# No Eggs Yet



## zookeepwr (Oct 10, 2012)

My chickens are a little over 20 weeks old and have been on layer feed for a little over 2 weeks. No eggs yet, is it still early? I give them plenty of food and fresh water, I put a couple of golf balls in the nesting boxes. Do I need to do something different or just be patient? Thank You


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## chickflick (Sep 23, 2012)

Be patient! Some chickens just take a bit longer. But, it's not like they are late or any thing yet. When they do the squat and their combs and waddles turn a nice deep red, then you know they are getting close. It'll happen, don't worry!


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## Keith (Jun 19, 2012)

Me either, still waiting. Mine were born July 1st.


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## ThreeJ (Jun 28, 2012)

Go talk to them, tell them if they don't start laying... you're gonna start squeezing. You should be seeing eggs soon.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

mine are 26 weeks now and still no eggs. i quess we just have to wait.


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## cogburn (Jul 16, 2012)

Patience Grasshopper !!


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## Lissa (Oct 23, 2012)

Mine are 6 months old (April babies) and no eggs either. I suspect it is because of the limited daylight hours in Northeast. I read they need 14 hours of daylight in Backyard Poultry magazine. Thinking that if I want eggs over the winter then I need a light in the coop or wait until Spring. Any ideas or suggestions from experienced owners? Thanks!


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

one of mine is laying now. (the light sussex) the other 2 are keeping me waiting.


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

Patience is the ticket. You don't mention the breed(s), but that is a factor too. I have seramas which are very early layers (usually by 4 months). I also have large fowl brahmas, very late layers. With my very first flock of brahmas there was a wide span of time between the first to lay, 18 weeks old and the last two to lay, 38 weeks old. 
When you see the combs and wattles getting red and the pullets squatting for the roo (or you, if they have no roo) you'll know they are getting close.


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## ChickenWaterer (Sep 23, 2012)

It might also be a function of time or year... as day light levels decline so does egg laying.


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## patlet (Oct 4, 2012)

All of my geese are laying! The girls were hatched this year. Never had geese lay so quickly, and it's the wrong time of year. Anyone have good recipes for goose eggs?


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

patlet said:


> All of my geese are laying! The girls were hatched this year. Never had geese lay so quickly, and it's the wrong time of year. Anyone have good recipes for goose eggs?


 I wish! Wrong time of year here too, but all of my runner ducks and my goose are laying. I've given away all that I can and have resorted to feeding the eggs back to them.


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## cogburn (Jul 16, 2012)

Some of my pullets just started laying, 3 of 22. The rest are @POL, and should lay all winter here in NE Texas. My hens have all bout shut down, went from 13-15 a day to 6-8 and now yesterday caught an Australorp, a RIRed and a Dom pullet in the nests, and this morning all 3 did make a deposit to my egg bank. Happy Happy Happy


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## patlet (Oct 4, 2012)

Bird_slave said:


> I wish! Wrong time of year here too, but all of my runner ducks and my goose are laying. I've given away all that I can and have resorted to feeding the eggs back to them.


Why are they laying so early? Never had geese that laid in late fall. Early spring or even late winter, but certainly not now! Someone told me about hard boiling goose eggs and slicing to make a new kind of egg sandwich. I have done omelets and scrambled but that's about it. Ever try baking with them?


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

patlet said:


> Why are they laying so early? Never had geese that laid in late fall. Early spring or even late winter, but certainly not now! Someone told me about hard boiling goose eggs and slicing to make a new kind of egg sandwich. I have done omelets and scrambled but that's about it. Ever try baking with them?


First year with geese and I don't know why, unless it's the unusual weather we've had this year. She's only laid four so far, each only slightly larger than my runner duck eggs. I only figured out she was laying when I had a few days when I got six eggs from the waterfowl coop. I only have five runner duck hens and the sixth egg couldn't have come from my call duck hen. 
I love to bake, but haven't tried the waterfowl eggs yet.


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## Lissa (Oct 23, 2012)

My rhode island red (6months old) just started laying after the hurricane and my original post (there goes my light theory). She isnt consistent in the time of day she lays. Will she get to a consistent time of day? Thanks!


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

Lissa said:


> My rhode island red (6months old) just started laying after the hurricane and my original post (there goes my light theory). She isnt consistent in the time of day she lays. Will she get to a consistent time of day? Thanks!


 Read that wrong the first time. Let me try again. It takes approximately 26 hrs. for a hen to produce an egg, start to finish. So say she lays an egg at 8 AM tomorrow, the next day you can expect one around 9 AM, the day after that 10 AM. They will continue to be a little later each day until it gets too late in the day; then she will wait and start laying again very early the next day or skip a day and start early on the following. This is the way it is with _most_ hens; there are exceptions.


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## Lissa (Oct 23, 2012)

Thanks again for the feedback Bird Slave. I really appreciate it! She has been laying but like you said, she skips days. When she is done laying, she makes a loud crowing sound so I know when the egg has been laid. Will her eggs get bigger in size as she grows? 
My silkie Roo has now turned his desires to my Java so hopefully soon, we will be getting more than 1 egg a day. I believe he is a good indicator as to when they start laying. Right? Thanks!


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

Lissa said:


> Thanks again for the feedback Bird Slave. I really appreciate it! She has been laying but like you said, she skips days. When she is done laying, she makes a loud crowing sound so I know when the egg has been laid. * Will her eggs get bigger in size as she grows*?
> My silkie Roo has now turned his desires to my Java so hopefully soon, we will be getting more than 1 egg a day. I believe he is a good indicator as to when they start laying. Right? Thanks!


Yep, the eggs do get bigger. 
The best indicator I've found that a pullet (i.e., a hen under the age of one) is about to start laying is not so much the color of her comb and wattles, it's when she starts_ willingly_ submitting to the rooster. And yes, the roosters do seem to know which pullets are getting close. My older more experienced roosters always seem to know when a hen is molting or raising chicks too. They leave them alone, because they know there's no point in mating a hen that's not laying and therefore can't produce his offspring from that mating. 
The noise she makes after laying her egg is commonly called the egg song. There's lots of theories on what the point of the egg song is. The one that makes the most sense to me is that it's a throwback to chickens wild, pre-domestication days. A hen sings it as she's moving away from the nest as if to tell predators, "Follow me! Leave my eggs alone!"

All instinctual, but pretty cool huh?


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## jeep381 (Nov 1, 2012)

My chickens are 6 months old, and they finally have started laying in the morning. The RIR's were laying in the morning and afternoon and just this past 2 weeks they have started laying in the morning. Hopefully, yours will soon find her time.


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## Lissa (Oct 23, 2012)

Hi there, quick egg question. My java first started laying on Nov. 16th. She laid 11/16, 11/17, 11/19 and 11/20. She hasn't laid for 3 days now. Is this normal? Or should I worry something is stuck? She is eating like a pig and the rooster mounted her yesterday. Thanks for any advice/info.


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## Bird_slave (Oct 26, 2012)

Lissa said:


> Hi there, quick egg question. My java first started laying on Nov. 16th. She laid 11/16, 11/17, 11/19 and 11/20. She hasn't laid for 3 days now. Is this normal? Or should I worry something is stuck? She is eating like a pig and the rooster mounted her yesterday. Thanks for any advice/info.


 I wouldn't worry. Just takes them awhile to get regular. If you start to find her sitting in the nestbox for long periods of time without producing, then I'd start worrying.


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## kaax (Nov 21, 2012)

A few years ago, I had a couple pullets wait till 33 & 35 weeks to lay- mid December.
Yeah, I thought they were broken. 

Kaax


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