When do chickens lay?

[chixaregreat41]

All mine lay at different times of the day

 

[Alexandra317]

I was told it take 25 hrs. to form the egg so laying advances an hour a day until late afternoon. Then, a day is skipped to reset back to morning.

 

[Chicken Goddess]

My chickens lay in the morning. except for my araucana who lays around 1pm. its very strange

 

[LTygress]

It's random. Completely. But it DOES depend on the individual hen. I have one hen who lays every day before noon. Hasn't changed in over 18 months of laying. She will skip a day or two, but it's still before noon when she lays.

I have another that is so incredibly random as to when she lays, I can't pin it down at all. Sometimes it will be first thing in the morning, sometimes it's the last thing she does before roosting. And the days can't be tracked either. Sometimes she'll skip a day. Sometimes she will actually lay two in one day. Sometimes she skips a week (but she'll still lay year-round).

I also have one strange bantam that always lays her eggs after dark. That's a new one to me! I've never known a chicken to lay during roosting hours AT ALL! Chickens have great vision, but not at night. Their night vision is worse than any human. So laying during those hours is incredibly strange!

So it will depend on the hen, but there is no standard for the various breeds either. They will lay whenever they lay.

Also to go back on other content in this thread, and as others have said, locking hens in a coop won't help them lay in their proper nest. They may not lay at all, or they could even just put it on the floor of the coop. The best way to show a chicken where to lay, is to put an egg (or something similar) where you want her to lay. Chickens want to lay their eggs where there are already eggs being laid. They're a bit on the naive side, and think that round object is the egg they already laid - even if it's from another chicken, or not an egg at all, and even if they are laying their very first egg ever! This is how they "gather" eggs to sit on later. They find existing eggs, assume it is their own, and lay more in that same spot until they have enough to sit on.

If you want to get as real as possible, use an egg from your refrigerator that was purchased at the grocery store. Let it warm up to room temperature, and then set it in their nest. It may start to smell bad after a while (takes about a week at least), but your chicken won't mind. And if you have white egg-layers, mark it with an X using a black marker, so you know which one isn't good when you collect the eggs later on.

If you don't want to go that route but you have extra cash, try ordering some fake wooden or ceramic eggs from McMurray or Meyer's hatcheries. If you want cheap but fake, try golfballs (I use golfballs to entice my broody hens to start sitting). But there is no way of forcing a chicken to lay before she's ready, no matter what you do.

 

[Alexandra317]

Excellent read. Thank you so much. I asked questions to the egg sellers at our local farmer's mkt. I get some different answers for the same question. Your info made perfect sense to me.

 

[chickenlily13]

My 8 hens lay early morning till noon- once in awhile a late afternoon egg . The 25 hour cycle does apply and they do occasional skip a day. Not all but do take turns , play hooky now and then. ha

 

[cortner1195]

Mine lay all through the day. We are integrating the 15 week pullets to our main coop. That has thrown things off a bit for the adults. We have five nest boxes. Each chicken has her favorite. Some like an enclosed nest box. For that reason we have curtains over 2 boxes. This is simply a plain white washcloth stapled to the top board. Their is a gap of about an inch on either side for entry. Not everyone likes to be watched! It is funny to peak in the window during one hen's egg song to not see anyone. Just a washcloth moving slightly with lots of noise. They are so funny!

I do keep mine locked up until late afternoon. They have access to their run, and coop. No free range time until eggs are laid. Sometimes they range pretty far, and I don't want someone to lay up in the woods on accident. That also keeps them eating their grain through the day. Otherwise they would fill up on junk food!

 

[cleansquared]

Im curious if any one knows... If it takes 25 hours to produce an egg how do the large egg laying ag buisness get around that with tricking light dark cycles only seems like if it takes that much time to create lighting wouldnt work on its own ? Does any one know?

 

[Mrs tweedy76]

My pekins usually lay from 11-2pm, but not everyday, they seem to lay every other day. I just let them out first thing and leave them too it, they have learnt to go in when ready, lay and then come out to continue feeding. Babs makes a song and dance of it, chirping then she goes in

 

[eggorchicken]

My hens all lay at different times this is their timetable, you can't tell or make hens lay at a certain time!
1: 7:30am
2: 8:15am
3: 9:30am
4: 10:45am
5: when she feels like it
6: when she feels like it
7: 11:00am
8: 10:00pm

Number 5-8 they are POL's so that's why they are mixed up but the older girls are all before 11:00am!
Oh and their breeds are RIR, Blackrock, Bluebell, RIRxLight sussex, polish
And just wondering if anyone who owns polish hens if they are meant to lay small eggs almost bantam size and they are meant to be between bantam size and large fowl size??

Mrs tweedy 76, one of my hens also go crazy when she goes in to lay she stays in there for about an hour and a half and if another hen goes in she sound like a cockerel