My second post and another question from a brand new chickens owner.

[Desert Rooster]

Hello

from Hesperia,CA and

 

[collinski]

Can someone help me?!! I have a 4 -5 month old Rhode Island Red that is acting very sick. She lays around and sleeps a lot, but then sometimes gets up and tries to act normal. She has been laying on her side with her tail raised up and one wing spread out. I went and got some Duramycin-10 and put it in the water where all the girls are drinking from. If you've read my posts, I'm new to this and got 2 RIR's and 2 Black Copper Marans, then added two new pullets about a week ago. I guess I shouldn't have put them all together, but we did and they are tolerating each other pretty good. The only one acting sick is the one RIR. I was told by the lady I got her from that I should get the Duramycin and probably let all the birds drink it for a week or so. I hope I'm doing the right thing! I put 1 Tablespoon per gallon of water. All the hens are 3 to 5 months old and none are laying yet.
Thanks for any suggestions. Could she have a blockage? Earlier today, I saw her catch a grasshopper and eat it, so she is still eating.

 

[FeatheredObsessions]

Is she egg bound? Have you seen her stool?

 

[ChooksChick]

Is she doing this in the open, like in a sunny patch? It sounds like sunbathing. The birds do that to kill parasites and as an act of hygiene, and it looks like they're in distress. We often see it in the heat of the day, and they lay there stretched and panting as if they're in horrible shape...but it's a sign of health.

Another is when they 'dig in' to a dry patch of earth to dust bathe, and it looks like they're having a seizure. I hope this is what you're seeing, and that your hen is not ill.

I never give antibiotics unless I can confirm a bacterial infection. It doesn't sound like it's necessary with your birds, so I would stop and give them yogurt with live cultures to aid any distress the antibiotics may have caused their intestinal flora.

If it doesn't sound as though she's sunbathing, can you give a bit more info? What else are you seeing?

 

[Egg Crate]

Quote:
I was thinking the same thing, Sunbathing. Laying on side, one wing up and filthy. Then when they're done it's shake off the dirt and back to pecking.

 

[gryeyes]

Back to the OP's question: what time do hens lay?

Well, it takes about 26 hours to "build" an egg, so most hens start their laying cycle in the morning. If they are daily layers, then the next egg would be ready a bit more than a day later, a couple hours later in the day. And the same for the next day, etc. So many hens lay by 7 a.m. one day, 9 a.m. the next, 11 a.m. the third day, and so on and so forth until it's too late to lay that day. So they may skip a day and the cycle begins anew.

The longest amount of time spent in building an egg is 19 hours for the shell, next to the last step of the process. (The last step is coating the completed egg with the "bloom" - the bacteria barrier over the shell.)

Often the glitches in egg creation - especially for new layers - occurs in this lengthy shell-building stage, which is why so many new layers occasionally lay "rubber" or shell-less eggs, or the shells are mis-shapen, or just odd looking. Once their bodies get all the gears in place and in motion (so to speak) the eggs will be just fine.