When do chickens naturally start laying?

[Spitterkat]

I'm just wondering what date approx chickens naturally start laying. I'm guessing it's going to be in spring, but when you light chickens for winter production, typically its for about 14 hours a day (which, doesn't naturally happen until mid / late summer).

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I'm just wondering what date approx chickens naturally start laying. I'm guessing it's going to be in spring, but when you light chickens for winter production, typically its for about 14 hours a day (which, doesn't naturally happen until mid / late summer).

The onset of production is more about age than the specific date in the year. The average age of laying can vary depending on breed, time of year, diet, etc - but *generally* a good time to expect the first eggs is between 18-28 weeks of age for most standard breeds. That is for the first laying cycle- which lasts from the first egg to the first adult molt (around 18 months of age). Subsequent laying cycles are when the amount of light comes into play more as far as triggering production....and at that point the "magic number" is commonly accepted as about 10 hours per day which happens as spring progresses, triggering those hens who did take the winter off (not all do) to start laying again.

 

[Spitterkat]

Perfect answer, thank you. I have about 130 brown shavers, 50 went through winter without lighting and the others i want to take off lights (obviously not too early as i dont want to bugger up their production)

 

[Spitterkat]

And generally, when do you start lighting? (I set the timer for 14 hours throughout the winter, which worked fine, but natural light production drops below 14 hours almost mid - late summer! so is this when you would normally start?)

 

[aart]

Lighting should be ramped up(and down) slowly as an abrupt change can have undesired results.

Some folks start ramping up as the days get close to 14-16 hours,
other allow for the molt to happen and ramp up lighting later in the year after the molt.