Most hens will lay their first egg around 18 weeks of age and then lay an egg almost daily thereafter. In their first year, you can expect up to 250 eggs from high-producing, well-fed backyard chickens. Then, egg counts will naturally decrease each following year with hens entering egg retirement around years six or seven.
You should be thinking “How old should chickens be when they start laying eggs?”
Five to seven months old is the minimum age chickens tend to start laying eggs. The time of year is also a factor in egg production. Like humans, hens are unable to produce if they don’t have a proper diet. A couple more things to think about are: a final consideration we’ll discuss is their environment, environment, and many factors in egg production.
When do chickens usually start laying eggs?
Some chicken breeds are genetically able to lay eggs sooner than others. Parasite infestation by worms, mites, and lice often result in a delay of egg production. A few more ideas to keep in mind are the importance of water, nutrition affects hens laying, access to nesting boxes, summary, molting, or stress.
Signs Your Hen is Ready to Lay. Consider the Age of Your Chickens. Hens aren’t born ready to lay eggs from day one. How is your hen interacting with the rest of the flock? A couple extra items to look into are: she will start to explore the nesting area, your hens may be hungrier than normal, your hen will begin to squat, or look at the physical characteristics of your hen.
What time of year do chickens lay the most eggs?
Chickens need a certain amount of sunlight to lay eggs which usually correlates to certain times of the year, as in, Spring through Summer is usually their most productive time. Are you giving your hens a free choice calcium supplement such as oyster shells for them to eat, they need extra calcium to lay eggs with hard shells.