When Do Hens Start Laying?/Share Your Laying Experiences

[miksmity]

My polish r extremely clumsy!

 

[BobbieJo81]

Sorry to be a bother, but are you able to maybe tell the genders? Doesn't have to be spot on. Just what you think they are from the photos.

Thanks.

I think your middle one looks a little roo'ish to me.. Most of my flock is made up of Silkies, Norwegian Jaerhons and Gold Laced Polish but my daughter does have a few 'production reds' that we bought for her 4H project and your girls** have the same body type as hers, only much lighter in color..Goood luck with all of them..heres hoping that you have 3 pullets-- I bought 18 Silkies last spring ad they are almost impossible to sex until they are 4-6 months old..I ended up with 2 hens and 16 roos so I understand your hope for all girls..

 

[DHAllen0425]

I am a new daddy to chickens. I have 3 Buff Orpingtons, and 3 Buff Colombian Brahmas. I got them at a local Tractor Supply at the end of Feb. I believe it was the 26th. I finished their coop and run towards the end of April. Now I am playing the waiting game. It's torture! When will my girls lay? Will they lay before the end of summer? I dont know how old they were when the arrived at Tractor supply, but Ive had them for about two months, and I know it takes longer for different breeds. Just anxious to get my first egg.
And My orps are my girls. SUPER friendly. but the Brahmas are kind of skittish. afraid to be held.when they were chicks I made it a point to hold each one every day I could so they would be used to human touch. but the Brahmas scream "bloody murder" when they get picked up. are they still young enough to tame? Any advise?

 

[hamnermitch]

Be Patient!!! My Australorps are 20 weeks old and I just started getting eggs from just one of them. Sometimes she lays one every day and sometimes she skips a day. It seems like the wait for that first egg takes forever. My chicks were very skittish but are mellowing out as they get older and get used to you. It may sound silly but I talk to mine and kneel done with them in the run. Getting down on their level helps! Have fun with them!

 

[nate1the1great1]

Are thy silkies or cochins

 

[273816]

The earliest one chicken laid her first egg was at 17 weeks. I have another who didn't start laying until she was a year old. But the other commenters are right. If it gets cold and they haven't laid yet, they will wait till the spring. There are very few times I have run through the yard screaming... The first was when my chicken Henrietta laid her egg at 17 weeks and the second was just a week ago when my broody hen hatched her first chick. In the past I had raised mine by hand but Eugenia kept going broody so I put 12 eggs under her and 9 hatched. Teenwithchicks, your babies are cute!!!

Thanks for the story. I've heard some lay at mostly twenty weeks, so for them to lay at seventeen weeks seems pretty early. And thanks, they're my little babies. I love them to bits.

 

[273816]

Congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of chickens! 18-20 weeks, but it does depend on the breed. Production breeds tend to start on the earlier side. My Barred Rocks started at 22 weeks, while my Ameracauna took longer. My Speckled Sussex took 8 months! You will know when they are ready …. some tell-tale signs include the "submissive squat." Enjoy your girls.

Thanks for the kind welcome, and the helpful advice. Once they get a bit older, I'll have to look out for the "submissive squat".

 

[273816]

Oh they are so cute! I have one little chick that looks a lot like Beatrice. I am curious what breed she is also.

Beatrice is getting very beautiful and turning very golden-orange. I'm surprised how quickly she went from being mostly a soft-yellow to almost red in barely a week. Keep me updated on your chicks. How old are they?

 

[273816]

I think your middle one looks a little roo'ish to me.. Most of my flock is made up of Silkies, Norwegian Jaerhons and Gold Laced Polish but my daughter does have a few 'production reds' that we bought for her 4H project and your girls** have the same body type as hers, only much lighter in color..Goood luck with all of them..heres hoping that you have 3 pullets-- I bought 18 Silkies last spring ad they are almost impossible to sex until they are 4-6 months old..I ended up with 2 hens and 16 roos so I understand your hope for all girls..

Wow, that's extremely unlucky. 16 roosters is a lot. Did you keep them all? That'd be extremely hard to handle, I can imagine. I won't, unfortunately, be able to keep a roo if one turns out to be one.

 

[bruceha2000]

Rachel. Always nice to have people from the far opposite side of the planet! And down there you have the ORIGINAL Black Australorps

As many have said, when they lay depends on, well everything. Expect NOTHING until 16 weeks at the VERY earliest. 20 to 24 is most common. The percentage I show below is the percentage of days a bird has laid since laying it's first egg including "time off" for moult and lack of winter sun.
- The first of mine to lay was a Faverolles at 19 weeks. Laid 3 eggs in 9 days then not another for 3 more weeks. The other Faverolles laid her first egg at 23 weeks but was steady from that time on. These 2 girls go broody A LOT and have only 32% and 44% laying percentage.
- The 2 Anconas started at 21 weeks, steady from the start. Have never gone broody but took off a LONG time after moult and have laid ~47%.
- The 2 Cubalayas at 21 and 22 weeks, also steady until moult, though SMALL eggs! They were peewees for months, but given the birds are 2/3 the size of regular LF, not surprising. Though, after moulting last fall and starting to lay again in late February, they are laying at the mid to upper end of USDA small, same as the Faverolles and Chantecler. They are more "yard art" than layers and have laid 20% and 28%. Same issue with LONG time off for moult and winter lack of sun.
- One Black Australorp at 22 weeks. She is Super Echo.

She has laid 61%. She didn't moult until near the end of January and only took off 2 months. Most of the girls that moulted in the fall just went into "less light, no lay" winter mode. The other BA didn't start until she was 33 weeks. She has also always been larger than Echo. She was doing SUPER well until she moulted in September and didn't start again until mid February with the exception of 4 eggs in 12 days mid November. But she is cranking them out now. And she lays BIG eggs. Never smaller than mid range USAD Large (58g to 64g), usually USDA XL and frequently larger, the biggest was 104g. The big ones are always double yolks.
- The first Easter Egger started at 22 weeks, the other not until 30 weeks. But the second has been my second best layer at 58%.
- One Partridge Chantecler started at 22 weeks, the other not until after the second B.A. at 34 weeks. But, if she didn't have a habit of going broody, she would be way up there. Even with having to be broken (no rooster, no fertilized eggs) several times and many weeks off each time, plus moult, she is at 54%, laying 5 or 6 eggs a week, usually 48 to 50 grams so not quite USDA medium. AND she laid right through the winter, none of the other birds did.

With regard to knowing when they are getting close to laying:
Their comb will start to get red. CLEARLY very red, not just a little darker pink. About 2 weeks after that they will probably squat. All you have to do is pass your hand a few inches (cms in Oz

) over their back and they will go down and flatten out as if something was actually forcing them down. Really funny. Sometimes they will squat if you even move toward them.

Bruce