Why do my hens only lay in the morning?

[JaceTx]

I have 7 that are laying now and it seems like by 1 or 2 in the afternoon they are finished. It doesn't get dark until about 6:30. Is this normal?

I live in Central Texas and it has been mostly nice weather lately.

 

[Country Guy John]

Yes, this tends to be normal behavior. In most cases, My hens are finished laying by 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

 

[PortageGirl]

Yep, pretty much!

 

[vermontgal]

My pullets lay a couple hours later each day. If one gal lays in the early AM, before I get up for a couple days, then the next day she might lay around the time I go out to check for eggs and give them water (~8 am), and the next day she won't lay until mid morning ~10 am, and then it's not until noon, and then next day around 2 pm, the next day around 4 pm -- and then she seems to hold that next days 6 pm egg until sometime early in the AM of the following day.

The cycle then repeats. Most people say that chickens lay every approx 26 hr, and I would agree with that based on my observations (egg diary) of my 4 chickens.

I know who lays which egg, based on observation of who is in the nest box. They lay radically different eggs, so I can tell them apart!

 

[jnjross]

i got one crazy who lays around 6-7pm

 

[JennsPeeps]

Mine are one 25-27 hour cycles, which means that they gradually lay later & later in the day until they skil a day all together. They they start early in the morning... little later each day for 5-7 days, then skip a day.

Rinse, later, repeat indefinitely.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

My current flock hasn't started laying yet, but our previous flock was always done by 1 or 2, which made egg finding very easy. I kept them penned until around 2 p.m. and then they were able to free-range the rest of the day without me worrying about where they were going to lay their eggs. When they were free-ranging all day and had first started laying, I hadn't realized they were laying until I found a huge pile of eggs in the doghouse (igloo type). I then searched until I found another pile hidden away. I hope this new flock lays early also.

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. For the most part mine lay in the mornings. Once I did have one of my girls lay in the morning and again in the evening. I know this because I had one more egg than layers so one of them had to lay twice in one day.

 

[Mahonri]

I usually have one or two that wait until about 3 or 4 PM to lay.... Most are done by 2PM