Ok really! WHO IS SICK OF IT?! ~UPDATED!~

[Fred's Hens]

Like over anxious stage mothers, we are.

Speckled Hen's oft quoted, "Chickens aren't vending machines" prompted me to write this:

"How Many Eggs Will My Hens Really Lay?"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=586719

 

[reneemellor]

I think my Buff Orps heard me muttering about chicken soup while feeding them. Out of the thirty 8 month old girls I am finally getting 2 or 3 eggs a day this week. I'm blaming it on the heat in central TX this summer. Luckily my 8 EEs kept laying right through the hellish summer so I never had to actually buy eggs.

 

[Tracydr]

22 weeks, 15 chickens of various breeds. All but the Easter Eggers are starting to turn red in the face. I'm getting excited! I need to get a light at HD and put it on a timer today. My OEGBs, who are 3 weeks older, just started laying last week. Only about every other day, tiny, tiny eggs but boy do they taste good!

 

[moodlymoo]

Quote:
Its like being pregnant and being asked every day by tons of people..."when are you going to have the baby" it just happens when it happens. Im in the same boat too. We have 18 chickens and still waiting impatiently for them to start laying

 

[Mommy 2 Wee Ones]

I guess I got lucky with my BR girls (3 of them) My middle sized one, Baby Girl, started laying Sept. 1st, just before she turned 18 weeks, got one egg a week for 3 weeks. Then she started laying everyday, but rested on the 6th or 7th day. Fiesta started laying about a month after Baby Girl, steady for 5 days, then took one day off.

After the first week of Oct. Queen Bee started laying, she went about every 3, then took a day off.

About a week ago I noticed our roo, Owl was starting to go after one of my BO (most of the combs & waddles have changed to bright red in the last couple week - have 6 BO's). So I wondered if she would start laying soon, well I got my answer this week, she laid her first egg on Monday & Tues, took a break yesterday, and laid again today.

My BR & BO are all the same age, born the first week of May, and I did not expect to see eggs till the middle to late Nov. So I was thrilled when I started getting eggs in Sept. I know my EE are not going to be ready till after Thanksgiving, and my Light Brahma's sometime before Christmas. If they lay fine, if they wait till spring, that is fine too.

My girls are all Feed Store babies, I like Mutts.
As of Sept. 1st till today, I have gotten 70 eggs, the last 3 have only been laying between 3 weeks - this last week. So I am quite happy. Enough to share with my neighbors, (Hush Money for a crowing Owl, aka: our roo)

& to give to my Daughter's teachers.

Mine were squatting long before they started laying, and had red combs & waddles about 2 - 3 weeks before the first egg arrived. Am kind of taking my cue from Owl, if he starts mounting them, then they should start laying soon.

Good Luck out there, hope you get your eggs soon.

 

[Zonoma]

Quote:

That's your problem, m'dear. Threaten them. My barnyard mixes didn't lay until I posted something about how nice and fat they were getting and how good they might taste. They laid their first egg the next day. My EE whom I threatened to sell to a friend who had hawks in her yard (a nesting pair! she's lost more chickens than anyone I know) laid her first one two days later. It works.

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[nickie]

Combs and wattles get red, yes, but your true sign laying will happen... Look at the vent. Is it still small and dime sized? Nope not ready. Is it a huge oval about the size of a fifty cent piece? Ready. My hotels have all been red for weeks and the roo has been mounting for weeks. I have one girl laying and the night before she gave me the first one her vent was huge and very moist, almost dripping. She is an egg a day now. Just my two cents.

 

[ParadiseChickens]

Yep, I know what you mean. I have 8 chickens I got on March 22, they were supposed to be 4 weeks old. Well, 5 of them have been laying for about a month now and the rest are still just eating and playing but no working. And the neighbors sort of insinuate that I dont care for them properly, that must be the reason for not laying. Puhhhleezzz, they have the best and cleanest of facilities, the best of food and plenty of water not to mention attention.

 

[moodlymoo]

Quote:
I cant stand folks who do stuff like that. My mom does the same thing but I keep telling her...They are all about 3-4 months old they still have a few months to go and its winter time. She doesnt get it. She thinks as soon as they get big girl feathers they should be laying

 

[wrestling_mom]

Quote:
Mine were nearly 28 weeks when they started to lay YESTERDAY!!!!!! I had pep talks with them daily, lol, held up an egg and showed them what it was, and how if they didn't produce soon, they are going into a pot. They are PIGS, lol.