When do hens start laying

The most important change to make when chickens lay their first egg is chicken feed. From day 1 through week 17, feed chicks and pullets a complete starter-grower feed with higher protein and lower calcium. Backyard Poultry. Nutritionist, Companion Animal Technical Solutions. To help hens lay strong and stay strong, provide them with these necessities: Prepare chicken nesting boxes in the chicken coop.

Consider chicken coop light. Switch to a complete chicken layer feed. This change may even jumpstart egg production. The earliest you should transition to a layer feed would be around 16 weeks of age.

Do this if you are combining a flock of new hens with an older flock in the same coop. Chicken layer feed should include 16 percent protein and 3. Calcium is a key nutrient when it comes to the egg-laying process. Hens that lack proper calcium levels typically produce soft or brittle eggshells. Sometimes an improper calcium balance can cause hens to pull calcium from their bones to produce eggshells, weakening their overall skeletal structure. Eggshells take roughly 20 hours to form, so hens need a steady supply of calcium in their layer feed.

Related Education Content. How Do Chickens Lay Eggs? Product Search: go. Help Me! OR: Search by Category. See Also: What are the signs that a hen will start laying? Do I need to give my hens oyster shell or supplemental calcium? When will my chickens begin laying again in the spring?

Why do my hens stop or almost stop laying in the late fall and winter months? If it's the latter, a rooster is not needed, unless you just want one! A rooster will warn of predators but many folks who raise hens have a safe enclosure so that predators are already deterred. There is at least one other for getting a rooster. When I bought my current flock of laying hens 8 of them , it wasn't long before they were little more than clucking targets.

A family of hawks dive-bombed the, an opossum killed one, local dogs and cats stopped by for a free chicken dinner. It wasn't pretty. The little dude made the hens his within 24 hours. He acts like a LA gang-member. He took on the biggest hawk the first day. No more hawks.

He took on two big dogs and a medium size cat within two weeks. They packed up and left too. There were two additional benefits: this year we they hatched our first chicks and I did nothing. Mama and Rudy handled it all. Chicks are doing fine. The second benefit was that the various dogs and woodland creatures that were always tipping over my trash cans finally had to go out, get a real job and make an honest living.

Go Rudy! I grew up with the chopping block and axe but was somewhat uncomfortable with it myself. We used "gentle" killing of our ducks so I decided to try the method with chickens - works great. Kneeling, place the body of the calmed chicken between your legs. Bring the neck forward long and straight.

Dig the fingers of one hand into the neck just below the head and hold the head and neck firmly. Taking a sharp knife - I used a hunting knife - draw it firmly across the neck from below. One good cut will do it; if you have to do a second it is usually merely to cut the vertebral column.

We hang them in the trees until they have bled out but that wouldn't be necessary as most of the bleeding occurs very quickly. Lay a steel bar across their neck right behind their head, step on both sides of the bar and pull their legs.

The chickens head will come right off. We butchard hundreds of chickens this way growing up. Keep a turkey fryer with boiling water handy to dip them in before pulling the feathers.

Keep your freezers full. She may not be ready to lay eggs yet, they start at their own pace. Every hen is different, just as every person is different. There are many factors that come into play. She may not feel comfortable enough with you or the area she has to lay them. Many hens will not lay if they feel scared. The amount of day light may not be long enough. She may not be getting enough of something, malnourished.

Or it could just be that she has one and cannot push it out. If that is the case. She may just absorb the egg back into her body and recycle it.

She could be sterile, meaning that she cannot make eggs, it happens to a lot of animals. Of course there is the possibility that she is laying somewhere else, hiding them. Herself or other hens could be eating them. I say just wait and see what happens. Calm down. It's just like human puberty, everyone starts at their own pace.

Some won't start laying until they are a year old. Others start at 5 months. Give it time. Until then, hold her. Get her used to you. Spend some time with her. Feed her from your hand every once in a while, to make sure she has enough. You should pick them up and hold them, almost daily, until they are about 10 weeks old.

Then weekly after that, so they stay used to you. Please I need help. I have 60 broiler parent stock which they are 8month old. Check if they are getting enough water--too little can cause the birds to stop laying. Is the water frozen? Also, make sure that the birds are getting a balanced diet, about 16 to percent protein. Make sure the feed also has enough calcium.

Are they molting? If so, that may be a sign that their bodies are just resting and recharging for another round of egg laying. Good layers will sometimes lay for about 50 or 60 weeks and then go through a rest period. As daylight hours decrease, egg laying is sometimes affected; hens need about 14 hours of daylight to lay eggs. If daylight is below that usually October through February , providing a little extra artificial light for those lost hours, might help.

One Cooperative Extension site recommends adding one watt light per feet of coop; turn the lights on in the morning for those added hours, so that the birds can roost at sunset. Stress also can cause a hen to stop laying--are there any predators or other things about that might scare them?

New routines? Changes in environment has their area become damp or chill, or too hot? Age and diseases may also affect laying. I have 8 hens: 1 3-y. Langshan, 1 2-y. Cuckoo Marans, 2 1-y. Ameraucanas, 2 1-y. Barnevelders, and 2 m. Black Copper Marans. The Langshan hasn't consistently laid eggs since her first winter and she hasn't laid any eggs since this last spring.

I fully expected the others to stop laying when going through molt, but not the new young, Black Copper Marans. I expected them to start laying in July, which they did, and keep laying through the winter. No dice. What happened to the Langshan and the Cuckoo Marans? Why are they no longer laying eggs? Why did the BCMs stop laying so soon?

They are in a very large pen 30x90 and they also get rotated into other areas in my yard with netting 50x They get grass, bugs, table scraps only fresh and what they like , and organic feed.

I rarely find eggs in odd places. A fox came through 5 weeks ago and grabbed one of the Ameraucanas, but I scared him off and saved the hen. She was already molting when she went on antibiotics. I did not expect her to lay again until the new year. She is back to laying and I can't use her eggs because of the antibiotics.

Hi I live in Oak Point, Manitoba. I was wondering if there is a way to find out if we are allowed to have chickens, and what guidelines we need to follow. Any help is appreciated. I am a newer chicken owner. We currently have 29 hens of mixed breeds that are about 18 mos old now we got them as chicks. It's been a bit alarming as we thought we had another 6 months of good egg laying yet from our ladies. They all act healthy, lively and are eating good - both garden scraps and layer feed.

I haven't seen a ton of feathers lately, but did notice some molting earlier this summer. They have a large run, that is shaded with free access to water and I even have grass growing in boxes for them to get access to fresh grass when they want to, as well. No bug infestation, snakes, etc that we can find to cause stress. I do suspect that my Golden Laced Wyandottes are fighting as they're missing feathers along their heads they actually look like Turkens!!

Would that be enough to stress the whole flock though? Your chickens are probably molting loosing their old feathers and growing new while in their molt all the energy that normally goes into egg production goes into new feathers.

They will start laying within weeks, depending on the breed and age of the chicken. Do chickens stop laying when the nest get full? We were on vacation for two weeks and returned to 3 full nests. We have not gotten any new eggs since we returned. Did your chickens start laying again, and if so, how long did it take for the laying to restart? I have 2 hens. Returning from a two weeks holiday we had 27 eggs, just 1 short of normal.

Apart from the day after we got back, one of my chickens is not laying. It has now been a week since we got back. Are chickens still good to eat at 3yr old.

They are black sex links which are good for laying and eating. So are they still good to butcher and sell? My girls laid all winter long! They come when i call and love the fresh sprouts i give them once a week! Why do all of my chickens want to lay in the same box? We have enough boxes for all of them but they all want in one box?

I have a chicken question that I couldn't find anywhere online. We live in Northern Idaho and the days get short quick in the late fall and winter.

We have done pretty good in keeping our chickens laying, as we had a heat lamp and light in the coop. But a couple of weeks ago we lost our electricity to our coop. The egg production dropped off rapidly. They were out of the extended light for a couple of weeks almost. But we did get everything hooked up again. But it has been 10 days and still no eggs. Will we get more eggs this winter do you think or is it a lost cause until the spring?

Happy New Years to all and I just joined today. As other members have posted my 6 hens only produce 1 or 2 eggs a day. They went through molting about 2 months ago and I live in central PA; getting colder of course but have good size pen and protection from cold. I feed them mash, corn, and provide grit; always plenty of water. Should I try a different food?

I give them some scraps but not a lot. I keep straw in their nests and they like some around the ground area. Any suggestions are most appreciated. They are nice pets but I'm still buying eggs!

When I was a boy, I had chickens for a 4H project. She put them in a pot of water and warmed it up. I took it out to the chicken house and placed it in the middle of the pen.

Bingo, they started laying again I continued this for the duration of the cold weather. Please keep all comments on topic, folks, or they will be deleted. And many thanks to the members of our community who have helped answer questions on this page! I recently got my hands on six Rhode Island reds, The previous owner said they would lay about a day, and at first they did. Well now they have completely stopped laying all together!

I went to feed them earlier today and they didn't even want to eat! Im worried, I live in louisiana. Could it be the heat? But they have also lived in louisiana there whole lives. Could it be the move? But they were laying after the move! I need help!! Hi we live in Florida and have several golden comets. They molted a few months ago and a few of them are not regaining their feathers.

The skin color is pink on the back and a bright red on their bottoms. Is there anything we can do to help with this process. As far as I can tell they are still laying with no problems. When we recently moved I adopted two bantam hens, coop and all. They are about 5 years old. They had been using nothing but straw for their coop and nesting area all their lives. The urban farm store around here convinced me to try special, non-dusty pine shavings made specially for hens.

I cleaned the coop thoroughly and replaced all the straw with the shavings. They are extremely suspicious of the new digs.

They don't even want to go in there. Any suggestions? Yeah, give them back their straw. Store owners make their money selling stuff that most of our animals don't need, don't want and won't use. Straw can get moldy when wet and mites seem to like it because it has hollow stalks. Hay is better, however they will get used to the shavings.

Try putting down some treats with the shavings, like dried mealworms. I think mine would walk through fire to get them! I have an old bantam we got from rescue. It was in fairly bad state but is so much better now. We are almost certain we have seen it lay eggs.

I say it as it is now crowing and have not had any eggs for month any where near it. Any ideas. Hen or cockerel. You can remove her from the nest holding her for awhile away from the nesting box this I heard works some time she will complain when u remove her she is in a brooding mode I do asume you have no rooster so removing her might work or put her so she can not get back in the nest go to backyardchicken. My dad told me that when they had a broody hen, they would dunk her in cold water.

He said sometimes they had to do it twice, but it always broke their broodiness. She has gone broody. Usually the hen will lay on other chickens eggs. Her system shuts down and she stops laying and prepares for hatching babies. If you keep taking the eggs usually they'll stop this after awhile or you can isolate them so there won't be eggs to lay on and she should snap out of it sooner.

Some hens are more broody then others mine I just let them go through it and remove the eggs. If you do let her sit on them and you have a rooster she may hatch you some chicks. Only clip one wing so their flight will be off balance.

If the ends of the feathers are black, that is what you want to clip off. They will grow back when the birds molten but not before unless they lose a feather for some other reason. My broody hen sat on 11 eggs for 21 days and only one chick hatched out. She continued to sit for two more days On the third day she pecked one egg open and there was a fully formed chick inside but it was not alive. The remaining eggs feel heavy so expect they also have chicks.

Why are they not hatching? Any help would be appreciated. I have a 3 year old roadisland red that wants to go to the nesting box, but no egg, i have checked and she is not egg bound, could she just be at the end of her laying cycle at 3?

Hello Elizabeth, I have 3 Barred Rocks hens that are just over one year old. They all started laying at 6. As the length of day decreased, I supplemented with artificial light on a timer, and they kept laying. Then in December one pullet stopped laying. Her eggs always had a slight blood smear on the shell.

She has not laid an egg since then and has gotten fat. Here it is May, she's a full-grown hen, and a nonlayer. Do you think she will ever lay again? Or, is she destined for the stewpot?

Please advise, and thank you. My 6 month old hens suddenly stopped producing. I have 4 production reds. I was getting everyday.

The last week I am getting Days are getting longer not shorter. I have 1 leghorn 2 sexlinks 1 barred rock. Every night i take all the left overs from the day, I call them they come running they go in the run and wait for the food they also get chicken feed. I also heard cat food has alot of protein so they eat the cat food. They will produce again be patient. I have 4 hens a year old and get eggs everyday they are free range but they have wondered to far lately so i bought a dog run and put the coop in the run across the yard away from the pourch and kept them in the run for a week letting them out in short sperts thinking they will stay home.

Now I get eggs. Did I blow it by moving the coop.. Are they unhappy now. Is it possible that they are laying their eggs somewhere other than their Coop? Assuming their coop allows plenty of space, we would suggest that you only let them out in the early afternoon for a couple weeks. Then, do not let them out until 10 am or so--as chickens usually lay early in the day once they get established. Sense the last time i wrote. My girls have started laying again. I spoin my chickens i also give them table scrapes being careful not to give them spicy foods..

They love cooked rice. They run to me when i come outside. I may one day get more, I heard they will pick on chicks or new chickens so I guess i will wait. I live in North Florida, which is beginning to feel - temperature wise - like living in Central Florida. Which breeds of chickens do best in very hot temperatures with high humidity? Our readers like Rhode Island Reds for hot weather.

I live in sunny north queensland austalia and I have 8 chooks. The chooks are not a year old and we are getting very few eggs. I thought maybe they were laying elsewhere so I have locked them up till 5 pm and have got no eggs. Why is this? Hens need a lot of light to lay eggs and light in your area is decreasing. The usual issue is that the hens are moulting and may not lay again for a few months Hi, I wonder if my hen hatches her own chicks, will they be safe in the pen or ranging free with the rest of the flock or do I need to keep her in a separate area?

The baby needs to be kept separate and safe from other hens who can get jealous and might kill the chick. Also: When the baby is ready to hatch do not assist! Hi Eyenader, If you aren't giving your chickens extra timed light in the winter, they won't lay eggs. Or, you may not be feeding them the right kind of food. Talk to the chicken expert where you buy their food. I am thinking about raising chicks! I read all your information but I was wondering if you have any advice for me? I am planning on getting my chicks from Wilco.

If you have any advice it would be greatly appreciated i have never had chickens before but I think it will be a great experience! I have 18 hens. They are divided into three seperate coops-the way I bought the groupings. I do spoil mine, more so in these colder months. I give them all the table scraps.

I have heat lamps in all three coops. I have coops wrapped with clear plastic on all the wire area's in order to let the natural light in. If day is over cast I do turn on just regular 60wtt light for them to get that "sunlight" feel.

Have been getting eggs daily. Five of my "ladies" are 2yrs plus. I will also say they do enjoyed being talked to, so if you even leave a radio on for them-could possibly help.

Good luck to you. A couple of things come to mind. Are you feeding a layer mash or pellet? Hens need calcium for shell production and the muscle tone to lay - you might want to give them some chicken grit crushed oyster shell. Are they getting actual sunlight? If it's any consolation, my hens aren't laying up to expectations either this year. I've had them before and got that kind of production. This year I'm getting two to four eggs from eleven hens. I've heard that sometimes hens will find a spot to lay eggs out of the pen somewhere.

I wonder if this is what is happening? I have a question, I have read your info about chickens that have stopped laying, I'm not sure if winter is my issue or not.

I have 10 females ranging in age from 2 yrs to 1 yr old, they free range get plenty of feed but I only get 1 eggs every few days from my oldest 2 yr old hen the 9 others nothing, I got a couple here and there during summer but most eggs I got at any one time was 4 and that was only 1 or 2 occasions.

I have 4 nest boxes in coop, 1 rooster, but after the youngest were 1 yr I just thought I'd be getting more eggs per day. All were picked as breeds that were supposed to be heavy egg layers too. Not sure what may be going on. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!

This may not apply to your problem but I had a thought or two to share to possibly help you. First, since they are free-ranging Are you SURE that some are not laying in a nest of their own making somewhere on the property? Chickens, like people, don't always get along so they avoid each other. Maybe there are nests or spots they are using on the land and perhaps, other critters are eating the eggs. Any kind of stress including fear of other animals like snakes, etc.

I recommend looking for things that might be stressing them if they truly seem to not be laying or laying less. I really like your information, Elizabeth! My parents grew up on farms but lived in a small town where I was born.

We moved to a farm when I was My dad had some small variations on your suggestions: he had a wide shelf with small trees on shallow wedges for the perch. That made it easy to just remove the perch and use a hoe or shovel to scrape the manure into a bucket and carry to the garden. Because of the shelf, we didn't have any flooring - the coop was built on top of concrete foundation. Wear shoes when walking inside! He also had a smaller coop than you recommended, but we had a larger area for the chickens to roam as well.

One thing you didn't mention is that the owner might need to trim some wing feathers to keep chickens from flying over fences when chasing grasshoppers or other insects! I can say that I enjoyed the chickens as a kid -- I learned to imitate all of them -- cluck, crow, and peep, so now my kids just think I'm weird!

LOL, my kids and their friends think I am also, yes, I clip the wing on each bird to prevent the grass is greener on the other side issue. But yes, I lvoe my birds, watching them, the kids love them it is such a great way to teach them about life and all, we homeschool also. But beep cock and crow away, they will laugh with you remembering the good ole days soon.

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