When will my chickens lay eggs?
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chickens | 661 comments
Even though I know that egg laying is unpredictable at this time of year, it’s always a bit disappointing when I lift the lid of the nesting box and there’s only one. An egg from Carol. She is firing on all cylinders now and producing one egg a day, the maximum that a domestic hen can produce.
“What’s going on with the other four chickens?” I think as I stump back through the garden in my dressing gown and wellies.
The other four chickens are elderly maidens, well into their third year. I know that after two years egg production diminishes but somehow I hoped that the organic food and beautiful adornments in the pen might make a difference. Of course they don’t. As the years roll by, the chickens will produce fewer and fewer eggs until they go to that great pecking ground in the sky.
The pretty white bantams, have never been very obliging on the egg laying front. In their prime, they probably only laid two or three eggs a week. They are not a laying strain and we knew this when we bought them. But we have discovered that they are very photogenic and are happy to model endlessly.
I’ve been checking the hen’s combs. A pink comb indicates that a chicken is going broody, and will not lay. They are all a bright vibrant red, including Mrs Boss (this chicken won The Broodiest of all Known Chickens Award 2004, 2005 and 2006).
So you can imagine my delight when I lifted the roof of the nesting box this morning and found two small eggs nestling beside Carol’s large speckled brown one. I sprang back to the kitchen to make the perfect breakfast omelette.
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Hi can u please tell why my light Sussex are not laying eggs, they are now 30 weeks old.
Thanks warwick
Hi Warwick
They might be old enough to lay but in the winter months there’s a strong possibility that they will not. The short hours in the day affects their laying pattern. That’s why battery hens in the olden days had to cope with bright artificial lights 24/7 to tempt them into laying.
The days are getting longer now in the UK so hopefully we both will soon get eggs from our flocks!
hi i brought 4 hens four weeks ago but they are not laying do you have any tips? thanks gary
I bought a sussex two weeks ago. She was point of lay but no eggs yet
Hi Mari T
Chickens need a bit of time to settle down before they lay after a move.
I have recently adopted 3 ex bats, they have settled in really nicely and are enjoying there new free range life style and we are averaging about one egg a day which we are more than happy with as we just wanted to give them a nice life, the eggs are a bonus! However some of the eggs have hard lumps in them, almost like little embryos even though we have no rooster to fertilise and we usually cook on day of lay, could someone let me know what these are please?? 🙂
Hi Suzie
I’m sorry but I don’t know the answer to this 🙁 Doesn’t sound right to me. Might be worth going onto the big chicken forums.
Hi,
I have a Chinese Silkie who was broody and sitting on 5 eggs. 2 hatched on the same day, and then she stopped being really broody and sitting on the eggs for most of the day, although she does spend a lot of time still on her nest with the chicks and eggs. I often find one egg kicked out of the nest and very cold. I place it back in her nest and it stays there for a while.
I am worried the other eggs aren’t going to hatch as they aren’t receiving the same attention the first 2 got. Is there anything I can do (that doesn’t inlclude buying an incubator)? Can I use a heat lamp and heat bed for the eggs? Should I just leave them with mum to see if they hatch naturally? They have no odour.
Thanks
Alicia
I have 2 x 30 week old Buff hens, a 25 week old black rock cross, and 2 polish black bantums … there is also a second black rock cross – but she… is a He … anyhow …
they are free to roam around in a yard or about 25 x 25 feet …. they forage, they have eaten every speck of green there is, they get given layers pellet, corn and salad / veg scraps …. and as yet I am to get a single egg from them … veryone else locally is getting eggs now – even just one or 2 … including my friend whos birds are nest mates to mine …and hers are in a fenced in coop …. I dont know what I am doing wrong 🙁
Laying hens need protein. The laying pellets should be 16% and the main stay of their diet if they are not free range. Rangeing they eat bugs and get the protein but lay the eggs all over. You have no idea how long they have been there. Sometimes you will find a nest full. Some breeds are brooders some never want to sit. Potatoes are not good for chickens. New chicks need to be able to see the others but separated or they will be killed. Birds are cannabalistic and eat the weak ones. I use fake eggs in the nesting boxes and most of the eggs get laid in those boxes. Most good layers lay early in the day but they can lay anytime they want.Protein is essential to prevent pecking and feather pulling. Blood is high in protein. Egg pecking is also from lack of protein. Hope this helps. I have 60 hens and 2 happy roosters. They live in a fenced, sides and top, area 40ft x 40ft. Free range=lost eggs and lost chickens to predators. Susie in Florida USA
Can anyone help????
I have just started keeping chickens and i want to know what time of the day my chickens will lay there eggs i have 2 light sussex ( 16 weeks ) and a seabright 10 months and a silkie 10 month?
Liz, I’d introduce new hens slowly. Perhaps but two runs next to each other to start with if you use runs.
Chickens can be a bit fussy when it comes to food. You may find that they only eat certain foods when they are laying. They seem to ‘know’ what they need.
And why don’t my girls like salad greens as everyone seems to think? They ate all of my strawberry plants and peices of cucumber, but don’t like the soft lettuce I throw next to it. What’s with that?