Egg laying frequency

[easyshot]

My family and I are new to backyard chickens. Our daughter received six two week old chickens at the beginning of March (2013) from her grandparents with the expectation we would have some loss but fortunately she is a proud parent of two Leghorns, two Rhode Island Reds, and two Plymouth Rocks. So quite unexpectedly the Leghorns and the Rocks started laying. We were under the impression we still had a little time. The chickens have a nice little coop that I have built and their own good sized run. We also let them in the backyard in the evenings or during the day if we are around.

In the past week we were getting four eggs a day and then in the past couple of days it dropped to two. They are laying in the nesting boxes in the coop but I have gotten nervous that they are laying elsewhere. I have searched their run thoroughly but I have not found any stray eggs. Upon doing some reading it sounds like their laying habits can vary. What is a proper expectation for laying? I also wanted to know when I can expect the Reds to start laying as well. Any help appreciated.

Thank you,

Allen.

 

[4 the Birds]

When they first begin to lay, the eggs may be small and then some double yokes and many days nothing. Usually when they reach 8 or 9 months they lay more steadily. The best you can expect will be 1 egg/hen each day. Their output will vary. Your 6 hens are in the high egg production category so you will most likely be getting 3 or 4 eggs each day and the occasional 5 to 6 eggs. Don't be disappointed if you get 1 or 2 egg days. Clear as mud?

 

[Thomps Hens]

Welcome to BYC

 

[Kelsie2290]

They're almost five months old so all of them are right on schedule to start laying now. Pullets when they start laying can stop and start and skip days, or lay soft eggs, double yokes etc, it takes a month or two for them to really get into the swing of things.
With the 6 you have, you should be getting a lot of eggs, when they are laying at their best in a couple of months, I would expect the Leghorns to lay 6-7 a week, the RIR 5-6 and the Rocks 4-5. You will probably be able to tell the eggs of the three breeds apart by color, the Leghorns will lay white, the RIR will lay a kind of medium brown and the Rocks light brown. Do you know who has been laying already and whose eggs are now missing? Chickens will hide nests and they can be pretty sneaky about it, so if you are letting them out in the backyard they may have a hidden nest somewhere, they can be pretty fast about it.

 

[easyshot]

Thank you for the comments. The leghorns and the rocks are laying now. The reds haven't yet. They have a good size run they live in outside the coop which I have searched thoroughly several times so I am pretty confident I am finding all the eggs. We only let them out in the backyard supervised so we keep a pretty close eye on them and they spend most of the time plucking all the grapes of the grapevine. I am looking forward to the reds starting to lay.