How can I tell if they have started laying yet?

[outdoorsii]

That dominique is pretty dang big....my dominique is only a tid bigger than that, she's gotta be older than you said...

 

[outdoorsii]

There is a very easy way to tell who is laying and its a very tried and true method anyone can do... Get some food coloring, NOT RED!!!!!, and an eye dropper with a touch ( (TBSP)of mineral oil Insert this into the hens vent very gently and only about an 1/4 in. Squeeze the eye dropper till empty. The next egg the hen lays will have this color on the shell. Use one color per bird, for three consecutive days. Then you will know who is laying and how often. White eggs are easier to see, but can be done with brown eggs also. I think green, blue and purple are easiest to see on the brown eggs.Yellow will work for hens you know have light colored eggs
Leghorns make the job easy, look for white legs! Hens that arent laying will have yellow legs, the longer the hen has been laying, the whiter the legs..
Hope that helps

Pan Eden Farms

I have 4 RIR's and only 1 is still laying, up to 4-5 a week, she has the lightest feet of them all, and lays the most lol, the others actually don't even lay anymore & they all came from the same person - although he made it sound like they were just starting to lay..., that was a year ago

 

[pemphredo]

That dominique is pretty dang big....my dominique is only a tid bigger than that, she's gotta be older than you said...

I didn't give an age for her.... she is I am taking from what I was told when I got her a week ago that she is close to 2 years. I got her from a nest box so she was about to lay an egg... how ever I have had her for a week today and still no eggs from her... I am thinking about taking her back... She is just eating eating eating and no eggs.... I didn't get her to be a pet... so she better start to lay soon or her big over eating butt is going back.

 

[pemphredo]

Is it possible you have someone playing a trick on you? My next door neighbor put fake eggs in the nest one evening but what he didnt know way everyone had already laid for the day and I collect eggs around 10:00 am.

I have only live where I live right now for about 3 months. I don't know any neighbors and none of them even know I have chickens. not to mention my back yard is privacy fenced and the gate has a lock on it...

 

[outdoorsii]

I didn't give an age for her.... she is I am taking from what I was told when I got her a week ago that she is close to 2 years. I got her from a nest box so she was about to lay an egg... how ever I have had her for a week today and still no eggs from her... I am thinking about taking her back... She is just eating eating eating and no eggs.... I didn't get her to be a pet... so she better start to lay soon or her big over eating butt is going back.

Yea my dominique doesn't lay anymore either, the guy lied about her age...but she's so pretty & soft, she's getting tamer too, her lil sis got taken by a hawk so she has PTSD I think

 

[lizanne]

What if your chickens were born with white legs? If they have grey legs, do they still get lighter as the chicken ages?

 

[Shenanigans1]

LOL like im a old hand at this. I have three young hens and a older hen. Took FOREVER for them to start laying. Now I get a average of 4 to 6 eggs a day. Have no idea which one is laying more or less. Have thought about getting a game cam but dont think it would work. Would catch them going in and out but not eggs. All lay in one nestbox.

 

[sando22]

Hey
One way that I find successful is hold the hen under your arm and with your spare hand try to place three fingers between the bones under the tail. If you can fit three fingers across you can be sure that they are layers. This info i got from an old poultry farmer in the 1950 years. Hope it is of help. sando22

 

[serama hen]

WOW THAT IS SO COOL

 

[sourland]

Hey
One way that I find successful is hold the hen under your arm and with your spare hand try to place three fingers between the bones under the tail. If you can fit three fingers across you can be sure that they are layers. This info i got from an old poultry farmer in the 1950 years. Hope it is of help. sando22

3 fingers large fowl 2 fingers bantams - it is a pretty good indicator.