Close to laying?

[Isyovi]

I read somewhere when pullets are about to lay an egg their comb gets redder. This is my 17 week old leghorn mix, do you think she is close to laying? Is there a way to tell?

 

[HappyClucker7]

She definitely looks like she is about to start laying!

 

[Birdie2019]

Yep. My girl started laying a few weeks after her comb redden up real bright. 1 year and a few weeks old.

 

[Isyovi]

Yep. My girl started laying a few weeks after her comb redden up real bright. 1 year and a few weeks old.View attachment 2276735

Thanks! She does look really pretty!

 

[Ebony Rose]

Bright red, often glossy comb and waddles indicates a healthy and sexually mature bird.

I watched a youtube today that said the color of their eggs can be determined (before they start laying) by the color of their earlobes. Judging by the photograph, her eggs should be white. When she finally lays her first egg for you, please let us know if they are indeed white eggs, please.

 

[Whigru]

My RIR got a bigger and more red comb a couple weeks before she started to lay. It got noticeably floppy a day or two after she started. Yours looks pretty floppy (though I think leghorns are known for their big combs, maybe?) so I’d guess an egg is soon! Have you done a pelvic check? Doing so on my RIR allowed me to know that she was likely within a couple days of laying (and I was right!).

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Try a pelvic check- feel between the two bones very near to her vent. If you can fit at least 2 fingers in between them, she should be close!!

 

[aart]

I read somewhere when pullets are about to lay an egg their comb gets redder. This is my 17 week old leghorn mix, do you think she is close to laying? Is there a way to tell?

Looks more like a Cream Legbar mix.

Bright red, often glossy comb and waddles indicates a healthy and sexually mature bird.

Yes, that birds comb looks pretty red, but not plump and glossy.
You may be amazed when the comb gets plumper and glossy.

I watched a youtube today that said the color of their eggs can be determined (before they start laying) by the color of their earlobes. Judging by the photograph, her eggs should be white. When she finally lays her first egg for you, please let us know if they are indeed white eggs, please.

Not always true. Cream Legbars have white earlobes but lay blue shells.
Since this bird is a mix she may or may not lay a blue shell...could lay green or light blue, or white shell with brown coating, depending on genetics and coating color.
There was a another thread recently about a CLB in EU that laid light brown.
OP did some research and found some interesting genetic background about it.

Try a pelvic check- feel between the two bones very near to her vent. If you can fit at least 2 fingers in between them, she should be close!!

Yes, here's how:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/
Tho pelvic spread, like squatting, can happen a couple weeks before actually laying.

 

[My2butterflies]

How true is that? I feel like all my girls have red combs, but only one is laying so far.

 

[Isyovi]

How true is that? I feel like all my girls have red combs, but only one is laying so far.

I read it somewhere, but her comb and wattles have become bigger and redder in the last couple of weeks. Compared to one of her sisters in the back she looks quite different now. Do you have a breed that is slow to mature? It can take some more time with those.