How long does it take for an egg to form?

[intownfarm]

I know this is an old post but it addresses my question very well. I have 9 hens production red and black Australorp all around 10 M old. Free range and no eggs. To determine if they are laying I followed all suggestions. I.e. 14 hrs of light, better food including laying crumble oyster shell and a bit of scratch. I built new nest boxes. Now I want eggs. I penned them up to make sure they were not dump nesting somewhere. How long do I keep them on lockdown to try to see if I get eggs? It's plenty of space, for 9 so I can keep them in for as long as it takes. I just enjoy them running free and flapping around. Do I keep them, the whole 12 days it would take for an egg to form to see if my changes help? Any suggestions are appreciated. I lost my greatest layers awhile back and these young ladies are trying my patience!

 

[jonniesue]

Our first egg from 2 of our hens were soft shell while our other eggs from 2 other hens are hard and perfect. Will our soft shell eggs start to firm more as the hen lays more? Our girls are between 20 and 21 weeks old and half our flock is now laying. .We have 8 total.

 

[Ayrton Pacca]

These process takes the same duration in psittacine eggs?

 

[Crc14]

I would keep them in to make sure that when they start laying they know WHERE to lay. We have 12 laying hens right now that are free range and they all know to come back to the coop to lay. They should have started laying as soon as spring hit where you are, sometimes if it's too cold for them they won't lay.@intownfarm