You can feed them some of the strange stuff that is supposed to start them laying as long as you don't give them too much, you can put as many nest boxes in there as you want, you can read them bedtime stories, or you can show them pictures of roast chicken. As long as you do not disturb them too much and as long as they get a balanced diet, you will not do them any harm or delay them starting to lay. Doing some of this will probably make you feel better, but it really will not influence when they start to lay. When their body tells them to start laying, they will. That can vary tremendously from hen to hen.
I strongly suggest you have the nest boxes open with a fake egg or two in there to show them where to lay. At their age, they could start any day. Or it could still be several weeks. You want to encourage them to start laying in the nests. They are creatures of habit and if they lay the first egg they have control over someplace else, they may continue to lay there instead of switching to the nest box. I phrase it that way because they may not have a lot of control over where they lay their first egg or two. Don't be too surprised if you find the first egg under the roost or just dropped somewhere in the run or coop. The first egg sometimes surprises them. It may take an egg or two for their instincts to kick in and tell them they are supposed hide this some place safe, like in another nest where there are other eggs. Most figure it out to start with, but many don't.
I know it is hard to wait. I do believe you are better off for them to mature a bit before they start to lay. They are less likely to injure themselves than if they start to lay before their body is mature enough to handle it. Thye normally lay better eggs more consistently if they start a bit late. I had one that started laying at 18 weeks. She never made it into my final laying/breeding flock because she had problems with her egg laying system that she never outgrew. At the age of yours, I don't think you need to worry about any of this though. It is about time for them to start.
Good luck!!!
I strongly suggest you have the nest boxes open with a fake egg or two in there to show them where to lay. At their age, they could start any day. Or it could still be several weeks. You want to encourage them to start laying in the nests. They are creatures of habit and if they lay the first egg they have control over someplace else, they may continue to lay there instead of switching to the nest box. I phrase it that way because they may not have a lot of control over where they lay their first egg or two. Don't be too surprised if you find the first egg under the roost or just dropped somewhere in the run or coop. The first egg sometimes surprises them. It may take an egg or two for their instincts to kick in and tell them they are supposed hide this some place safe, like in another nest where there are other eggs. Most figure it out to start with, but many don't.
I know it is hard to wait. I do believe you are better off for them to mature a bit before they start to lay. They are less likely to injure themselves than if they start to lay before their body is mature enough to handle it. Thye normally lay better eggs more consistently if they start a bit late. I had one that started laying at 18 weeks. She never made it into my final laying/breeding flock because she had problems with her egg laying system that she never outgrew. At the age of yours, I don't think you need to worry about any of this though. It is about time for them to start.
Good luck!!!
