When Do Chickens Start Laying Eggs? 5 Tell-Tale Signs It’s Soon!
If you’re wondering when your new young chickens will start laying eggs, come learn how to tell that eggs are coming soon! We’ll talk about the average age that chickens start to lay eggs, how breed and season plays a role, and a few tell-tale signs to look out for.
What age do chickens start laying eggs?
On average, young female chickens usually start laying eggs or “come into lay” around 5 to 6 months old (or about 20 to 26 weeks of age). Some chickens may start laying as early as 16 to 18 weeks old, while others may take upwards of 28 to 32 weeks or closer to 8 months.
In my 13 years of raising chickens, the majority of my hens laid their first eggs around 20 to 23 weeks old, but one girl waited until 36 weeks… Talk about a late bloomer!
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Chicken breeds and egg-laying
In addition to age, breed will influence when when chickens start laying eggs – as certain breeds are known to mature earlier than others.
For instance, breeds historically bred for high egg production will often start laying sooner (as early as 17 or 18 weeks old) including Leghorns, Golden Comets, Sex Links, Rhode Island Reds, and Australorps.
On the other hand, heavier heritage breeds like Marans, Wyandottes, Orpingtons and Brahmas are known to take a bit longer – closer to 6 or 7 months. In my experience, Easter Eggers and Barred Rocks fall somewhere in the middle.
RELATED: Don’t miss our list of the 20 Best Chicken Breeds for colorful eggs, or this guide on how to tell the difference between female vs male chicks (roosters).
Time of year and egg-laying
If you get chicks in spring, they’ll likely start laying eggs in the late summer to fall of the same year. However, if you happen to get chicks later in the year (mid summer to fall) and they come into maturity during the darker, colder days of winter, they could wait until the following spring to start laying.
Most mature chickens will take a natural break from laying eggs over winter. However, it isn’t uncommon for young chickens to continue laying eggs right through their first winter! Then, they’ll probably take a break during the following winters.
5 Signs a Chicken Will Start Laying Eggs Soon
1) Enlarged Red Comb and Wattles
As a young chicken matures, their combs and/or wattles become increasingly large and red. If this happens very early on (under 8 weeks old) it could be a sign that it’s a rooster!
On the other hand, young female chickens develop their combs and wattles more slowly. As her hormones shift and she gets ready to start laying eggs, her combs, wattles, and face will change from light pink to bright red. They will also swell and become larger just before she lays.
Then when mature chickens take a break from laying eggs (such as over winter or while they’re molting) their combs and wattles shrink back down and turn less red again. They may also become small and pale when the chicken is sick.
2) Exploring the Nesting Box Area
In the weeks leading up to the first egg, a young hen will usually start to show more interest in the nesting box area than ever before. She may even begin to test it out and sit inside, even if she isn’t quite ready to lay yet.
One great way to encourage young chickens to lay eggs in their designated nesting boxes (as opposed to the coop floor or random spots in the yard!) is to place false eggs inside the nest box. Chickens tend to like laying eggs in a clutch, where other eggs are. You could use specialty fake wood eggs, or what I’ve done in the past, golf balls!
3) Squatting Behavior
Of all the signs that a chicken will start laying eggs soon, squatting behavior is the most telling in my opinion! As you walk by your young hen or reach out a hand to pet her, she may stop, squat, and put her wings out slightly to her sides. I lovingly call this “the submissive squat”.
Give the girl a good pet on the back, but keep in mind the biological reason for her squatting behavior isn’t about cuddling with humans! She is signaling that she is ready and willing to be mounted by a rooster to fertilize her forthcoming eggs. If there is no rooster around, she’ll submit to her human instead.
Not every chicken will undoubtedly squat, but most of mine have – and started laying eggs within a week or two thereafter!
4) She May Get Louder
Have you heard a chicken “egg song” yet? Chickens tend to loudly cluck and squawk before and after they lay, so you may notice your young hens becoming increasingly talkative in the days leading up to their first egg too.
I find it funny that crowing roosters are banned in many urban areas, because my hens make noise all day long! (Though I’ve read there is something more jarring and irritating about the tone of a rooster crow than hen songs to most people).
5) Increased Appetite
As a young hen gears up to start laying eggs, her body will go through numerous changes – inside and out. The process of forming and laying eggs takes a lot of energy! So, you may notice your maturing chickens begin to eat more than usual.
Laying hens have different nutritional needs than younger pullets or chicks, so be sure to gradually transition your chickens to a layer feed when they reach 18 weeks of age (or when the first egg arrives, whichever occurs first).
I also suggest putting out a source of free-choice calcium like crushed oyster shells or baked eggshells once your chickens are 18 weeks old or when they’re showing signs they may start laying eggs soon. Calcium is essential for healthy egg formation!
Learn how and why I bake eggshells to feed back to our chickens here.
The moment you’ve been waiting for: the first eggs have arrived!
When chickens first start laying, their eggs will be significantly smaller than what they’ll regularly lay as fully mature hens. They’ll slowly get bigger with time. Next, be sure to check out this guide on how to store fresh eggs including best practices on when and how to wash them.
In all, I hope this article helped to clue you in on the signs to watch for as your chickens get ready to lay. Be sure to thank your ladies for their hard work!
You may also enjoy these related articles:
- Backyard Chickens 101: What to Expect When You’re Expecting
- 500+ Best Chicken Names: Funny, Cute, Unique, Puns and More
- 10 Ways to Keep Chickens Cool During Hot Summer Weather (or Heat Waves)
- How to Make a Chicken Dust Bath: Easy DIY Ideas
- Raising Baby Chicks 101: A Beginner’s Guide
- 11 Easy DIY Chick Brooder Box Ideas with Photos
32 Comments
Joan Joan scotchmer
My silkies don’t go in coop at dark like rest of chickens do.I have to put them in every night why? What can I do we have fox& racoon glory I don’t dare not shut them in how do I get them to?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Joan, how many chickens are in your flock and how many of them are silkies that are staying outside? Do the silkies roost somewhere before you put them into the coop? If they are bullied or the coop is too small are a couple reasons they may not be going inside. Is there adequate roosting inside the coop for all of your chickens? Any more info you can provide will help.
Keith
Our chickens began laying eggs, about 2 weeks ago. They were 20 weeks old. Almost immediately, the rooster began to mount them. I know that hens, once mated with the rooster, takes about 7-10 days, to become fertile. However, is there a minimum amount of time after the young hens began laying eggs, for the eggs to become hatchable or is it a free for all, from day one? 😎
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Keith, once your chickens start laying eggs they can be hatched if the egg was fertilized. Good luck and hopefully you don’t end up with too many chickens!
Cindy
Hello my 3 hens are 13 weeks old and I have a rooster which I didn’t want , I’ve read remove the eggs daily so the hen doesn’t hatch them is that correct I don’t want peeps and do t know what to do with my roo
Ty
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Cindy, collecting the eggs on a daily basis will help keep your hens from going broody where they will sit on the eggs in hopes that they will hatch. For your rooster, I would look into people in your area with larger properties that may want a rooster, posting something on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or Next Door may a good start. Hope that helps and good luck!
Rebecca
Hello, I found this article very interesting – I didn’t know about the squat! We bought three chickens last month, and when they arrived they were perfect, laying eggs (in rotation day by day, we could tell by the colour of the eggs) and going to roost every night. Skip to three weeks later and they’ve stopped laying and all refuse to go to roost unless I usher them in. We’ve checked for mites, we have no predators around us, I’ve tried keeping them in the run until lunchtime to encourage laying in the boxes – in case they were laying in the hedges but nada, and we have checked all the hedges! Why would they suddenly stop laying? Any help really appreciated!
(We use layers pellets, clean weekly, etc)
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Rebecca, while I can’t say for sure why the chickens aren’t roosting, your chickens may be starting to molt? That is the process of them getting rid of old feathers and growing new ones to replace the old. They stop laying during this time and it will usually last through the winter into spring. 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. We recently moved to a new location and all of our chickens decided to stop laying eggs and molt even though it is only August and they usually wait until at least September or later. Here are a few of our other chicken related articles if you are interested: Help, My Chicken is Molting! What to Expect & How to Care for Molting Chickens, Feeding Chickens Eggshells or Oyster Shells for Essential Calcium & Health, and Chickens Eating Eggs? 9 Ways to Prevent or Stop It. Hope that helps and good luck!
Coreen Wright
Your’s is the first website that mentioned the squatting behavior.
As fun as it is to have them “bow down” I assumed that action had something to do with mating behavior.
Jessica
Thanks for this article! I read it a couple of weeks ago and then last week my big young Buff Orpington (she has big red comb and wattle too!) started doing the submissive squat for me and she was singing a lot! Yesterday, she was really loud and kept walking back into the coop and looking at the nesting boxes. She sat in the one that had 3 fake eggs and low and behold she laid her first egg! I was so egg cited! the egg was delish too! I hope she inspires her sisters to do the same!
Meg
Thank you. I am very encouraged. I believe my only hatchling Easter Egger chick has just laid her first egg at 29 weeks of age. She hatched on day 24. A late bloomer all the way around.
Kam50
Great article. One of our chickens laid their first egg today. We aren’t sure which one, but it was found in a bird bath hole. I showed them the nesting boxes again. When we put in the nesting boxes we added a wooden egg in two of the three boxes. We quickly looked up first chicken egg and found your Web site.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Kam, it may take your chickens a little coaxing to start using their nest boxes but the wooden eggs will usually do the trick. Thanks for reading and good luck.
D
Thanks
Shawna Naderi
I had a black copper maran named luna too :))
Charlie n Robyn
This is a Great Article for people who want Chickens,Eggs, and how to properly manage them for a good brood,and Happy,Healthy chickens.
Carol
Awesome article! We got 4 Easter Eggers about 10 weeks ago, excited for eggs whenever they get around to it but mostly happy to have little garden mates!
DeannaCat
Hi Carol – I agree! Easter eggers are some of our favorites, and our chickens are are beloved pets and buddies first and foremost – the eggs are just a bonus! Enjoy your new friends, sounds like you already are.
Mustapha
Hi! I have a golden comet 16 weeks now they are still not laying.. But they are well fed and no sickness. Any help?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hey Mustapha, just let nature take its course, 16 weeks is the absolute earliest chickens will lay eggs. On average, our chickens laid between 18 and 22 weeks. Though Golden Comet is an earlier layer so I would assume it should be anytime now. Good luck!
Dickson Tharakan
Hello,
Very informative. It was very useful.
Thank you.