White Leghorns & Laying....

[Bleenie]

I got a new girl a few weeks ago and i THINK she's a WLH & a young one too, so.... Around what age do White Leghorns usually start laying? I have had a few in the past but it was quite a while back but for the life of me I just cannot remember their age when they first started laying!

 

[Judy]

Like most chickens, they usually start somewhere around 20 weeks.

 

[Sunshine Chick 1]

My two started right at 20 weeks and lay large white eggs.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

18-20 weeks. They're usually just a tad earlier than the larger dual-purpose breeds in my experience.

 

[BWKatz]

Serendipity! I was just getting over being disappointed that my EE wasn't going to layfor at least another 8 wks and decided to check forum to see if it was same for WLH. And here was my question.Yeah! I went ahead & put a nestbox in their pen yesterday with an Easter egg. She was going in and out of it checking it out when the others didn't seem that interested, so I was hoping she was due. Just another advantage of having several different breeds.

 

[HHandbasket]

My white leghorn was my first one to lay. Now, I have read anecdotal stories on here of white leghorns laying at 15-16 weeks, usually around 17-18 weeks for them, though. Mine was 21 weeks when she dropped that first egg, but I got my birds from questionable people (didn't realize it at the time) and NONE of my birds is on schedule as far as age/development goes. Three of my flock girls are 26 weeks & one is 30 weeks, and none of them are laying! The three that are 26 weeks don't even have combs and wattles yet, but by all accounts SHOULD already be laying! My 30-week-old EE has been squatting and singing the egg song for almost TWO SOLID WEEKS, and still nuttin'. So the "when do they start laying?" question is a completely loaded one.

Ask 5 chickenkeepers that same question and get at least 8 different answers. LOL.

 

[BWKatz]

I also realize that egg laying is deferred right now due to molting and decreased lighting. But I'm still hoping soon!