First egg

[nick lansford]

I keep posting about this but different questions keep coming up in my head.... I noticed my chickens wattles were a lot longer than yesterday (yesterday they were small little nubs) now they are starting to droop down.. Could I be expecting a first egg soon? I have 2 barred rock and 1 Rhode Island Red... I'm not sure if they are 15 or 16 weeks old

 

[beeksnfeet]

I believe you need to pay more attention to the comb. The redder it turns (and it does as they get older) the closer to laying time. I was told most chickens do not start laying until a bit later, around 20 weeks or so. I have 3 Buff Orpingtons all the same age, and they each started laying at different times! 1 started at 18 weeks, 1 at 20 weeks and not quite sure about the other. I have 2 White Plymouth Rocks the same age too, which started around 18 weeks. They lay nearly everyday, but are too aggressive, so I am looking for a new home for them. When my girls were getting ready to lay, they seemed to crouch down closer to the ground when we would approach them. Hope your eggs come soon. It is quite the experience! I love it! Good Luck!

 

[misspnme]

I agree with the above answer. I have 8 Rhode Island reds and they didn't start laying till they were around 26 weeks! The wait was torture! But their combs will definitely become brighter in color and grow, right as the combs were about to flop over is when I started getting my first eggs.

 

[nick lansford]

@misspnme thank you! Yes. The wait is very very very hard for me, I got them on October 5th as little fuzz balls and I imagine they were a couple days when I got them

 

[nick lansford]

@beeksnfeet I hate waiting.... I wish I could skip forward a month or so, thank you for the helpful information!

 

[Joshua G]

I keep posting about this but different questions keep coming up in my head.... I noticed my chickens wattles were a lot longer than yesterday (yesterday they were small little nubs) now they are starting to droop down.. Could I be expecting a first egg soon? I have 2 barred rock and 1 Rhode Island Red... I'm not sure if they are 15 or 16 weeks old

My Rhode Island Red started laying eggs at 18 weeks old.