When do chickens lay?

[PastorLarry]

What time of day to chickens usually lay? I have heard early morning and others have said it depends on the chicken. Any ideas as I am new to raising chickens and am not sure.

 

[iheartnh]

My RIR is about 24 wks old and has started to "squat." She squawked and ran to the coop, where I found her panting and situating the hay in her nesting box. She has been in the coop for 15 min now, and no egg. This will be her first egg. How long should it take a "first timer" before becoming concerned ?

My first hen to lay would sit in the box for hours looking very intense - like 3, sometimes 4 hours. She still does it every now and then. Sometimes I feel like I should bring her something to read.

 

[novagirl73]

Yay! We got our first egg. It took her about three hours, a couple trips to the coop and back...and wah-LA. My son was elated , he found the egg and yelled, " I found the egg!" I think the whole neighborhood heard him shout. I wish I had video taped his experience. Chickens are so cool

 

[woodsygal]

Mine all lay by 11 am. When they were new layers I let them in the chicken yard but didn't open the main gate for free ranging until they laid.
I keep reading about the 25 hr cycle but mine seem to be laying earlier each day. I guess they didn't get the memo.

 

[LTygress]

I live in middle Tn. on the banks of a river. I get all kinds of critters. That snake just looked like he was at home in that box. That same day I put out moth balls and have not seen him or any other since but I am sure they are still around. Now my worry is weasels. Dont need them either

I think I jinxed myself...

I found a king snake back in the pen again today. The same one I beat with a stick last time - with a scar on his side from the beating. I called my brother-in-law outside with a shovel to just kill him this time (chop off his head). My nephew comes out to do it instead, and as we watch him try to sneak under the side of the pen to get out, I realize he can't. He's stuck. There's a bulge in his belly stopping him.

But I count all of the chicks, and they are there. I had just been out to look for eggs, so I was sure it wasn't an egg. But after a while of him attempting to get out, I realized the bulge is PERFECTLY ROUND. THE KING SNAKE HAD SWALLOWED A GOLF BALL!!!

My nephew comes in to the pen and takes him out anyway. And it took about TWO FULL HOURS for the snake's body to stop twitching, moving, and even reacting to touch. The head died within 15 minutes, but the rest of the snake just kept going! During this time my nephew picks it up and squeezes the body to bring the golfball back up - through the spot where his head used to be. And sure enough, there it is.... one dirty, white, pitted golfball.

So there you have it. Not only do golfballs teach your hens where to lay, but apparently even SNAKES can't tell the difference!


And yes, we got some gruesome video of the body still moving long after it was dead. Once it finally stopped and went limp, we put the body back in the chicken pen so they could eat the meat.

Karma!

 

[naightengale]

mine lay all day...

 

[TREX]

Mine usually lay in the morning between 7:00 am and 11:00 but sometimes I get a lady that will lay at an off time in the afternoon. Whats funny too is that they wait in line for the same nest box.

 

[homesteaderearl]

Great topic with some good information. I am in the process of finishing up the coop and run, I will be getting my chicks soon.

 

[novagirl73]

Terry4-- it took my hen awhile ( 2:45-5pm) to lay her egg. I noticed her breathing heavily and trying to hide under my patio furniture& the BBQ. She later ran in the coop, situated her nesting box, and decided to lay her egg near the dogs kennel. We were so proud of her. I made her some spaghetti noodles

 

[Spikes Chooks]

It is supposed to take 25 hours for the hen to produce and lay an egg. So if on day #1 she lays at 10 am , on day#2 it would be 11am and so on and so on ........once she gets to 5pm with daylight failing she will skip a day and the whole process will start again the next morning.
I should add , that there are of course forces of nature that will upset the laying pattern. Molting, brooding, winter etc.

This is exactly what mine do. I can tell because I have four chooks of different breeds whose eggs are different enough to tell them apart. (RIR, Australorp, Barnevelder & Silver Campine). It's not that I'd get rid of anyone when they eventually stop laying - I just thought it would add to the fun of it and it sure has.

They also vary in how long it takes to lay the egg. My RIR is real quick - she LOOOOOVES her food, even for a chicken, so I figure she doesn't want to waste any time! The Australorp will take at least an hour, often two. I worried about her during last summer's heat wave as she would be panting heavily in there. Now I have some really small drink bottles, which I will fill with water and freeze and put them in the nesting boxes first thing, then change at noon for the afternoon layers. So I am ready for the next summer. I read that most chickens who die from heat stress, do that when they are in the nesting box and it sure was real hot in there.

Part of the fun of having chickens is working out how different they all can be.