When do Buff Orpingtons start laying?

[Cluckcluck1215]

. Do you think she is getting close to laying? Does her comb and waddle look red? She is 18 weeks old.

um yes I'm sorry but I'm sre it's a roo. sorry.

 

[Cluckcluck1215]

. Do you think she is getting close to laying? Does her comb and waddle look red? She is 18 weeks old.

altoth holly530 my hen had looked like a roo and mad like broooooooooookk type a noise but keep a eye on him/her and she what he/she does.

tip: put a go pro in the coop in the day or night see with time it lays.

 

[mamatink7]

Since we don't really know exactly when our BO will lay...when do you start the layer feed and start w oyster shell in the scratch?
(Mind you, I'm thinking way ahead as mine don't hatch till mid May)

 

[Skyfire]

First time chicken owner. I bought 3 buff orp chicks back in mid April. They had their first adult feathers just coming in on their wing tips when I got them. I put their age between 18 to 20 weeks. One of them laid her first egg today!

 

[mamatink7]

Our 2 older buffs started laying at 24 weeks (2 wks ago). Younger 2, have no idea when they'll lay yet. They are 23 wks this week.

 

[Sagenovese]

I have to chime in here. I have had 2 surprises in the past week. Last week, I found a broken egg that looks like it fell from the roosting rafters onto the water bucket lid and splatted. I went to clean it up and the shell was paper thin. I thought, hmmm... could one of my newest chicks be laying already? That was last week at 14 weeks! Seemed wrong. But then, perhaps an explanation...inexperienced hen not "permitted" in the nest box by her elders? Today, I found another egg, paper thin soft shell in one of the side "shelves" of my coop. Not in their nesting boxes where my mature hens faithfully share the same single box while there are 3 others to choose from. Another piece is that this second egg, while soft-shelled, was still intact and quite large... looks about same size as my adults. Too large for new layer? Last piece, I live in Pennsylvania and today is blustery 18 degrees and 20 plus mph winds. We are in full winter. I do have a light in the coop that comes on just about an hour before the sun comes up when it is coldest and I figure would help them wake to some warmth, but we still have short days here.

I have 10 chickens:

My oldest 5: 1 Black Copper Marans, 1 Silver laced Wyandotte, 1 Mille Fleur D'uccle and 2 EE.
The newest 5 chicks are 15 weeks: 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Speckled Sussex, 1 Golden Cuckoo Marans, 1 Buckeye, and 1 Buff Brahma.

The BCM and MFD are both 39 weeks old (their clutch mates were sadly taken by dogs and fox) The other 3 are older. The MFD is the only one who has yet to lay her first egg. I figure that was because we had horrific predator problems and she lost all of her buddies. That shook her up quite a bit. These 5 survivors have become very predatory wary. I expected her to lay her first egg this spring since she is not known a winter layer and she waited this long already. I also don't think it is her egg since it seems too large.

The egg is very light colored. Much too light for a marans egg. Maybe SS or BO. But the BO seems to have more red in her comb/wattles where the SS is still pink. Also, last night her behavior was different... I waited a long time for her to go to bed so I could close the coop. She kept picking at the ground for food like she was hungry. I gave them some snacks just before bed and the other 9 had a snack and then went to bed but she kept pecking at the mix I tossed on the ground for a solid 10 minutes more as the sun went down.

There is a feeding bin of commercial feed always available to them, so she couldn't have been too hungry. With mixed ages, I have 2 types of layer feed and 1 chick feed that they have free access to. The younsters actually prefer the chick feed and the adults actually mostly prefer the adult feed, interestingly, despite they have free choice.

Has anyone else had a BO lay as early as 14 weeks? Am I crazy to think this egg is her's?

 

[Mak24456]

I have to chime in here. I have had 2 surprises in the past week. Last week, I found a broken egg that looks like it fell from the roosting rafters onto the water bucket lid and splatted. I went to clean it up and the shell was paper thin. I thought, hmmm... could one of my newest chicks be laying already? That was last week at 14 weeks! Seemed wrong. But then, perhaps an explanation...inexperienced hen not "permitted" in the nest box by her elders? Today, I found another egg, paper thin soft shell in one of the side "shelves" of my coop. Not in their nesting boxes where my mature hens faithfully share the same single box while there are 3 others to choose from. Another piece is that this second egg, while soft-shelled, was still intact and quite large... looks about same size as my adults. Too large for new layer? Last piece, I live in Pennsylvania and today is blustery 18 degrees and 20 plus mph winds. We are in full winter. I do have a light in the coop that comes on just about an hour before the sun comes up when it is coldest and I figure would help them wake to some warmth, but we still have short days here. I have 10 chickens: My oldest 5: 1 Black Copper Marans, 1 Silver laced Wyandotte, 1 Mille Fleur D'uccle and 2 EE. The newest 5 chicks are 15 weeks: 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Speckled Sussex, 1 Golden Cuckoo Marans, 1 Buckeye, and 1 Buff Brahma. The BCM and MFD are both 39 weeks old (their clutch mates were sadly taken by dogs and fox) The other 3 are older. The MFD is the only one who has yet to lay her first egg. I figure that was because we had horrific predator problems and she lost all of her buddies. That shook her up quite a bit. These 5 survivors have become very predatory wary. I expected her to lay her first egg this spring since she is not known a winter layer and she waited this long already. I also don't think it is her egg since it seems too large. The egg is very light colored. Much too light for a marans egg. Maybe SS or BO. But the BO seems to have more red in her comb/wattles where the SS is still pink. Also, last night her behavior was different... I waited a long time for her to go to bed so I could close the coop. She kept picking at the ground for food like she was hungry. I gave them some snacks just before bed and the other 9 had a snack and then went to bed but she kept pecking at the mix I tossed on the ground for a solid 10 minutes more as the sun went down. There is a feeding bin of commercial feed always available to them, so she couldn't have been too hungry. With mixed ages, I have 2 types of layer feed and 1 chick feed that they have free access to. The younsters actually prefer the chick feed and the adults actually mostly prefer the adult feed, interestingly, despite they have free choice. Has anyone else had a BO lay as early as 14 weeks? Am I crazy to think this egg is her's?

I'm not sure what your issue could be, hopefully somebody else can help you, but that BO doesn't look old enough to start laying. Comb very small and pink, wattles haven't even grown yet.

 

[Sagenovese]

Thanks for that! Ok, then I will suspect my Silver Laced Wyandotte. No one else lays an egg even remotely close in color. I thought her egg was darker than that and the last few she gave me seemed hard. Last week when first soft shell appeared, I immediately tossed more oyster shell near the coop for them to help themselves to. Not sure how long it takes for it to strengthen shell, but it's been 1 week already so hopefully she will lay another in near future that might be harder. She isn't a great layer in winter and she is 6 years old so far fewer eggs than she used to offer up. We shall see.

 

[mamatink7]

I have to chime in here. I have had 2 surprises in the past week. Last week, I found a broken egg that looks like it fell from the roosting rafters onto the water bucket lid and splatted. I went to clean it up and the shell was paper thin. I thought, hmmm... could one of my newest chicks be laying already? That was last week at 14 weeks! Seemed wrong. But then, perhaps an explanation...inexperienced hen not "permitted" in the nest box by her elders? Today, I found another egg, paper thin soft shell in one of the side "shelves" of my coop. Not in their nesting boxes where my mature hens faithfully share the same single box while there are 3 others to choose from. Another piece is that this second egg, while soft-shelled, was still intact and quite large... looks about same size as my adults. Too large for new layer? Last piece, I live in Pennsylvania and today is blustery 18 degrees and 20 plus mph winds. We are in full winter. I do have a light in the coop that comes on just about an hour before the sun comes up when it is coldest and I figure would help them wake to some warmth, but we still have short days here. I have 10 chickens: My oldest 5: 1 Black Copper Marans, 1 Silver laced Wyandotte, 1 Mille Fleur D'uccle and 2 EE. The newest 5 chicks are 15 weeks: 1 Buff Orpington, 1 Speckled Sussex, 1 Golden Cuckoo Marans, 1 Buckeye, and 1 Buff Brahma. The BCM and MFD are both 39 weeks old (their clutch mates were sadly taken by dogs and fox) The other 3 are older. The MFD is the only one who has yet to lay her first egg. I figure that was because we had horrific predator problems and she lost all of her buddies. That shook her up quite a bit. These 5 survivors have become very predatory wary. I expected her to lay her first egg this spring since she is not known a winter layer and she waited this long already. I also don't think it is her egg since it seems too large. The egg is very light colored. Much too light for a marans egg. Maybe SS or BO. But the BO seems to have more red in her comb/wattles where the SS is still pink. Also, last night her behavior was different... I waited a long time for her to go to bed so I could close the coop. She kept picking at the ground for food like she was hungry. I gave them some snacks just before bed and the other 9 had a snack and then went to bed but she kept pecking at the mix I tossed on the ground for a solid 10 minutes more as the sun went down. There is a feeding bin of commercial feed always available to them, so she couldn't have been too hungry. With mixed ages, I have 2 types of layer feed and 1 chick feed that they have free access to. The younsters actually prefer the chick feed and the adults actually mostly prefer the adult feed, interestingly, despite they have free choice. Has anyone else had a BO lay as early as 14 weeks? Am I crazy to think this egg is her's?

awww your buff is so young! I remember ours looking that young. I believe it's not hers though, not sure who else it could be. Who is the pretty colored girl in the other picture? Our 4 SLW pullets are between 24-30 wks now and one of them is possibly laying; that egg in the pix looks like it could be her. One of 16 May hatched buff and golden laced wyandotte haven't laid yet either!!

 

[Sagenovese]

Thanks everyone, the mystery has been solved!

The squishy egg apparently belongs to my Silver Laced Wyandotte. She is coming up on 6 years old. I read in several places that it is normal for an older chicken to lay a soft shell egg sometimes. Particularly high production hens and she has certainly been a good layer for us. I still don't know what "older" means in chicken years. But perhaps 6 yo fits the bill.

Last night when I tucked them in to bed, there was another squishy egg broken on the ground directly beneath her and there was frozen dribble on her fluffy bottom feathers that suggested her as said egg donor.

I hope that she is ok. I added crushed oyster shell a week ago. I sprinkle it on the ground around the coop since they free-range all day. So, I don't always know when to toss more so it might have been overdue. I know for sure she has been out and about and pecking the ground in all the right places. All other eggs from the rest of the flock are hard and solid.

She also looks quite healthy. Beautiful healthy red comb and wattle. She is up and out every day to free range (except no-one much cared to leave the coop today though the door was open... too cold, perhaps?) Everyone is eating, drinking and socializing well. Most exciting, my 38 week old Mille Fluer d'Uccle was snuggled in a nest box today... Maybe she is finally going to lay me her first egg!

The SLW egg is normally just a little bit darker than this squishy egg, but perhaps that pigment didn't have time to lay down? Still, since I haven't seen an egg from her for several days, plus last night's "evidence", I am pretty sure she is the squishy egg layer.

I really appreciate the help in solving the mystery.