We have 1 speckled sussex and 1 light sussex both are 9months old and we're still waiting for their 1st egg, is this normal? We have just come into winter so the daily temp is 10ish degrees could this be contributing? Thanks!
Hey there, their first egg may not come until spring as this is when they will normally start to lay eggs. My chicken is only 15 weeks so she won’t lay till maybe next year or earlier, you never know. But don’t stress too much, this is perfectly normal I’m also located in Australia and the temperature where I am has gone from a nice sunny dawn to a wet and muddy dusk. My chicken always begs to be let out so I stood in the rain for about 15 minutes, just watching her fluff up every now and then from the water.
It’s my understanding that egg laying is more related to day length than temperature. I’m hoping our days are long enough when my pullets get old enough to lay that they will — just summer now with 4 month olds in Oregon. I just moved this far north and can’t believe it’s light at 10 pm and 4:30 am again!
Individual hens will differ when they begin to lay, but day length matters overall. It is said that chickens need approx. 14 hours of light a day. Some people add light to the coop (on a timer) to give the girls enough light. Never give them 24/7 light, just 14-15 hours total light. Enough light for you to be able to read in...so it doesn’t need to be a lot of light. Often 1 60watt bulb (or equivalent) is plenty of light. FWIW, we got our chicks in 2018, hatch date Feb 28. 17 chicks, 6 breeds (and 5 were males). Our days were lengthening, and most started to lay between 16-22 weeks old. However, one breed took forever! 39weeks old for first one, 45 weeks for next, and we sold them at around 46 weeks old and the third one still had never laid an egg!! Good luck! I hope they lay soon!