Patterned Behavior in Egglaying

[HomesteaderWife]

I was curious to see if anyone else here has noticed a pattern in their hens and their egg-laying. We recently purchased a Plymouth Rock, and I decided to keep a written account of what days she lays an egg, and when she does not. I went back last night to note the day's results, and noticed a pattern in her laying.

None, Egg, Egg, None, Egg, Egg, None, Egg.

She lays two days, skips a day, lays two, then skips.

I have heard of others keeping egg records like this, but I just wanted to see if anyone else here does this. I have noticed it to be very reliable thus far, and interesting to keep up with. Please, feel free to share stories of your hens! I am curious to hear if any others notice patterns like this.

 

[Jesusfreak101]

My two layers start off laying by ten am day one day two the lay by twelve day three they lay by two and day four the skip day five is like day one and so forth. My husband say i pay to much attention to their laying cycle since i know what time and day. Another hen has started laying and she lays one the days the other two dont lay from what i have seen.

 

[AZGurl]

My hens are 23 weeks old and only one girl is laying. She started out laying every 30-36 hrs but now 3 weeks later, she lays every 24-25 hrs. The other 3 have produced nothing.

 

[aart]

I keep track of daily laying and weigh pullet eggs for the first few weeks or months.
They lay anywhere from 6-7 per week to only 2-3 per week, can depend on breed or individual.

It takes about 25 hours for an egg to form, a new ova is released shortly after an egg is laid.
A new egg could be laid approximately every 25-26 hours, so an hour or so later every day until one is laid late in the day and another ova might not be released until the following day, so a day off. BUT..very hen is different and only time will tell what a particular hen/pullets schedule might be. Not every hen/pullet lays every day..some only lay a few a week.

This is interesting: Egg Formation Video

 

[pfields]

My hens are 23 weeks old and only one girl is laying. She started out laying every 30-36 hrs but now 3 weeks later, she lays every 24-25 hrs. The other 3 have produced nothing.

What kind of hens do you have? Are they getting enough light per day? I would think they should have started to lay at 18 weeks, that's when my started to lay. Do they have red combs?

 

[AZGurl]

What kind of hens do you have?  Are they getting enough light per day?  I would think they should have started to lay at 18 weeks, that's when my started to lay.  Do they have red combs?

One of my RIR has had abig, red comb now for a month and just a few days ago stated squatting when you reach out to touch her; no eggs yet. My other red is skinny but her vomb is getting bigger; no eggs, my other EE has a red comb and squaks everytime I go outside and she sees me; no eggs. They free range, eat later feed, bugs, and grass and are out from Sun up to Sun down.

 

[pfields]

Hm, sounds like they're getting close. I have a light (on a timer) that comes on inside the coop in the morning (helps them see to jump down from the roost) before their pop door opens (Ador) and then it comes on again in the evening to help them see where they want to roost and settle down. Now that the days are getting shorter I've adjusted the times the light comes on and off. I also have a light outside their coop that's attached to a timer. I have it come on earlier to help the door open sooner and it comes on again before dark and goes off around 8. When that light comes on in the evening on the outside, I notice they start to get closer to the coop pop door to make their way in.

Sounds like you're doing everything right. Hope you get lots of eggs and soon.

 

[aart]

Quote: They may already be laying out in their range area.
Free range birds sometimes need to be 'trained'(or re-trained) to lay in the coop nests, especially new layers.
Leaving them locked in the coop for 2-3 days can help 'home' them to lay in the coop nests.
They can be confined to coop 24/7 for a few days to a week, or confine them at least until mid to late afternoon.
You help them create a new habit and they will usually stick with it.

 

[AZGurl]

Hm, sounds like they're getting close. I have a light (on a timer) that comes on inside the coop in the morning (helps them see to jump down from the roost) before their pop door opens (Ador) and then it comes on again in the evening to help them see where they want to roost and settle down. Now that the days are getting shorter I've adjusted the times the light comes on and off. I also have a light outside their coop that's attached to a timer. I have it come on earlier to help the door open sooner and it comes on again before dark and goes off around 8. When that light comes on in the evening on the outside, I notice they start to get closer to the coop pop door to make their way in.

Sounds like you're doing everything right. Hope you get lots of eggs and soon.

I've checked the entire yard and no random eggs are being laid. I like the timer at night idea. We have roosting spots set up but by the time they head to bed, it is too dark and they stay in the corner.
What power source do you have to a light on a timer? We don't have electricity to the coop but I think a light at night is a great idea! Thank you!

 

[pfields]

Since our garage isn't far from the coop we bought a very heavy duty power cord that runs out the window of the garage to the coop (about 15-20 feet). If you click on the picture of our coop you can see the green cord running over the roof of the coop. Inside the coop I have a heavy duty power bar that the cord connects too. I also connect the fan to that power bar. The outside light is run from a cord with a plug so I can use a timer with it. You can buy the kits to wire lights really cheap so I didn't need special wiring in the coop. Hope this all makes sense.