Should any of them be laying yet?

[donrae]

from south down I-5

Congrats on your win, and welcome to the addictive world of chickens

May pullets usually start laing in October. 5-6 months is a good rule of thumb for most breeds.

Keep in mind also, most of your birds aren't high production breeds.They may take a bit longer than say Rocks, sex links, Australorps, etc. The Delaware could be the first to start laying. I'm not too familiar with Buttercups, so I don't know how fast they mature. Brahmas can be pretty slow to mature, so you might be looking at 7 months or so for her. I don't think speckled Sussex come in bantam? So I'm guessing you have an OEGB. You can also tell from teh body type--Sussex are pretty heavy bodied, games are light with downswept wings. Post a pic, and we can help you ID her.

 

[Gray Farms]

Speckled Sussex bantams do exist. But are quite rare. Post a pic if you can and we'll see.

 

[Weehopper]

Congrats on your win! We need those with your kind of enthusiasm to join our chicken lovin' ranks. Sometimes, we old hens tend to get cranky when we are about to go into the moult. Looking stuff up does help (those words are burnt into my brain by my father), but don't be afraid to ask if you run into a snag with a problem.

 

[Duke12]

Sorry added a few extras not just Franky the bantam haha she's a lovely spunky bird. I think you may all be right that she's an OEG, but I think she's just a chubby one XD and her tail doesn't fan very much yet, maybe because she's young...I know all of them have some faults but I'm very surprised that I got some nice chickens from Wilco, I believe they even came from a more local source this year. I wish I had more time and space to breed and better them to the SOP... Maybe in like five or ten years when I don't live right in town!

@donrae Ah thank you so much! It's certainly an addiction... Have 18 CCL eggs in the incubator that I've had in my closet unused for 2 years (originally for my coturnix) Plan on keeping two, got the eggs from a lady who wants the rest but can't count my chickens yet! Already planning on getting three more show birds from breeders for next fair year! I never thought of the productivity thing... I added a picture of my Delaware because she has the biggest reddest waddles and talks constantly to me, wanting treats, wanting out of the kennel she's the mother of the group too! So many things to learn, it's so fun! And yeah I think her wings aren't very well downswept and she's a chunky hunk! Hopefully she'll be the second to lay because she's growing wattles and getting redder by the day.

@Gray Farms I'm sure you'll agree OEG? Thanks for the help!

@Weehopper thanks so much, I can't believe I got such a successful year! I'm a very personal sociable person so I think I just live interaction even over the Internet. That's why I stuck to the chicken barn for 75% of the fair and non stop rambling about them! It's surely an interest to stick, in fact I've already bought more books to learn and started my incubator up and have been trying my hardest to improve for my next show. Kinda hard being tied down with school that just got back in! Haha we younger and much less experienced pullets just tend to ruffle feathers I'm sure, just the pecking order

Hope I didn't squak your ears off with my chicken talk. I know I'm not even a smidge of your experiences combined and skill but these feathery guys have really made me happy when I've been sad and made me get out and do things. Also sorry for a late response, had to collect pictures!

 

[Gray Farms]

Yep, she's a spangle oeg