when are my chickens going to lay eggs!?

[pollocutie]

my chickens are 19 weeks and two days and they haven't laid eggs yet. We have one rooster and three hens, as we ordered them with some family friends. our friends chickens all laid eggs! my chickens haven't laid eggs yet. we usually let them out for maybe 3-4 hours a day, and have fed them dried worms everyday for about a week. attached are the pictures. we have a Rhode island red, the red one, a whiting true blue, the gray one, and a whiting true green, the yellow one. my true green's comb is so big and red i feel like...I've been expecting an egg from her for so long already. any predictions for when they'll lay? I'm also concerned about why my whiting true blue is so skinny//

 

[SueT]

If your friends' chickens from the same batch are laying, then lets see what you are doing differently. What else are you feeding them other than dried worms?
Also, if they are free ranging 3-4 hours a day, there is a chance they are laying, but in a hidden nest. When i have new pullets, I keep them all locked in until they all start laying regularly so that they get attached to the nests in the coop.

 

[sourland]

Maybe tomorrow or the day after.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are they different breeds than your own birds? Different breeds will lay at different times. Also some birds aren't skinny, they're just not as wide built as others so they look skinny

 

[pollocutie]

same breed. their rir has been laying for almost a week already. i was thinking about that too, that they were laying eggs outside.. thats what i was concerned about because they have a couple spots in our backyard that they love which are out of my reach. i will keep them in for a while and not let them go outside. also those pictures were taken like 3 days ago and they havent layed eggs

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They need some more time. They're just like people. Not everyone starts puberty the same time, pullets don't start laying and cockerels don't start growing at the same time

 

[pollocutie]

im concerned because my little rir has 2 more days until shes 20 weeks and theyre supposed to lay 18-20. also my true green's comb is SO RED irl. i thought she would lay already

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

same breed. their rir has been laying for almost a week already. i was thinking about that too, that they were laying eggs outside.. thats what i was concerned about because they have a couple spots in our backyard that they love which are out of my reach. i will keep them in for a while and not let them go outside. also those pictures were taken like 3 days ago and they havent layed eggs

My RIRs didn't start until they were 5 months

 

[pollocutie]

If your friends' chickens from the same batch are laying, then lets see what you are doing differently. What else are you feeding them other than dried worms?
Also, if they are free ranging 3-4 hours a day, there is a chance they are laying, but in a hidden nest. When i have new pullets, I keep them all locked in until they all start laying regularly so that they get attached to the nests in the coop.

i feed them lots of dried worms, as well as raisins and corn here and there. 99% of the time they have food and water available to them, and we gave them a pretty little nesting box with hay, but my friends didn't do that. we also made them a special roosting bar that didn't come with the coop we bought. our coop was bought while theirs were homemade though, so that may be a reason.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Coop has nothing to do with it. It might be all those treats you giving them, And again, they just might not be ready to lay. They don't all lat just because people online say they will.