Late-in-the-day egg layers?

[Obiwan Henobi]

What's the latest time of the day your hens lay eggs? We have 5 laying hens. One of our Easter eggers is usually the first, usually before 9:00 am. But our black Australorp is usually the last, sometimes not until after 3:00 or 4:00 pm. It doesn't really matter to me, but I had read someplace that most hens will lay before noon and almost never after 3:00 pm. We began raising hens last April and I'm just curious what others have experienced.

 

[David61]

I have an Americana that is an afternoon layer. 3:00-5:00pm. She has laid twice in one day as well.
Most of my girls are done by 10am but sometimes 1pm.

 

[theoldchick]

The lowest ranked hen will lay later in the day if higher ranked hens are using the nest. I have a hen who is a late-in-the day layer. For some unknown reason she cannot use the other 15 nest boxes that are empty.

 

[Sussex19]

Mine lay at what ever time of day suits them.
I too read that most hens lay before noon, but all my hens have proved that wrong!
And something to bear in mind, is that many hens have a 25 or 26 hour laying cycle. So each day they get slightly later, until it gets so late that they lay it early next morning instead, and start all over again.

 

[Obiwan Henobi]

I have an Americana that is an afternoon layer. 3:00-5:00pm. She has laid twice in one day as well.
Most of my girls are done by 10am but sometimes 1pm.

Interesting! That sounds like our Mable, but she's never laid twice in the day.

 

[Obiwan Henobi]

Mine lay at what ever time of day suits them.
I too read that most hens lay before noon, but all my hens have proved that wrong!
And something to bear in mind, is that many hens have a 25 or 26 hour laying cycle. So each day they get slightly later, until it gets so late that they lay it early next morning instead, and start all over again.

Yeah, ours seem to stretch it out throughout the day too.

 

[Obiwan Henobi]

The lowest ranked hen will lay later in the day if higher ranked hens are using the nest. I have a hen who is a late-in-the day layer. For some unknown reason she cannot use the other 15 nest boxes that are empty.

LOL...That sounds like our girls! We have 5 hens and 3 next boxes. All of them use the same box. One time I found both of our Rhode Island Reds using the same box at the same time. Funny creatures...

 

[Kiki]

What's the latest time of the day your hens lay eggs? We have 5 laying hens. One of our Easter eggers is usually the first, usually before 9:00 am. But our black Australorp is usually the last, sometimes not until after 3:00 or 4:00 pm. It doesn't really matter to me, but I had read someplace that most hens will lay before noon and almost never after 3:00 pm. We began raising hens last April and I'm just curious what others have experienced.

Chickens don't watch the clock.
They will lay any time of day. When ever they feel like it.

 

[Nomadicus]

RIR's are mostly done by 11:00 a.m. but Delawares are just getting started good by then. They may wait til 5 or later. Crazy Cornish x Rock hens lay anytime of the day or night any were they happen to be. I have to be careful not to step on a cornish landmine as their eggs blend in well with pine shavings.

 

[NatJ]

Chickens don't watch the clock.
They will lay any time of day. When ever they feel like it.

But their bodies and laying cycle are affected by the day/night cycle. So even if they are not watching the clock, there can be good physical reasons for them to lay eggs in the earlier hours of the day.

What's the latest time of the day your hens lay eggs?

I haven't found a limit. Sometimes one will lay an egg from the roost in the dark.

I've also seen a few times that a hen was on the nest at bedtime, with no eggs in the nest, but first thing in the morning there was a fresh egg and she was off the nest getting herself breakfast. (Not a broody hen.)

I had read someplace that most hens will lay before noon and almost never after 3:00 pm.

With quite a few years' experience collecting eggs, I have noticed that many more eggs are laid in the first half of the day ("before noon") and many less eggs are laid in the second half of the day. The more chickens you have, the more obvious it tends to be. But saying "almost never" after 3pm seems to be putting it a bit too strongly.