What age do chickens begin to lay?

[baymule]

I don't have a rooster, but I currently have a broody hen, can't convince her to get off that darn Ping-Pong ball! I had a broody hen earlier this year and got fertile eggs from a friend, the hen hatched 5!

 

[bobm]

Since chickens like to roost on the highest point in the hen house... make sure that the roost poles are higher than the nest boxes or the hens will sleep in the nest boxes at night and make their night / morning poopoos in the nest box.

 

[Carol Dee]

They may go broody whether there is a rooster around or not. Makes no difference.

A-ha !!!

 

[Carol Dee]

Thanks everyone. The sons chickens have begun to lay. 3 eggs this week. Nest boxes are in.

 

[thistlebloom]

That's so fun to find the first eggs.
A guaranteed hook!

 

[ducks4you]

RIR's usually lay the soonest at about 22 weeks. I got EE's last year, and the ones hatched on June 1 started laying on Thanksgiving, at 5 1/2 months old, and that's about the same time as most breeds. Young hens will often lay double yokers, which are two eggs in one shell. The University of Illinois sells flats of just double yokers--they have a LOT of birds! As they age you don't see that, and I haven't had any adult hens lay them.
A hen will sometimes go broody without a rooster. Our friend has just hens--he gave us his roosters--and he has one hen brooding. We have offered a dozen of our eggs--we have 17 layers and 3 roosters--to put underneath her for some satisfaction. We have also offered to take those chicks back, too.

 

[baymule]

First eggs!! That is always so much fun! My very first egg only cost me $360, after that, the rest were free!

 

[Smart Red]

Right, @baymule! The first egg was worth every penny of that $350 and all the other eggs were (not free, but) a cheap bonus.

 

[britesea]

If you have all hens, sometimes one or more will "turn into roosters"- including crowing at all hours. They aren't really roosters for fertility purposes, but other than that they stop laying eggs. And unfortunately it doesn't go the other way (roosters don't turn back into hens). My first foray into chicken keeping I bought 6 sex-linked hens from the feed store. Darned if I didn't end up with 6 roosters!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i don't really know about the roosters turning into hen part, i have a bantam Salmon Faverolles rooster who is about 6-7 years old who is turning from his beautiful black breast and cream neck and saddle feathers, he's now lost all his pointed neck and saddle feathers and they are coming in as rounded/shorter hen feathers and the salmon colored backside and creamy white breast like my girls. this should NOT be happening but i know he is fairly low on the pecking order also getting old and not mating the hens. he also no longer crows and walks around squawking more like my hens.

Salmon Faverolles are a color sexing breed so this color change shouldn't be happening.