I thought for sure I would have eggs by now....

[harleyjo]

As the title stated I thought eggs would be here by now. My black sex links are 19 weeks now. I thought sex links laid a little sooner. We have had a very hot and humid summer here. It has finally cooled down some so I hope that it will happen. I did see my fake eggs(ping pong balls) in two of the nest boxes have been moved around some. I hope I am not doing anything wrong.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I hadn't heard that bsl's lay earlier. I might just be out of the loop. But i have one who is about 20 weeks and hasn't started laying yet. I really don't expect any of the new girls to be too eager about laying while it's this hot. I expect i'll have much better egg production from the old girls and the newbies when the weather cools down a bit.

 

[C&C Chickens]

Our chickens were born in March (not sure of exact date), so they are between 20 and 24 weeks, and so far we have had only ONE egg, laid approximately six weeks ago.... I've looked everywhere for hiding spots but haven't found any. I'm beginning to think they will never start laying and that we are doing something terribly wrong. They are on a mix of chick and laying pellets, plus scratch and lots of treats (kale, chard, tomatoes and fresh corn are favorites). Any suggestions?

 

[PunkinPeep]

C&C Chickens :

Our chickens were born in March (not sure of exact date), so they are between 20 and 24 weeks, and so far we have had only ONE egg, laid approximately six weeks ago.... I've looked everywhere for hiding spots but haven't found any. I'm beginning to think they will never start laying and that we are doing something terribly wrong. They are on a mix of chick and laying pellets, plus scratch and lots of treats (kale, chard, tomatoes and fresh corn are favorites). Any suggestions?

I don't know where you live, but if it's hot, that might be part of the problem.

Some people swear by added protein to jump start laying. It seems like sometimes they need a little boost to get things running. A supplement of "calf manna" or a similar product - or just lots of scrambled egg snacks every day may help.

That said, there seems to be some credibility to the idea that if they start laying a little later, their eggs will be larger. Not sure, but that's why i'm not in such a big hurry this time.​

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

I have a variety of breeds and up until yesterday it has been a mild summer. Mine didn't start laying until 20 weeks. I still haven't seen my Light Brahma in the nest boxes and she's 22+ mos. Just think of how much more fun it will be finding that first egg!!

 

[Boo-Boo's Mama]

My first egg was from a red sex link...the day she turned 16 weeks; 3 other sex links began to lay a week after her when they were 17 weeks. The two hold-outs joined in when they were 18 weeks.

We finally got a break from the 100's today!!

I'm surprised that they have been laying since 7/14 with all the really hot temps we have had.

My other 16 have not laid yet; they're 2 and 3 weeks younger than the sex links. Today one of the EE's squatted for my DH...her comb is not red so I think I'm still looking at a wait to see if I get a blue or green egg.

 

[TyrannosaurusChix]

ive read that on average a production sex link can take up to 26 weeks to lay, BUT... ( and there is a great BUT) They WILL lay right through the winter months without flinching.

 

[tuesdays chicks]

C&C Chickens :

Our chickens were born in March (not sure of exact date), so they are between 20 and 24 weeks, and so far we have had only ONE egg, laid approximately six weeks ago.... I've looked everywhere for hiding spots but haven't found any. I'm beginning to think they will never start laying and that we are doing something terribly wrong. They are on a mix of chick and laying pellets, plus scratch and lots of treats (kale, chard, tomatoes and fresh corn are favorites). Any suggestions?

I stopped giving corn and started getting more eggs from my hen, and 1 of my pullet started laying at 19 weeks​

 

[woodmort]

Last time I got Black Stars the last week in May and they began laying in midOctober. Right now I have 4 red sexlinks that I got from feed store at the end of April and, while they look like they are getting ready to lay, I'm still waiting. I also have 26 BS that were hatched May 29th and I'm not looking for eggs from them until the latter part of October.