Raising Baby Chicks

[jaybob54]

IM a Newbie to BYC and my 7 week old aracauna chicks are just starting to roost
on the rabbit hutch. YAY!!. Do you guys know when they will start laying eggs.

 

[Ridgerunner]

It varies a lot by the individual chicken. Breed is important too. I suspect your Araucana's may really be Easter Eggers, but I sure don't know that. A lot of hatheries mislabel them.

Araucana's are not known to start real early. Easter Eggers are mixes, so with them it depends on what they are mixed with.

With a flock of 10 dual purpose pullets and mutts hatched from them, I usually get my first egg somewhere around 18 to 20 weeks. I did get one at 16 weeks once, but that is fairly unusual. By 23 to 24 weeks, usually half are laying. Most of the time they are all laying by 27 to 28 weeks, but sometimes one freeloads for much longer, sometimes several months longer.

When will yours start? Pure luck. Did you get early starters or late starters?

 

[Fred's Hens]

Don't get too excited until 5 1/2-6 months, or 24-26 weeks. That's the best advice.