What time of day is normal egg laying time?

[scbatz33]

I've had them lay any time during daylight hours. As others have mentioned they lay on a roughly 26 hour cycle so it's a bit later each day. Hens only ovulate during daylight hours so during the winter their laying becomes less regular than in the spring and summer months.

 

[abhaya]

my RIR usually lays before noon

 

[HHandbasket]

As with all things, I believe this varies from chicken to chicken.

Before our leghorn died, she was a machine. We could almost set the clock by her. She went into the nest and laid her egg every single day between 9 and 10 a.m. Before she got regulated, though, she would lay every day as long as the sun was up. It took her about 2 weeks to get on a schedule, but once on it, she was really reliable.

Now we have an EE who has a 2-days-on-1-day-off laying cycle. Day 1, she lays first thing in the morning. Day 2, she lays closer to noon. Day 3, she takes the day off, then starts over again the next day. The other EE has only given us 2 eggs so far (just started laying for us a couple of days ago), so her schedule remains to be seen.

I've read threads on here where people have chickens who lay their egg during the night in their sleep & the eggs fall to the ground beneath the roosts & crack open.