jippy1 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Hi In the process of buying my chickens , 1 silly question how old are the chickens when they start laying eggs, how long does it take to settle them in ,and is it best to have 3 or 4 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 It depends, if they're hybrids I think its around 20 weeks. And I have 4 chickens, I love them!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Hi, welcome to the forum. Around 20 weeks is usual, but bear in mind that 'point of lay' is not an exact term, so POL hens might be anything from 18-24 weeks old, and when they start laying depends on the breed and the time of year as well as the individual hen. If you have room, I'd get four - it's no harder to look after three than four, and you'll get more eggs and more fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percy049 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Hybrids start laying about 20-22 weeks, and pure breeds about 24 weeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuckyChickenLover- Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Welcome to the forum, jippy1 They usually start laying at around 20 weeks. And if I were you I'd get four . You'll probably end up with more than three anyway if you catch the dreaded morehens disease! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chestnutmare Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 I have three in with run and extension.., but I'm planning on getting more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorax Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Hello! We have four hens, one for each of us. I'm sooo glad we got four (we were going to get just two!). We plan to get two more in the autumn (really want a white egg layer...). We have four hybrids and we got them so that they all laid different coloured eggs. I find this really useful to see who is laying. We were told ours were about 19 weeks when we got them. Two laid within 24 hours. One took a few weeks to start laying, the last one a good few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
