australorp eggs

[chub_the_chick]

Hello, I was wondering when my chickens will start to lay, they are 16 and a half week old and are austalorps chickens and are pretty big now.

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

Around 24-26 weeks I think!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Australorp hens in my humble opinion are the Forest Gump's of the poultry world. Therefor they may be a little slow to start laying. These birds take a while to reach adult size. Mainly because they are multi-purpose hens. In their current form they are bred with one of their originators eyes on the nest box and the other eye on the frying pan.

 

[Savager]

You probably have another two months. If you see any of them starting to squat when you try to pick them up that usually means you're close.

 

[crunchymama11]

Australorp hens in my humble opinion are the Forest Gump's of the poultry world. Therefor they may be a little slow to start laying. These birds take a while to reach adult size. Mainly because they are multi-purpose hens. In their current form they are bred with one of their originators eyes on the nest box and the other eye on the frying pan.

So far this has been my experience.

My BA was hatched May 7 and still no eggs, although she has started squatting the last 2 days so . She and my runt EE are the last of my small flock to lay- the other 3 hens have been laying for weeks. My BA is also my biggest. She is a big girl. I barely see her eat and I ration food so she is not just stuffing her face all day. But yeah- we could definitely eat her.

 

[Cyprus]

If I recall correctly, my BA hen didn't start laying until she was 6 or 7 months old.

 

[Clousic Chicks]

Two of mine started laying just after 24 weeks. My others are hatchmates and haven’t yet so I think they might be a week or so younger. The two laying definitely have well developed combs and wattles, and definitely squat when I approach them.

 

[Acre4Me]

We have 3 BA, hatched Feb 28. They started laying in July, around 20 weeks old.

Combs and wattles will get red, and they get friendlier, it seems as they get close to laying. One went broody only a few weeks after starting to lay, and in Sept we slipped chicks under her, then it took her about 4 weeks to start laying after getting chicks (which she mothered beautifully).

Our three are pretty consistent layers of 5 eggs per week (sometimes 6/ week).

 

[aart]

18-28 weeks is the average age for onset of lay in most breeds.
Time of year and diet can influence when they mature enough to ovulate.
This late in the year with days still shortening,
you may likely have to wait until well after Solstice.