When will my chickens start laying?

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

I have a ~20 wk old silkie hen and I need to know if she'll start laying soon. I got her in April of this year so it might be more than 20 or less. I would like to know if she's supposed to be laying and if it's a problem that she isn't. Google says that it might take up to a year, but you guys seem to know more than Google does. She's always in the coop sitting down, but she hasn't laid a single egg! It's worrying me, she might be broody or something might be wrong with her vent. Please help! Any answers will be accepted!

 

[citymeetscountry]

I wouldn’t worry yet. This is my first experience with silkies but I believe I read 6-9 months to lay an egg, even upwards a year. A lot of other breeds can be 20 weeks but closer to 22+. I equate to a watched pot never boils. The more I anticipate the longer it will take.

ETA: my leghorns, barred rock, and also my ducks were 5-6 months when they started laying

 

[NatJ]

I have a ~20 wk old silkie hen and I need to know if she'll start laying soon. I got her in April of this year so it might be more than 20 or less. I would like to know if she's supposed to be laying and if it's a problem that she isn't.

If this is fall, and the days are getting shorter, she might wait until the days get long again in the spring. Some pullets do that.

Some other pullets start laying in the fall, even though the days are getting shorter.

Both of those patterns can be normal and healthy, with no reason to worry either way.

She's always in the coop sitting down, but she hasn't laid a single egg! It's worrying me, she might be broody or something might be wrong with her vent.

I do not know why she is doing that. It might just be something chickens do to make their owners worry.

I think she is probably not broody, although I can't be perfectly sure. Pullets usually lay at least a few eggs before they go broody. You can try putting an egg near her (real or fake, doesn't matter), and see how she acts. Broody hens will usually tuck the egg underneath themselves and sit on it. Hens that are getting ready to lay an egg will usually do that too. But pullets who are nowhere close to laying will probably not act the same way-- they may try to eat the egg, or go away from it, or completely ignore it.

She might be hiding from something (rain? wind? a predator or something else scary? a rooster that keeps trying to mate with her?)

Or she might have some physical problem. You can check some things pretty easily. For example, has she been eating and drinking normally? If you take her out of the coop and put her on the ground, does she walk and act normally? If her appetite is normal, and she moves around normally, and her droppings are normal, that rules out many kinds of physical problems, so there is less reason to worry.

You might weigh her, and keep a record of the information (weight and date). Then you can weigh her again in a week or two and compare the numbers. Losing weight is a bad sign, maintaining the same weight is fine at her age, and gaining weight might also be fine.

 

[Fluffy_Moth_With_Silkies]

I think she is probably not broody, although I can't be perfectly sure. Pullets usually lay at least a few eggs before they go broody. You can try putting an egg near her (real or fake, doesn't matter), and see how she acts. Broody hens will usually tuck the egg underneath themselves and sit on it. Hens that are getting ready to lay an egg will usually do that too. But pullets who are nowhere close to laying will probably not act the same way-- they may try to eat the egg, or go away from it, or completely ignore it.

She might be hiding from something (rain? wind? a predator or something else scary? a rooster that keeps trying to mate with her?)

So I have put an egg in, and she leaves it alone, but I think she's hiding from our rooster, who keeps trying to mate with her.

 

[NatJ]

So I have put an egg in, and she leaves it alone, but I think she's hiding from our rooster, who keeps trying to mate with her.

In that case, you may need to separate them. Hiding all the time is not good for her, and she might not get enough to eat or drink while she is hiding.