Typically, most hens will start to lay eggs between 4 to 6 months of age. The time span can vary dramatically depending on the weather, temperature and time of year. If your hens reach this age during the colder months then it is not unusual for them to wait until the following Spring to begin laying eggs. It is important to just be patient and wait for the hens to lay their eggs in their own time. There is no way of speeding up the process so it is best to let is occur naturally.
Once your hen does begin to lay eggs you can expect an average of 2 eggs a day per 3 hens. This means that if you want to collect a dozen eggs a day, you will need to have 18 hens that are ready to lay. It is possible to tell what colour your hens’ eggs will be by checking the colour of her earlobes. A white lobed hen will lay white eggs while a red lobed hen will lay brown eggs. Easter Egger, Ameraucana and Araucuna breeds are the exception to this rule. They will lay eggs that range in colour from khaki green to sky blue, they can even be pink tinted or lavender. These hens usually have red earlobes so it is not possible to detect the colour this way. Hens can lay normal eggs of Bantam eggs. Nutritionally there is no difference between the two, the Bantam egg is simply smaller. Chickens can lay eggs into their teens, but it is quite common for them to stop earlier. This is another factor that can vary dramatically, so do not worry if your hens do not fit the ‘typical’ pattern. Some hens may lay eggs with no shells. This is not something to be concerned about unless they are showing other signs of illness. It may just be a sign that your hen does not have enough calcium in her diet.
One of my barred rocks just started to lay and its around 18 weeks old. One way you can get an idea when they might lay is when their thighs become bigger and their combs are bigger and red. Their thighs will stick out from their body unlike a younger pullet that will have a consistent width that flows with the rest of it body. When this happens they are maturing and will soon lay.
A hen's egg laying is influenced by her general physical wellbeing which in turn is highly influenced by diet and the conditions in which she is kept. But the seasons are also highly relevant and it has been shown that it is light levels rather than temperatures which influence a hen's productivity. A hen lays eggs to a typical cycle of one egg about every 25 hours but she will not lay eggs when it is dark. Therefore in the summer months, typified by long days, the cycle equates to one egg a day for about 12 to 15 days followed by a rest day because darkness falls before the 25 hour cycle is up. However, when the days are shorter with lower light levels throughout there are more and more "no egg" days. Contrary to common belief a cockerel is not necessary to stimulate egg production but vital, of course, if you want fertilised eggs.
Your chickens should start to lay between 4 & 6 months, depending on the breed. Your Rhode Island reds can start as early as 4 months. The rest will probably start between 5 & 6 months.
How old are your chickens? Usually they will lay around five to six months of age. The game chickens might start before that. Make sure they are hens! Sometimes its hard to tell until your roosters go to crowing. Its real important to make sure your chickens have a good quality laying feed. The proteins in the feed help to ensure good egg laying.
Chickens can sometimes take ages to lay if their combs are bright red and well established then thats a good sign they are close to laying also are you feeding them plenty you need to give them a lot of good quality food and water to make good layers unlike cats and dogs you can't really over feed them so give them heaps we were surprised how much chickens will eat. We bought 25 point of lay chickens it took a couple of weeks before we got 1 egg now its been a few months and we get 10 to 15 eggs a day oh and hopefully you were sold chickens not roosters if so take them back for a refund or exchange and finally chickens molt like cats and dogs and when they do they don't lay eggs for a couple of weeks
Depending on the conditions of the area where the chickens are, anything that may cause the chickens to be uncomfortable may cause them not to lay. One of may chickens just started to lay and its around 4 months old and as soon as I got rid of my meat birds she began to lay.
Just noticed you were feeding layer pellets to your chooks. I was informed by our local produce store that you shouldn't feed layer pellets to young growing chooks as it can do some internal damage but to feed them grower pellets until grown and ready to lay about six months and then give them layer pellets. Hope you have happy chooks and lots of eggs.
Some people have reported that pastured chicks start laying as early as 16-weeks. I hope my April chicks will lay by labor day. The standard estimates are 24-weeks. Heavy breeds are slowest.
Layer pellets are fine because your chickens are old enough to lay if you put a china egg in there that should in courage them to lay if you give them artificial lite that pretty much forces them to lay so I wouldn't suggest doing that good luck
Don't worry they WILL start laying but I have found in the past that the time that they actually DO start laying and the time the breeders say they Should start laying varies a lot. My last lot of "girls" were supposedly 16 weeks but I had to wait another 12 -14 weeks before I started getting eggs from them. Some indication to their readiness for laying eggs is their comb. If it is still pinky they are not ready to start laying when it starts to turn deeper red they are getting to the age they will start laying.
You will probably find an egg when you least expect it. Have you set them up laying baskets? Put a golf ball in the basket to help give them the idea of where you want them to lay their eggs. If your chickens free range, they may already be laying outside the chicken house.
