What time of day does a hen lay her egg??

[CovenantCreek]

I often have 1 or 2 eggs waiting for me by 6:00 AM, a few more by 8:00, a couple more by 1:00, then maybe 1 by the time I feed the horses in the afternoon.

I've read that the average time to produce and lay an egg is 25 hours. Also, that hens don't like to lay late in the afternoon, so they may skip a day so they can start laying in the morning again.

 

[crazy hen quartet]

My hens lay at all hours, mostly before afternoon but I get an occasional egg late in the day. The pattern I have noticed is this: I watch just one hen, every day she lays a little later until one day she skips entirely, followed by an egg first thing the next morning.

 

[estpr13]

Quote:
I agree. I kept a log of my hens laying for their first 100 days starting with the first found egg. I found that they would lay several days in a row, then skip a day. As they got older the skipped days became less frequent.

Some breds will lay over 300 eggs a year so they lay about every 24-5 hours and skipped days are less frequent. Other hens may only lay 150 eggs or less per year so their laying frequency may be closer to every 48 hours.

I would give them access to a nest 24 / 7. Otherwise if the urge hits them they will lay where ever they can feel protected during this vulnerable time.

 

[Mom 2em All]

My illegal hens usually wait until my neighbor is outside before they start laying and screaming their egg laying song....

 

[kees]

Some of my hens would lay at different times of the day and sometimes there's be an egg in the coop overnight. Never could figure it out!

Suzy

 

[msgenie516]

Quote:

 

[cyrixlord]

The terrible daily drama begins at around 7:30 when 'the noisy one' wailes in utter tearjerking agony in the run because she cannot find her sister, which is in the coop laying her egg around this time. The cry from 'the noisy one' wakes my hypersensitive german shepherd ( http://tamanaka.com/MainGallery/ImageAndCaption.aspx?ImgID=128 )who becons me like lassie to the window where I tap on the glass of my diningroom window and end her terrible drama by uttering a high pitched but re-assuring 'baby!'. She'll then hop up her ladder and peer into my dining room window from her run. (I have a ladder that is propped up so they can yell at me when they're hungry through the window http://tamanaka.com/MainGallery/ImageAndCaption.aspx?ImgID=305

)

THIS is my alarm clock and is what gets me up every morning like clockwork. my neighbor lives less than 20 feet from the run and im sure it is his alarm clock too but he doesn't seem to mind, after all, he lives next to a breakfast making machine!

the 'Noisy one' lays her eggs around 3-4pm where the roles become reversed and the 'non noisy one' begins her ferverant cries of dispair in hopes to find her lost sister, who is making me my breakfast! http://tamanaka.com/MainGallery/ImageAndCaption.aspx?ImgID=273

Although they're both Australorps, they lay different colored eggs.

 

[colby318]

Mine keep banker's hours. 9 to 5. They also seem to be cahoots and close up shop when somebody requests a dozen... Seriously, my girls seem to lay 2 eggs every 3 days and rotate out amongst themselves but they do lay during the daylight hours only.

 

[Mahonri]

6AM to about 2PM here.

 

[CovenantCreek]

I've just discovered that one of my Delaware girls is getting up in the middle of the night to lay. Then I realized that the red heat lamp may be partially responsible since it doesn't get completely dark on cold nights.