what are all the signs of egg laying ?

chickchicks

Songster
8 Years
Jul 28, 2011
466
4
101
warrington uk
can anyone tellme all the signs of egg laying and what to expect

my two new girls are between 18-21 weeks the farmer said one thing but the reciept i got said another!

if you could tell me what toexpect it wouldbe appreciated
 
Combs and wattles get much redder and much bigger. They definitely get more vocal, lots of clucking and cackling. Squatting is also a sign of sexual maturity. If you approach them and they stop and squat down, they are basically "assuming the position" so they are ready to mate, and therefor, mature enough to lay an egg. Nesting, whether in the box or elsewhere. Yesterday, one of our girls who hasn't laid yet was practicing in the nest box. She sat there for about 10 minutes throwing pine shavings on her back and making a nest. Cute! Finally, in the days right before they lay their first egg, they may seem very nervous or distressed. They might run around squawking a bit because of the hormonal changes in their bodies.
 
thank you very much

one more thing i think

do the eggs come out like normal eggs or does it take a whilefor the "system" to work out the kinks,
am i likely to get the wind eggs and shell less ones for a while?

thank you its a ppreciate

my new girls do a funny squat when your nearby and then they shuffle around!

there waddles and combs? when i got them were white !
now they are a pinky colour so i may be onthe right track

ill sort out a new nest box for them as the older girls seem to have decided that the nest boxes are sleeping quarters !
 
It is so hard waiting for that first egg! One of ours did the squat for 10 days before she finally produced. She layed her first egg about a month ago and one just about everyday. So far, all have been perfectly normal, hard shelled eggs. Do you have a light in your coop? Everything I've read says they need 14 hrs of light a day to stimulate egg production, so if they are young and haven't started laying it seems like it could be delayed by the shorter autumn/winter days. A little over a week ago we put a light in our coop that is on a timer. It is set to come on at 3:30 a.m. and it goes off at 7:30 a.m. The pullets go to roost at dusk which is at about 6:30 p.m. Yesterday, for the first time, we got three eggs in one day from our eight chickens who are 24 weeks old.

Good luck!
 
I have 6 of 9 girls laying, and they have been for several weeks now. Out of all the eggs we have gotten, only 4 or 5 have been "unusual." But I scrambled those and gave them back to the chickens. If you are feeding them well, you will have mostly normal eggs with a few occasional irregularities. Our first girl laid 6 perfect eggs before she had a mishap. Then she took a day off and has laid lovely eggs ever since.
 
Not ready:
57171_100_1876.jpg


Getting ready:
57171_img_3683.jpg


Laying:
57171_img_7612.jpg


Strange eggs do happen to new layers:

57171_img_6725.jpg


57171_img_6920.jpg


And you get big and small:

57171_img_3122.jpg
 
the replys are so helpful and the pictures toooo !!!!

the girls get fed on grower pelets as i have a 11 week old in with them ( who i think is a roo:rolleyes:)
i was told that the pellets would hurt her/him

they have got lots of oyster shells and grit around
also i do have layer food/pellets ready for them just not sure how to feed it them without my he/she getting it too

any advice?

they also get lots of greens ie grass, leutce, even fruit like grapes and apples and corn - all are snacks in my eyes food comes first !



there is no light in the coop no electricity outdoors .

i open the door at 7 ish and they stay out all night till around 8ish as they like to roost at the backdoor till i get home - im the treats lady!!!
 

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