⠀ Eggticipation

[Purina]

Eggticipation:

noun egg·tic·i·pa·tion \ (ˌ) egg-ˌti-sə-ˈpā-shən \

the action of anticipating farm fresh eggs; counting down the days until the first egg happy dance

If you have pullets in your flock that will be laying for the first time this year, you know what this word means! It’s not too early to start thinking about how you can help your flock through the first egg excitement.

Switch to a complete layer feed at first egg or week 18 – whichever comes first. Some of you may have over-achievers that are anxious to provide you with eggs, so you should reward them with the calcium they need to make strong shells. Regardless of the complete feed path you choose for your flock, look for a layer feed that contains at least 3.25% calcium to meet your birds’ nutritional needs.

How long until the pullets in your flock start laying? Give us your best guess below!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Different breeds mature at different rates but in general, reaching POL between the winter and summer solstices, they should start between 18 and 22 weeks.
Birds reaching POL after summer solstice will take a bit longer and birds getting to that point after October (April in the Southern Hemisphere) may not start till near 30 weeks or longer.
It's all about increasing vs. decreasing day length.
That's why I don't recommend starting layer feed at 18 weeks if it is after summer solstice unless one has their birds on a lighting program.

ETA
Normally eggs won't be forthcoming till the combs and wattles grow and turn bright red but I did have an Orp that laid eggs and her comb never grew or darkened.
At that point, people can check the distance between the pointy pelvic bones to see if eggs are imminent. Less than 2 finger width between those bones and there will be no eggs soon.