New hens, when can I expect eggs?

[Irish89rmf]

I've been raising a group of new hens that I picked up on 5/18. I'm assuming they were hatched within a couple of days of me picking them up. I've got a mixture of birds, two Cuckoo Marans, a buff Orpington, a Plymouth barred rock, a jersey giant and an Araucana. They are between 16-17 weeks old.

This is my first go around with chickens. Are these all late laying breeds or should I expect eggs soon. I'm also assuming with fall and shorter days, the egg laying thing could be delayed.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. I've been threatening them that they had better start laying golden eggs.

Bob

 

[azygous]

It's going to be a race between your pullets reaching sexual maturity before the days get so short that there's isn't enough light in the day to trigger laying.

I had this problem last fall. I had three pullets right on the threshold of laying just as yours are. What I did was to extend the daylight by putting a light on a timer to come on a couple hours before sunrise.

This did the trick. I had my new eggs by the end of fall.

 

[chickenguy62]

My Barred Rock, Buff Orpington, and Black Ausrtalorp just started laying a few weeks ago and have been laying every day even though the days are shorter.