what time of day do your chickens lay eggs

[islandgirl82]

Well I've had mine a whole three weeks now so my sage opinion on this is 2-4pm

Have you noticed whether an egg is laid extra early if one of your girls has taken the previous day off? Mine will do that...resetting their clock and building back up to late afternoon before taking their next day off.

 

[traceyj]

Three 15mo olds and I'm pretty sure one isn't laying at all! But the other two lay on and off. One egg is big daily and one egg is smaller every other day. I'm guessing something to do with the chooks ages

 

[Quickster]

I have one whole day of laying chicken experience so my two cents is worth... well considerably less than two cents. My girl laid her first egg sometime before 10 am.

 

[islandgirl82]

Three 15mo olds and I'm pretty sure one isn't laying at all! But the other two lay on and off. One egg is big daily and one egg is smaller every other day. I'm guessing something to do with the chooks ages

Oh wow. Well, they're certainly old enough but there are many factors that contribute to egg production.

Breed is one factor; some produce considerably more than others.

Here in the northern hemisphere, with our daylight hours are decreasing and temperatures cooling down, they'll begin molting and the protein they consume goes into making new feathers instead of eggs. That process can take quite a while. Chickens also need a certain number of daylight hours each day to produce an egg. You can supplement the hours with lights in their coop if you'd like.

Stress is another factor. Cramped quarters will lead to a whole string of problems, some seemingly mild and some can be quite severe or even fatal. The more space they have the less stress they'll feel and the happier and healthier they'll be.

If you do free range at all, they may be laying more than you know but have been keeping hidden nests. Check around...they'll find the oddest places to nest. You can also encourage them to use the nests you've provided by placing artificial eggs in them until they get the hang of where they're "supposed to" lay.

Good luck!

 

[smithab]

Thank you. I have the nesting boxes ready and do have the plastic easter eggs in there but as far as I can tell, no one is even interested in the boxes. Silly chickens. I even added fresh herbs. I guess I just need to wait. I am going to keep them inthe run for a full 24-36 hours to see if I get an egg from some sneaky girl. My flock is Buffs, RIR and Ancona's.

 

[Debby27]

Thank you. I have the nesting boxes ready and do have the plastic easter eggs in there but as far as I can tell, no one is even interested in the boxes. Silly chickens. I even added fresh herbs. I guess I just need to wait. I am going to keep them inthe run for a full 24-36 hours to see if I get an egg from some sneaky girl. My flock is Buffs, RIR and Ancona's.

Smithab,
Hang in there, I was the same way....then one day I heard what sounded like one of the girls being murdered!.....LOL.....she was singing, she had just laid an egg!!! I thought a hawk had gotten them.....when I ran to the coop she was high-legging it all over the run.....hehehe...I knew right away what she had done....went to the box and there it was! My first ever egg!!! woo hoo!! I ran and got her some watermelon...

the other girls were in the coop checking out the egg.....Now my problem is either one of my other girls is laying very thin shelled ones or one pecked an egg and has decided she likes it, cause all I've gotten in the past 2 weeks is one egg a day and today I found the yolk mess in one of the nest boxes and a partially pecked open egg by the coop door. So I did the curtain thing, put out more oyster shell & will now go out and check early in the am before I leave for work. I usually find an egg every afternoon around 1:30-2:30...so someone is laying consistent or the "egg eater" or "stompers" don't get to that one yet.

 

[Infinity]

Well. I have 2 that lay by 8 am and the majority lay 3-4 pm. Have 2 other that lay right at dusk. Wish they'd have a hen party to discuss and get sync'd.

 

[Debby27]

Well got home today around 2:30 and had 2 eggs!!!!

I did the curtain thing and I think that helped......well that and putting out some oyster shell....I've been checking every hour after that and nothing from the other 2....so I'll keep checking until I hit the hay tonight....

 

[ndenief]

I got my first egg this evening. We have 14 hens...RIR, barred, and black australorps. It is small, and they kicked most of the straw out of the nesting boxes so there is a small crack...but it's an egg. Yay!!

 

[traceyj]

Yay. It's great- like Christmas every day checking in for the eggs. Pretty soon you'll have too many to use up!!