
Click to expand...
Can you post of picture of Kathleen?
 

Similar threads

D
still not laying eggs
2
Replies
17
Views
695
rosemarythyme
rosemarythyme
South Dakota Guy
Question about Pullet maturity and egg laying.
Replies
2
Views
678
South Dakota Guy
South Dakota Guy
M
Still not laying
Replies
4
Views
277
Mid Wales chicken keeper
M
cluck queen
What the cluck?
Replies
6
Views
637
NatJ
NatJ
Montymoo
    • Like
Comb/wattle size and egg laying
Replies
6
Views
768
Montymoo
Montymoo

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom