When do chickens lay?

[GAFarmGirl87]

My girls are 16 1/2 week old Golden Comets. I noticed last week, that when I petted their backs they would squat which isn't something that they used to do. I thought to myself, That was strange. So I searched around on Backyard Chickens (thank goodness for this site!) and read how they would do the squatting thing before they start laying. I had their nesting boxes closed up because I didn't want them to get the idea that nesting box equals bed. I opened up their nesting boxes and put some hay in there and the waiting began. I would check everyday. All I saw was were they had scratched around in them. It rained all day yesterday so I couldn't check the boxes. Today, I go out and let the girls out to roam and do their chicken thing, I check the nesting boxes and... BEHOLD...



TWO EGGS! and one was a double yoker!

I'm so proud and I have no idea when it happened.

Whoo Hoo!!

Congrats! I know I got so excited when I got my first egg!!

I was getting double yolkers every few days for the first 2 months. Now they have gotten into routine, & I haven't had a double yolker since.

 

[rig001]

Congrats!

 

[aviman]

Typically hens lay starting about early or midmorning. The catch is that they lay on a 25 hour cycle. This means that if a hen lays her first egg at say 10 in the morning, tomorrow her next egg will arrive at about 11 in the morning. And yet the whole thing is controlled by the amount of day period to which they are exposed in a 24 hour diurnal/nocturnal cycle. Commercial egg producers caught on to this very quickly although I don't know if they are still working the biorhythm/photoperiod cycle as they once did. The "sneaks" would house their hens in battery cages in a closed building with no incoming natural light and then they would set their clocks on a 23 hour day cycle. I think some had success with 22 and 20 hour cycles. The result was an extra egg or two would be produced over say a week's time. If one had 15 thousand hens in the enclosure then you can see that the profit margin would be greatly enhanced. But this method had tradeoffs too. Typically hens reach an endpoint in their natural day period such that those laying their last egg at the end of their day cycle would skip the next day only to commence the cycle on the morning of the following day. That is the natural rhythm. Thus those pushing the day cycle on a 23 hour or less basis would find that their flocks would "wear out" sooner. Keep in mind that several other factors impact egg laying. As the days naturally grow shorter hens production would slide off until in those darkest days of winter egg production would nearly cease. But when the day period would begin to lengthen shortly after Christmas the hens would increase their production again. Another factor is that a typical laying hen used to produce only 80% of the number of eggs produced the previous year. Some of this tendency has been alleviated by the use of modern genetics which has produced a line of sustained "super layers". The modern layer is capable of producing 300 to 320 eggs her first year. In the main, commercial producers do not keep a string of less than optimal layers; it is not economically feasible especially since competition is so heavy in the commercial world plus profit margins are low. So what does one do with 15 or 20 thousand birds not longer wanted? These are usually on contract with a commercial soup company which buys an entire lot. When you eat a product with chunks of chicken in the mix these are generally older retired layers. This meat of "old" hens is tenderized by being cooked in very large commercial pressure cookers. Another consideration is that molting birds, chickens included, cease laying during the course of particular molt. The energy required for egg production then goes for feather replacement. Are you adequately confused now?
A great deal of what I told you stems from the fact that I was reared on my grandmother's chicken farm during the 1940s and early 50s. At university I took many poultry science courses just out of interest. And since retirement as a zoologist I maintain a few red star and black star hybrids. There is a story about them too. Go on line and look them up. Fascinating stuff!

 

[rig001]

Typically hens lay starting about early or midmorning. The catch is that they lay on a 25 hour cycle. This means that if a hen lays her first egg at say 10 in the morning, tomorrow her next egg will arrive at about 11 in the morning. And yet the whole thing is controlled by the amount of day period to which they are exposed in a 24 hour diurnal/nocturnal cycle. Commercial egg producers caught on to this very quickly although I don't know if they are still working the biorhythm/photoperiod cycle as they once did. The "sneaks" would house their hens in battery cages in a closed building with no incoming natural light and then they would set their clocks on a 23 hour day cycle. I think some had success with 22 and 20 hour cycles. The result was an extra egg or two would be produced over say a week's time. If one had 15 thousand hens in the enclosure then you can see that the profit margin would be greatly enhanced. But this method had tradeoffs too. Typically hens reach an endpoint in their natural day period such that those laying their last egg at the end of their day cycle would skip the next day only to commence the cycle on the morning of the following day. That is the natural rhythm. Thus those pushing the day cycle on a 23 hour or less basis would find that their flocks would "wear out" sooner. Keep in mind that several other factors impact egg laying. As the days naturally grow shorter hens production would slide off until in those darkest days of winter egg production would nearly cease. But when the day period would begin to lengthen shortly after Christmas the hens would increase their production again. Another factor is that a typical laying hen used to produce only 80% of the number of eggs produced the previous year. Some of this tendency has been alleviated by the use of modern genetics which has produced a line of sustained "super layers". The modern layer is capable of producing 300 to 320 eggs her first year. In the main, commercial producers do not keep a string of less than optimal layers; it is not economically feasible especially since competition is so heavy in the commercial world plus profit margins are low. So what does one do with 15 or 20 thousand birds not longer wanted? These are usually on contract with a commercial soup company which buys an entire lot. When you eat a product with chunks of chicken in the mix these are generally older retired layers. This meat of "old" hens is tenderized by being cooked in very large commercial pressure cookers. Another consideration is that molting birds, chickens included, cease laying during the course of particular molt. The energy required for egg production then goes for feather replacement. Are you adequately confused now?
A great deal of what I told you stems from the fact that I was reared on my grandmother's chicken farm during the 1940s and early 50s. At university I took many poultry science courses just out of interest. And since retirement as a zoologist I maintain a few red star and black star hybrids. There is a story about them too. Go on line and look them up. Fascinating stuff!

interesting.....

 

[Annasg]

Do you know at what time of year that a hen broods and for how long? I want to have mine ready when this happens and I want to know when to stop eating the eggs and when to start again.

 

[larry1940]

any time they feel like it.Part of mine will lay early around 9 am the others lay throughout the day with the last one laying around 4 p.m.

 

[alb9202]

The anticipation of that first egg is killing me here are images of my two 21 week old light brahmas. They have been on layer feed for about a month, they get the occasional black oiled sun flower seeds and free range in the yard. One of these pretty lady's has been squatting for me for over 2 weeks now and mated with my rooster yesterday in the yard (she layed down and waited for him to mount). They have both been singing the "egg song" for week over a week. They have nesting boxes all filled with golf balls. I understand this breed is known to be late bloomers. Based on the images, should their waddles be more developed before they are truly ready? I have done egg hunts around the yard and found nothing, they free range in the afternoons in hopes of ensuring the first few eggs will atleast land in the coop/run. Any ideas how close these ladies are? Should I continue to be on guard or stand down (so to speak) for another 2+ weeks or so?

 

[kwhit]

Four of mine lay in the morning before noon. Two others lay later like 2-4 pm. Go figure..

 

[Props4Chicks]

Yeah. I was really excited about it. She laid another one today! It is so cool. Now I just need to figure out how to keep my oldest son from wanting to cook them as soon as they are laid.

All four of my hens hatched at the same time. What I have noticed is that Nelly's comb and wattle is a lot bigger and redder than my other three girls. The three of them are doing the squatting thing too but their combs and wattles are different sizes (smaller) and lighter red then Nelly's. I'm not sure why she "developed" faster though. Penny has the next biggest so I am keeping my eye on her.

 

[1876 Farm]

Do you know at what time of year that a hen broods and for how long? I want to have mine ready when this happens and I want to know when to stop eating the eggs and when to start again.

I live in Northern Illinois, mine go broody sometime in the spring. I place fake eggs in the nesting boxes to encourage one to go broody. When a hen has been sitting on the eggs for around a week, then I will replace the fake eggs with the real eggs. During that week of fake eggs, I continue to shoo her off the eggs each day just to collect any eggs that might have been laid in the nesting box. I want to make sure that all eggs are set at the same time. In the last few days, while the hen is still sitting on fake eggs, I collect eggs from my other hens. Fortunately (or unfortunately in my husbands eyes), I have enough hens that I can collect around 8 or so in 1 day. I then choose the cleanest and nicest to place under her.

Hope this helps.