How Many Eggs Did You Get Today?

Got our first eggs Thursday- 6 from 12 Golden Comet hens. Yesterday evening we had two small eggs but our girls are only 16 weeks old so I think we are in good shape!

Beginners question- do they lay in the morning, at night, or just whenever they are moved to do so?
 
Got our first eggs Thursday- 6 from 12 Golden Comet hens. Yesterday evening we had two small eggs but our girls are only 16 weeks old so I think we are in good shape!

Beginners question- do they lay in the morning, at night, or just whenever they are moved to do so?

They will lay a little later in the day than they laid the day before. How much later depends on the individual bird's cycle. When the time they lay falls after about an hour before they start thinking about going to roost, whenever sunset is for your area, they will hold that egg until the next morning. So from your perspective, they will not have laid an egg that day.

This is what a 26 hour cycle might look like on a day that the sun rises at 7am and sets around 7pm.
Mon​
Tues​
Wed​
Thurs​
Fri​
Sat​
Sun

5pm​
X​

4pm​

3pm​
X​

2pm​

1pm​
X​

12pm​

11am​
X​

10am​

9am​
X​

8am​
X​

I recently posted a chart of my girls' laying habits. I call them blocks... the longer the block, the shorter the daily laying cycle and the more days in a row of laying an egg they can fit in between days off.

Of course there are other factors... like, how many birds are trying to use the nest box, and where each bird is in the pecking order. Interruptions will delay the laying time.

Changes in sunrise and sunset affect how many days in a row a chicken will lay... shorter days means it is more likely that sunset will interrupt the cycle more frequently, which on a weekly tally causes more "days off"

Variables in health and environment can affect their reliability as well... Diet or improper nutrient absorption can cause irregular laying, molting affects laying... temperatures swings and fluctuations, sometimes. If it's too cold out, and your chickens spend more energy keeping warm, than making eggs, it will lengthen their cycle. If it's too hot, and your birds are working on staying hydrated, they'll reserve water by not laying as often. Even a cat or dog nosing around their coop and run will throw them off because they'll opt not to hit the nest to lay at the time they would have otherwise...
 
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