silly newbie questions

[sixxchixx]

Hey there! I am still (endlessly) learning about how to raise chickens/chicks.

I have 4 12week old EE's. my questions are..

when will they stop "peeping" and sound like chickens?

when about, because i know they are all different, do the roo's start crowing? (I have one chicken that may or may not be a boy)

and when will the pullets lay eggs? i think i read that around 20 weeks but i can find no info on the timeline for older chicks. just the real little ones.

thank you chicken gurus!!

 

[sheaviance1]

My first flock (hatched at last week of March) stopped peeping the first week of June. I recently got 3 more that were supposed to be 14 weeks old, they are now supposedly 19 weeks old, and they are still peeping. I am thinking (because of their size when I got them) that they were actually 8 weeks old and are just now approaching 14 weeks.

As for crowing, I have no idea....have never owned a rooster.

Eggs....well, I'd start looking around 20 weeks, but it could be much longer than that. EE's tend to mature late. I recently read, on here, about one that waited until it was 60 weeks old to lay it's first egg. Now that was an impossible wait!!

Welcome to your new addiction!!

 

[cpegram]

crowing can start anywhere from 14 weeks and up...

 

[PunkinPeep]

Quote:
Soon.

It's really cute when they transition too. They'll be peeping around and suddenly a squawk will emit from their beaks. It surprises them as much as it does you. They'll look around like, "what was that?"

Or at least, mine did that.

Before they start laying, you'll probably start noticing the egg song (bawk bawk baGAWK!), blood red combs and wattles, and squatting - where they hunch down on the ground when you would normally expect them to run away. You can look for those signs to tell you the time is coming soon. But be patient. My first layer sang the egg song for about a month before she started laying eggs.

 

[Victrix]

My RIR and leghorn stopped peeping at around 9-11 weeks, the Americauna roo started crowing at 10weeks, it was pretty funny for the first week or two.