Am i going to have to wait until Spring for eggs?

[pigsinmud]

We got 4 pol hybrids 5 weeks ago. No eggs yet. A friend said if they haven't started laying now then you'll have to wait until Spring for eggs. Is this true?

The chap we bought them from said they should start laying in 3 weeks.....that was 2 weeks ago. I know it's not an exact science, but are we going to have to wait months?

Watching with interest because one of my new hybrids hasn't started and another stopped for a little moult and hasn't started again.

Not sure but when I got mine the farmer said they were two weeks off laying and it was a bit longer than that so don't necessarily trust what you have been told! I've also been told/read that hybrids often lay throughout the winter but as this is my first winter as chicken owner I've yet to see if that is the case.

Make sure they have enough to eat, some minerals, grit, and so on, and try putting a golf ball in their coop/where they are to lay.

Sorry, am new to all this myself so can't help much with how the weather will affect them. my hybids are still laying (had them since August).

Bumping so more experienced chicken keepers might say hello.

We bought two hybrids at point of lay in Sept 11, the farmer said to give them a month to start laying. Both started laying in the Nov and produced an egg a day each through the winter, even in really wet/cold weather.

Are their combs fully grown yet? And are they bright red? I noticed a definitely change in the combs just before the hens started to lay.

I'm not quite sure. My hybrid does lay through the winter, but my other hens don't, they stopped laying just weeks ago, in fact.

Well, the coral's comb is quite big and has reddened. The black tail is also quite red. The other 2 have small combs, in fact the copper barely has a comb.

They have definitely plumped up since we got them. The ranger, which was the smallest, but has caught up with the others, has been losing a few feathers round her neck.

If the comb is really glowing red she'll probably be laying soon.
Look out for her crouching down when you approach her. Once she's doing that it should be about a week.
Sometimes pure breeds stop for the winter then start again when it snows because of all the extra light reflecting off the snow - my Light Sussex did that one year.

How much and when they lay is light dependent. we have 30+ hens and are getting 2 or 3 eggs only at the moment. we have in the past had the odd girl who has laid a bit during the winter but the rule for ours seems not to. They stop completely about mid Nov and start up again in the spring usually Feb time. keep looking for eggs and keeping fingers crossed but you may be waiting until the spring.

My hens are rather new here still, but one started laying 2 weeks ago. You night not be waiting until spring, they might suprise you.

i got ex bats a few weeks back. they laid a couple then stopped. the woman i got them from assures me they'll start laying in a few weeks time. she reckons it takes 6 weeks after a move but is super confident about it all.

we shall see.

Ours seem to have more or less shut up shop for the winter - we have gone from glut of eggs to almost no eggs in a week. I am hoping they are just adjusting to colder weather and may start again, but it's a hope rather than an expectation.

We got 6 pol almost 7 weeks ago now and got very excited when one started laying the next day! We had to wait 5 weeks for any of the others to start and now get 3 eggs a day. A 4th hen now has a red comb so we are hoping, but two still have no combs and seem under than the rest. Hang on in there, they may well start soon.

Thanks for advice. I'm still hoping. The coral's comb and face look redder each day!

My hybrids lay through the year, but less frequently. I have four hybrids and two Perkins and I go down from 4 or 5 eggs a day to about one or two. The Pekins stop laying all together. We are in our third winter...