I got day old chicks on May 1st this year. Last Friday, on August 23rd, my husband found a clutch of 24 eggs in our back yard. I do have 4 older hens that lay 2 brown eggs and 2 off white eggs pretty regular with 4 eggs for me per day. These were stark white eggs which could have only come from my two white sex links that are not even 4 months old yet. And if they were producing 1 per day max that means that they were laying around the 12th of August putting them at less that 3.5 months old. I was not expecting them to lay until after September 1st as that is when they will be 4 months old. Their combs and wattles have been red for a little while now.
Now my problem is to get them to lay in the nesting boxes. I have golf balls in there and I put the chickens in there to see the box but still no eggs there. I searched the yard on the weekend to see if I can find any more white eggs but I am afraid they are hiding them. We couldn't believe it 24 eggs in the back of the yard. Of course we had to throw them all out as they had been out in the sun for a week.
Has anyone ever heard of chickens laying so early and any tips for them to lay in the nest boxes. These are free range chickens and they go out all day around the property and in the coop locked up from predators at night. I guess I could leave them cooped all day but I have 17 chickens, 7 rabbits and 4 ducks in there and I am sure they woudn't be happy about that.
Now my problem is to get them to lay in the nesting boxes. I have golf balls in there and I put the chickens in there to see the box but still no eggs there. I searched the yard on the weekend to see if I can find any more white eggs but I am afraid they are hiding them. We couldn't believe it 24 eggs in the back of the yard. Of course we had to throw them all out as they had been out in the sun for a week.
Has anyone ever heard of chickens laying so early and any tips for them to lay in the nest boxes. These are free range chickens and they go out all day around the property and in the coop locked up from predators at night. I guess I could leave them cooped all day but I have 17 chickens, 7 rabbits and 4 ducks in there and I am sure they woudn't be happy about that.
You should never feed chickens corn only. It will make chickens fat and has less than half the minimum percentage of protein that chickens require. The extra fat in the corn may have made them mature much faster than normal which leads to egg laying problems and can make them lay smaller eggs for the rest of their life. How many months old are your pullets now? If they are under five months of age now, I would give them starter/grower or grower/finisher feed because their bodies are still growing, but make sure they have dish of oyster shell so their egg shells will be strong. If older than five months old I would give them layer feed 
