Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[Chicken Boy]

Hi folks,

 

Our new chooks are settling in well, ravaging peoples clothing and socks and whatnot, so its all good.

 

Got a quick question on the time they lay eggs. As far as I know, ours aren't meant to be laying yet, but two of them, I suspect Hetty and Chick Chick, are already laying like little troopers.

 

They're not large eggs, quite small. However, I noticed that Chick Chick will often tuck herself away in the eglu around mid-afternoon and lay an egg.

 

Am I being naive in assuming Chickens lay in the morning, or can it be at any time? Will they settle into a rythym, or pattern, as it were?

 

Thanks in advance for the assistance.

[rufusrooster]

i'm fairly new to this but mine don't lay at the same time every day, thay seem to go in a cycle, early morning then later and later every day, then back to early again, especially if they have had a day or two off.

[Daphne]

RR is right - its supposed to take 25/26 hours to form then lay an egg - so in theory each day your girls will get a bit later. But yesterday for example one of mine left an egg at lunchtime and another again this morning, I think this was because she could have laid yesterday morning but didn't feel like it - too many distractions on offer! Sometimes they have a day or more off and then it seems to be pot luck when they lay again for the next 'on' day. Congratulations on your new girlies

[coco]

I used to be able top predict when my chooks would lay but in this weather they are very hit and miss so lay anytime or sometimes not at all.

[jimnpaula]

I too thought that chooks laid in the morning, but I know different now.

Today we had 1 when we let them out, 1 in the run and 2 in the nestbox about mid-morning, 2 in the afternoon and I thought that would be it, then found one at bedtime, so another full house

 

P

[jill the potter]

Tikka lays later and later each day and then misses a day! Korma on the other hand has, from the day she first started laying (October 08), laid a beautiful brown egg every morning between 8 and 9 am!!!! She is such a trooper!!! That is until this recent bad weather which has mucked them both up. We are down to about 4 eggs a week which means we've had to buy some! I'm hoping with better weather they will revert to their collective total of about 12 a week. So it seems that all our girls are very different, which makes them all the more special!!

[docsquid]

i'm fairly new to this but mine don't lay at the same time every day, thay seem to go in a cycle, early morning then later and later every day, then back to early again, especially if they have had a day or two off.

 

Yes, mine are like this too. Although Gwennie seems to like to lay her egg with whoever else is laying at roughly the right time - she likes company in the nest box. So if she wants to lay about the same time as Blodwyn, she'll lay then until Blodwyn gets later in the day, then she'll switch to laying with Megan, even if Megan is laying early morning, as she usually does. Blodwyn has a day off every week, Megan and Gwennie have only ever taken one day off each in two months.