How long do your hens sit in the nest before laying?

[mrsmaonaigh]

Some of my girls seem to be able to lay within half an hour but I have two girls who will sit on the nest for hours at a time before laying. They are such quirky little creatures.

 

[buzymom13]

I have hens who go in and stop, drop and walk back out practically... Then we have Bella. Bella (white leghorn) starts talking...then she goes in and comes out and goes in and comes out...an hour later...she'll finally get to the nest and sit down... awhile later she'll be sitting in there looking around like she's waiting for a bus. Then she'll finally lay the egg...then more singing...she sits on it for awhile just to make sure no one else takes credit. She talks the loudest and the longest. The kids always come in and say, Bella's at it again...

Silly chickens!

 

[4hens4us]

Ha ha.... "like she's waiting for the bus" That made me laugh today.
I only have two that are laying right now and they seem to be pretty quick about it. I haven't heard the "egg song" from either of them. They're sly.

 

[Mak]

One of my Red Stars will jump into the nest box, turn around a few times, rearrange things to her liking and drop her egg. Takes about 10 minutes. The other 3 run anywhere from half an hour to 45 minutes. The one Dominique that is laying will sit in the farthest back of the nest box for 45 minutes or more, squawk, get out, walk around a bit, then jump into whatever box has a hen already in it, and lay there. They are all a little different. Some of them are just weird! LOL

 

[catdaddy66]

My son was asking me this very question just yesterday, and I honestly could not answer him. I know now that it can be as quick as 10 minutes, but also up to 45-60 minutes. Is that the longest time or can it be several hours, as if the hen were broody? Just curious, and thanks for the great info.

 

[kano]

Red stars (Isa B) are very rapid. The rest of the others (mapuche"s mutts) stay in the nests for hours.

 

[dee88]

I've notice my RIR gets antsy before she lays her egg; she'll walk around pretty fast, and darts behind doors and in the corners of the coop, all the time singing the egg song. (bawk bawk baaaaaaaaaaaawk, bawwwwwwwk, bawk, bawk) She sounds like our frogs in our pond, kind of of a deep bawk. Then finally, she'll go to the nest box, twist and turn for a while, and within 30 minutes, voila, a nice little light brown eggy.

 

[egg proof]

My RIR and NH are really quick. 10 minutes max. I'm still waiting for the others to start.