Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: skelly on June 21, 2010, 11:29
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Our 3 chooks should start laying very shortly hopefully. Is there any signs that will show they are about to start laying. such as changes in behaviour etc etc.
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Well they may start spening more time in the nest box, but often the first egg can be a bit of a surprise, so you may find it anywhere.
Physican signs to look for are: increasing size and colour of the comb, widening of the pelvic bones and the vent becomes much more "wet looking"
They may also start to crouch when you approach them - but not all chickens do this.
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You could put a rubber or china egg in the nest box to give them an idea of where to lay, I think some people even use golf balls :D
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As Casey said, their comb and wattles will become redder and grow bigger and a lot of my chickens squat when you approach them. They are getting in to their mating position and they mistake us humans for a cockerel ::) :lol: :lol:.
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2 of my 5 girls started laying this weekend. Ive had 6 eggs over the weekend. 3 were edible. I was asking the same question. My girls combs got bigger and redder. I also was shown how to check the distance between their pelvic bones. All the signs were there but still no eggs. Then about a week ago i went to stroke 1 of them and she squated down. I heard this was a sign. Then less than a week later we got our first egg. Trust me from someone thats very impatient and thought it was never going to happen. It will happen. And its well worth waiting for.
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Thanks folks, silly question but how big do the combs go? Our girls have grown loads since we got them and alos their combs have kinda grown in proportion to to them. Harriet our speckeldy is sitting around a bit as if sittin on an egg.
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one of mine that is definetly laying her comb is about 3/4 inch high. I watched her the day we got our second egg. Because i wanted to know who was laying. And she was walking up and down the run and in and out of the coop like she was looking for something. (somewhere to lay). Then she went in the coop and didnt come out for about an hour. When she did i went and checked and a perfect little egg was there and it was still warm. Thats what you call fresh.
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Although their combs will get redder and not all but some get much bigger. My Speckled Sussex and Buff Rock have small combs - less than 1/2 high. They are both laying. In fact, I didn't think they were ready to lay but then they surprised me! Also, don't be surprised if they make an awful noise when they first lay. Afterwards they come out telling everyone they have laid an egg. Again, not all hens do this but mine did. :D