will chickens lay before winter?

[juniper rain]

We are new to raising chickens. We have 5 roosters and 3 hens. Lavendar orpintons, barnevelders, australorpes, and black orpingtons. They are approximately 6 months now. I live in upstate/central new york, so winters come quick. The time that I believe that they should start laying, is the same time that fall and winter arrive. Will I see any eggs, or will we not see many until the spring? Also, we got our chickens unsexed. That's how we ended up with so many roosters. Are we in trouble with that ratio? We plan on trying to find homes for 4 or them. (Lots of Amish in the area) TIA!

 

[iwiw60]

We are new to raising chickens. We have 5 roosters and 3 hens. Lavendar orpintons, barnevelders, australorpes, and black orpingtons. They are approximately 6 months now. I live in upstate/central new york, so winters come quick. The time that I believe that they should start laying, is the same time that fall and winter arrive. Will I see any eggs, or will we not see many until the spring? Also, we got our chickens unsexed. That's how we ended up with so many roosters. Are we in trouble with that ratio? We plan on trying to find homes for 4 or them. (Lots of Amish in the area) TIA!

Did you say 5 roosters and 3 hens????? Holy moley!!! That is way too many roosters for so few hens!! You should only have 1 rooster for 3 hens. Sorry, I was just so shocked when I saw the numbers!

As for laying, are your girls doing the "submissive squat" when you pet them on their backs? That is a sure sign they are getting really close. And yes, I would think they will start laying before winter sets in. But winter will slow them down somewhat, at least it does for me.

Wishing you the best of luck....but please! Trim down your rooster count ASAP!!

 

[juniper rain]

Yeah...I knew we had too many roosters. They are still pretty mellow and friendly to us and each other, so I thought we had some time. We really need to adress that soon. Thanks for the response!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’ve had pullets start to lay at 16 weeks, though that is really rare. I’ve had pullets start to lay at 9 months, again really rare to wait that long, but those started to lay the first week of December and I do not supplement lights in winter to get them to lay. From my experience they will lay when they lay.

There are tendencies but with only three averages and tendencies don’t mean a lot. You have to have enough for the law of averages to work itself out. Still at 6 months this time of year I’d think your odds of them starting to lay fairly soon are pretty good. And if they do start they are likely to lay fairly well through the first winter.

I always suggest you keep as few roosters as you can and still meet your goals. It’s not that you are absolutely guaranteed to have problems with more roosters, just more likely. I don’t know what your goals or circumstances are but I would not even think about 5 cockerels and 3 pullets. The odds are just not in your favor at all.

 

[juniper rain]

We didn't have any intention of having so many roosters. We got our chicks unsexed from a local 4H sale, and this is what we ended up with. Odds were NOT in our favor. Now we just have to addrest the situation. I certainly had hoped things would have turned out differently. Thanks again for the input! Much appreciated.