First Egg Countdown

[Danielle27]

I have two red sex links that are 16 weeks and a silkie, barred rock and dominique that are 13 weeks. I'm going crazy waiting for eggs! I simply can't wait!

Anyways, I love all the pictures of everyone's girls and their first eggs. It's so exciting.

Here are my two red sex links(16 weeks). I'll post pics of my three other girls when they get closer to laying age.

 

[CROMANO66]

Thank you everyone I'm so proud of them

 

[ronott1]

I like the colors on your Hens. They look a little bit like my Golden Comets. Yours are one of the earliest egg layers. you should have your first egg in two weeks or so.

The Silkie and Dominique could make you wait, 24 weeks or so. Barred Rocks should be some where in the middle, about 20 weeks.

Welcome to the first egg count down!

Ron

I have two red sex links that are 16 weeks and a silkie, barred rock and dominique that are 13 weeks. I'm going crazy waiting for eggs! I simply can't wait!

Anyways, I love all the pictures of everyone's girls and their first eggs. It's so exciting.

Here are my two red sex links(16 weeks). I'll post pics of my three other girls when they get closer to laying age.

 

[Pele]

Welcome everyone! Those are some beautiful hens I love SLs

 

[Danielle27]

Welcome everyone! Those are some beautiful hens I love SLs

Thank you very much.

I like the colors on your Hens. They look a little bit like my Golden Comets. Yours are one of the earliest egg layers. you should have your first egg in two weeks or so.

The Silkie and Dominique could make you wait, 24 weeks or so. Barred Rocks should be some where in the middle, about 20 weeks.

Welcome to the first egg count down!

Ron

Thank you!

I Really like the color of the lighter one in the picture. If they did start to lay in about 2 weeks that would be wonderful!

 

[ronott1]

Quote: I just read my post again and wanted to make sure I was clear on when to expect laying. I meant at about 20 weeks and 24 weeks, so 7 more weeks for the Barred Rocks and 11 more weeks or so for the Dominique.

My two Sex links are very friendly and one is a consistent layer. The other does not lay at all but I can't bring my self to cull her.

Ron

 

[Danielle27]

Thanks for your help. You were clear before. I just forgot to mention that I was talking about the sex links.

These two 16 week old red sex links are getting very talkative. How red will their combs and face get before they lay?

 

[Danielle27]

Yeah, that must be hard. Is she past laying age or does she just not lay?

 

[Happy Chooks]

These two 16 week old red sex links are getting very talkative. How red will their combs and face get before they lay?

They will get very red, especially around their eyes. Their comb will turn red first, then the eyes. And my chickens tend to get very vocal when they start laying. (and pace back and forth to the coop)

From your pictures above, they still look a few weeks out for laying.

 

[ronott1]

Yeah, that must be hard. Is she past laying age or does she just not lay?

My Pullet Yin is a year and a half old. She stopped last fall, but still goes into the nest box like she is laying an egg. When she did lay, she laid a double yolked egg every other day. She probably has some type of reproductive problem, which happens to Golden Comets sometimes. She is very sweet and is now in with the laying flock now, so she may be laying but I have not gotten any double yolked eggs this year. It is possible she is laying regular eggs now. Aveca said you can turn the hen over and look at the vent. If the vent is half the size it should be and is not shiny then the hen is not laying. I may put her into a separate pen for a week to see if she is laying.

Thanks for your help. You were clear before. I just forgot to mention that I was talking about the sex links.

These two 16 week old red sex links are getting very talkative. How red will their combs and face get before they lay?

Like Happy Chooks said, the comb and wattles will get bigger and redder. That can happen quickly. They are more talkative and should be more friendly. If you don't have a rooster, a week or two before laying they will start to "Egg Squat". They will squat low to the ground, put their wings out and sometimes do a bit of a dance. They are "posing" for the rooster. Then next thing to look for is them inspecting the nest box. Mine ripped it up pretty good. They will also start practising the egg song, sometimes three or more times a day

.

At 16 weeks you can give them layer food. The others are a bit young for that, so you can give them Grower feed and free choice calcium. It might not hurt to give them Black Oil Sunflower Seeds every couple of days. It has oil in it that can help with that first egg.

You should also have the nest box(s) set up with pine shavings and fake eggs or golf balls. It's cute when they lay their fist egg by the sliding glass door, but not the best place for them to lay eggs. Sometimes they don't really get it right at first and will lay one in the morning from the roost onto the poop board

I hope you don't have to wait long.

Ron