Laying?

[Beachykeen]

I purchased my girls , RIR, EE, and Sex Linked, on October 21. I was told they hatched out on October 17. They seem happy and healthy. Going by the numbers they should be old enough to start laying in March. Yes? I am planning on adding the nest box in 2 weeks or should I wait longer? I currently feed them pellets in the coop, scratch and grit in the run and they have all manner of weeds and grass everyday outside the run. I keep water in the coop and run. Is there anything else I should be doing to get them ready to lay?

 

[ray24]

They should start laying around march-april. I thought I may have read somewhere not to feed laying pellets until you get your first eggs, as it may cause problems. I am not 100% sure though.

 

[Fred's Hens]

They will lay when their bodies tell them, and not a day earlier. You're doing fine with their care, by the sounds of things. Do bear in mind that a hen needs light, light which can "sink through the skull" kind of light. This triggers them. The chicken is also very sensitive to daylight hours. They have an internal sense of this. The combination of their maturing and the increasing hours of spring daylight will bring them into lay.

I also never feed calcium enriched Layer feed until the eggs are actually being laid. You didn't say your pelletized feed was Layer, however. Scratch isn't a big, important deal in their dietary needs. Keep it to 5-10 percent of their dietary intake, and it's fine.

 

[Beachykeen]

Thanks for the reply. I'm getting a bit nervous about the whole thing. I know that light effects laying so we took out half of the shed wall and replaced it with 1/2 inch hardwire cloth. The hardwire cloth wall is North facing. Will that be enough ligh hit their heads as the saying goes or should I also use a lamp? We are in Southern California so we get plenty of sun light year round.