I bought two 15 week old red sex links at a chicken stock in October of this year. Later I added three 5-1/2 month old australorps. I got my first egg about two weeks ago, then every other day I'd get one until last week when I started getting two a day...every day! At first, I thought it was the australorps because they are older, but then I saw it was the reds on the nest. I don't have them under lights, and when they started laying I switched feed to Layena. I also feed them a little scratch, apple scraps, and I cut four holes in a pumpkin and keep it in their yard at all times for them to pick at. They are starting on their third pumpkin pickin' in a month's time! Tell me, somebody...why are my pullets laying every day in the darkest days of winter, when it goes against what everybody has told me. I don't expect the australorps to start laying until around the end of February '13 when they will be 8 1/2 months old, but who knows now. It is really cold and windy today and I already have today's two eggs cleaned and in the fridge.
Partly its because they are domesticated animals. They are no longer wild. They have been specifically bred to lay a lot of eggs. They still have a lot of their instincts and seasonal rythms, but some of those have been bred out of them. Part of it is that people can post anything on th internet. It doesn't have to be true. Probably more to the point here, someone else's experience can be different than yours. We all keep them in different conditions and have different chickens. Each chicken is an individual. There is almost never one answer that is correct fro each and every one of us regardless of those unique conditions. It's not that unusual for a pullet that starts laying late summer or in the fall to keep laying throughout that first winter and keep laying until the molt the next fall. I've had pullets start to lay in late November or early December at anywhere from 20 to 30 weeks of age. I do not provide extra light. I've had pullets that hatched with those and living under the same conditions wait until the days get noticeably longer in the spring to start laying. I've had some start to lay then stop after a few days this time of year. Each individual chicken is unique.
