How soon before laying do hens faces start getting red?

[Angiebubs]

I have a black sex link hen that is aprox. 14 wks old and she is starting to get pretty red in the face (and crabby to boot!). How soon before they start laying do they color up? I know shes too young to lay-whats the earliest though she could possibly start laying?

 

[bobbieschicks]

My white leghorn starts getting red faced around 16 weeks. Her comb doubled in size by week 18 it flopped over. Then 3 days before she turned 19 weeks old she laid her 1st egg.

 

[LT]

I thought mine were red in the face, until they got REALLY red in the face. One of my EE's looked angry her face got so red. But I would guess you have about 5 more weeks to go.

 

[Pinky]

My little hen didn't get red until the day she layed her first egg. I thought she would never lay.

 

[Angiebubs]

Thanks for the input. Its interesting as "Nellies" face is a lot redder than the girls that are a month or so older than her. And I've heard the crabbiness is part of the whole egg laying maturity. It willl be interesting to see how soon she lays. I have 2 older hens that are laying-one who is really red in the face and the other who never really became redder before laying.