Sign of hens about to lay?

[KingCoopa]

Newbie here. My two hens are almost exactly 5 months old. As far as I know they have reached the age to start laying. They've been good about almost never going into the nesting boxes up to this point, which I've heard is good thing until they're ready to lay. Yesterday I noticed that perfect little nests had been formed in the straw inside of the nesting boxes (see attached photo). No eggs, but I assume this behavior means that they will lay any day now? Anyone have a good guess or experience with this? I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of an egg! Mostly because my wife enjoys watching me fail at my hobby and keeps telling me they are never going to lay. LOL!!!

 

[woodenfarm]

They should be close.
Some breeds lay early and some slower..... my white leghorn that hates me she laid her eggs right on time where my Wyandotte was one of the last ones to give us an egg

 

[RenegadeSkate3]

Wow wow that’s a good wife you’ve got there honestly I’m not a chicken expert nor any kind of bird expert! I’m brand new but deploying to atleast show that people are looking st this post !! ^~^ good luck mate I’ll stick around

 

[KingCoopa]

I hope so! I've got a Cream Legbar and a Rhodebar. The breeder told me could be any time from last weekend through the next two or three weeks? Thanks for the reply!

They should be close.
Some breeds lay early and some slower..... my white leghorn that hates me she laid her eggs right on time where my Wyandotte was one of the last ones to give us an egg

 

[KingCoopa]

Wow wow that’s a good wife you’ve got there honestly I’m not a chicken expert nor any kind of bird expert! I’m brand new but deploying to atleast show that people are looking st this post !! ^~^ good luck mate I’ll stick around

Hahaha! All in good fun with the wife! She thinks that my raising of the chickens is ridiculous, so she likes to give me a hard time. She's been nice enough to allow me to drop a bunch of $ on this whole thing. So that's cool! Thank for the reply!

 

[Art_plus_chickens]

I’d take the nests being made up as a sign.

They’ll also start squatting when they are close to laying and normally (for me anyway) once they start squatting there is an egg to follow very soon!

 

[SavKel&RynKel]

So our oldest just laid her first egg. Sav found out a trick and for us it worked perfect. If you put your hand over a chick and try to grab them, they will run. This occurs until two weeks before your first egg. At the two week mark they will squat (sometimes it's a bit of a squat run if they are timid). When they squat, you can grab their tail and move it left and right, and after a few seconds they fluff up and shake. I dunno where she heard the trick but generally you are faking the pullet into thinking you are the rooster. So if you try that and it works, I'd say you'll have an egg in two weeks or less. Our first egg landed exactly on week 20 for a RIR/barred rock mix. Our buffs are the same egg and still not squatting.

 

[KingCoopa]

So our oldest just laid her first egg. Sav found out a trick and for us it worked perfect. If you put your hand over a chick and try to grab them, they will run. This occurs until two weeks before your first egg. At the two week mark they will squat (sometimes it's a bit of a squat run if they are timid). When they squat, you can grab their tail and move it left and right, and after a few seconds they fluff up and shake. I dunno where she heard the trick but generally you are faking the pullet into thinking you are the rooster. So if you try that and it works, I'd say you'll have an egg in two weeks or less. Our first egg landed exactly on week 20 for a RIR/barred rock mix. Our buffs are the same egg and still not squatting.

Thanks for the tip! I'll give it a shot!

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Signs include:
Redder combs and wattles
If you reach over their backs, they will squat
Checking out nest boxes
"Practicing" the egg song
Hope this helps!

 

[KingCoopa]

Signs include:
Redder combs and wattles
If you reach over their backs, they will squat
Checking out nest boxes
"Practicing" the egg song
Hope this helps!

Thank you!