What time in the morning do hens usually lay?

[HEChicken]

After a move they often will stop laying for a little while but if there are eggs "in the works" at the time of the move, those eggs will still be laid. I'm not surprised you got an egg 15 hours after the move since that egg would have already been in production. The same hen might lay on the 2nd and 3rd days too, and THEN take a break for a week or two. On the other hand, depending on the size of the move (across the yard versus across the state) and how stressed she got, she may not stop laying at all.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Mine vary. From before I feed to about 2p.m.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

My eggs usually only freeze on the days where the temps never get out of the single digits or low teens. My coops are unheated as well. Days when the temps get into the 20s are days when I can collect eggs once. On colder days I collect twice, three times if I am home.

As for insulating the nesting boxes, I'm no help there... maybe someone will come along with good advice for you.

And as for frozen eggs, I use them up quickly (the next a.m. for breakfast) if they are cracked with an intact membrane. If they are cracked and oozing, cook them up and feed them back to the chooks, they'll love them!!

 

[Smokin Silkies]

The move wasn't too bad. It was from my lower yard to the upper yard maybe a hundred feet or more? They have to be laying while its still dark outside because sometimes I don't get up there til 9 or 10 am and the egg is already frozen and cracked from the stepping on it I assume? When I take the top half of the shell off, the inside is shaped like an egg. Not frozed solid but intact. I'll have to go out at 5:30 am when I get my daughter up for school. Maybe I'll catch it then. Although I've checked at 7ish and no egg, then a couple hours later check again and theres a frozen egg???

 

[gritsar]

Quote:

I wonder where the idea that hens always lay in the morning got started?
I've had hens head to the nestbox after 5 PM, while I'm out there to lock them up for the night.

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

Quote:
Did you say that you think you just have one girl laying? I have several, and I'm sure when they climb in the nests where there are eggs already their body heat keeps the previously laid eggs from freezing. If you have just one girl laying her egg will probably freeze up faster. Sorry to confuse you!!

 

[WriterofWords]

Pretty much all of mine lay between lunch and 4pm. Every now and then one will lay earlier, but very seldom.

 

[NancyinAlaska]

Mine seem to start about 7 am and I always make another trip out around 8pm and get a few eggs.

 

[blueseal]

i have seen mine lay 9 eggs before 630am. the light comes on at 3am and iv gone out to the coop at 6am and there are 4 or 5 eggs already laid and 4 or 5 hens in the nests. today i had 13 eggs before noon and 3 more at 3pm when i went down to check. it varies i guess.

 

[lisebarb]

I too was going to ask this question. Mine just started laying again after their molt.
I know for sure that 2 of my 4 girls are laying and I assume it's the 2 that "squat" for me when I enter the run. The other 2 have never "squatted" for me so I don't know what that's all about...
Anyway, I got my first 2 eggs the other day then a couple of days later I got 3 eggs. One day there were 2 in the morning and 1 later in the afternoon. Then another day 3 were there all at the same time.
This made me wonder if now I've got 3 hens laying or, if like I've been reading in this thread, I might just be getting eggs from only 2 of my gals.
I'm confused. Without giving each gal their own quarters, how do you tell which ones are laying and when?