how do you know

[davecash]

if your hens are about to lay for the first time ever? is bantys diff than reg. chickens?

 

[bigzio]

Age is a big factor. 20weeks is a good starting point for alot of pullets. Brighter red colored combs is a good indication that your pullet is in her laying cycle. Special songs they sing also help to let you know.

bigzio

 

[davecash]

thanks

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

Bigzio,

Special songs? Can you elaborate? i am waiting for my 22 week old EE to lay her first egg. She has been making a certain sound a lot lately, but i wouldn't describe it as a song, unless it was a really irritating nails on the blackboard type of rock song.

 

[bigzio]

Too funny, but ya songs from the hens aren't really singing like we do but kinda like the guy who couldn't carry a tune no matter what the song is. It does sound weird in a way... but to them it is singing.

bigzio

 

[davecash]

i mean pullets, do they like sit in the nests before they lay.. to get used to it?

 

[devora]

A few of the things that happened:

Red combs, of course.
Squatting as we walked by them.
They became easier to pick up, more docile.
They munched down oyster shell.
They sat in the nest boxes for a bit.

All of them did not exhibit all of these behaviours, these are just some things I’ve noticed.

Good luck w/ getting eggs!