Laying Age Guide
When Do Chickens Start Laying? Age by Breed & Delays
Most pullets lay their first egg at 18–24 weeks old, depending on breed and season — here is the full timeline and what can hold it up.
The timeline by breed type
Every new keeper asks it, usually while staring at a five-month-old pullet who is eating enthusiastically and producing nothing. The honest answer is a window, not a date: most pullets start laying at 18–24 weeks old. If you raised them from chicks, plan on roughly five months before the first egg. Breed is the biggest single factor, and it works through the same divide that sets laying rates later in life:
| Breed type | First egg | Laying rate in lay |
|---|---|---|
| High-production hybrids & Leghorn types | Early end — from about 18 weeks | about 5.5 eggs/week |
| Standard backyard breeds | Middle of the window | about 4.5 eggs/week |
| Heritage & dual-purpose breeds | Later end — towards 24 weeks | about 3.5 eggs/week |
The breeds that start earliest also lay hardest — nothing is wrong with a heritage pullet who keeps you waiting until week 23; she is running her breed’s schedule. The feeding stages used in the calculators mirror the same calendar: chicks 0–6 weeks, growers 7–17 weeks, layers from 18 weeks on. That 18-week switch to layer feed is timed for the front edge of the laying window.
Counting the full wait: from set egg to first egg
If you hatch your own, the wait starts before the chick exists. Chicken eggs take 21 days to hatch, counted from the day they are set — the Hatch Date Calculator works out the hatch day, lockdown and candling dates. Add the growing period and the full pipeline for eggs set on 1 March looks like this:
- 1 March: eggs set
- About 22 March: hatch day (21 days)
- Late July: earliest first eggs (18 weeks after hatch)
- Early September: first eggs at the slow end (24 weeks after hatch)
So from setting eggs to breakfast is roughly five to six months, and about five months of it is simply a chick growing up. This is why experienced keepers hatch in spring: chicks set in March reach laying age in high summer, with long days to support them. Chicks hatched late in the year reach 18–24 weeks in the middle of winter — which brings us to the delays.
What delays the first egg
Short days. Light is the biggest lever on laying — layers need about 14 hours of light to produce at their best, and the laying system switches on in response to day length. A pullet who reaches maturity in November may simply hold off until days lengthen, even at 26 or 28 weeks. She is not broken; she is seasonal.
The season she was hatched. Autumn-hatched birds reach laying age in winter and commonly wait for spring, while spring-hatched birds reach it in summer and start on schedule. Two pullets of the same breed can honestly differ by a month or more on hatch season alone.
Feed stage. A pullet still on grower feed at 20 weeks is missing the calcium a shell needs. The switch at about 18 weeks — grower to layer feed, with its added calcium — is part of the laying trigger as much as a nutrition change. Constant clean water matters just as much; a hen short on water does not lay.
Moult and stress. Older hens pause laying while moulting, and any hen lays less under stress — a move, a predator scare, a flock reshuffle. A young pullet just moved to a new coop may take an extra week or two to start, and that is normal. And sometimes the delay is just the window itself: 24 weeks is inside normal for heritage breeds.
What the start of lay looks like
The first eggs are rarely perfect. Expect smaller eggs at first — pullet eggs — and an irregular rhythm: an egg, two days off, two eggs, a miss. A hen’s laying cycle runs a little over 24 hours, so even in full lay the laying time drifts later each day until she skips a day and restarts; five to six eggs a week from a top layer already reflects those skipped days. Soft or shell-less eggs in the first week or two are common while the system calibrates, and usually settle as long as layer feed and calcium are in place.
Once a pullet is laying steadily, her breed’s rate applies: about 5.5 eggs a week for high producers, 4.5 for standard layers, 3.5 for heritage breeds. Ten standard hens at 4.5 each lay about 45 eggs a week — roughly 195 a month and around 2,340 a year before winter slowdowns. The Egg Production Calculator runs that maths for your flock size and rate.
Worked example: planning a spring flock
Say you want eggs from your own birds by high summer:
- Set chicken eggs on 1 March → hatch about 22 March
- Chicks brood for their first 6 weeks (heat stepping down from about 95 °F in week 1), growers until about 18 weeks
- Switch to layer feed at about 18 weeks — late July
- First eggs: late July for early hybrid types, through to early September for slower heritage birds
Total feed before the first egg is worth knowing too: a growing bird eats about 0.08 lb a day as a chick and 0.16 lb a day as a grower — roughly 16 lb of feed per bird from hatch to laying age, before she has laid a single egg. That is the real price of raising from chicks rather than buying point-of-lay pullets, and it is why point-of-lay birds cost more: somebody else paid it. If you are still choosing flock size, start from the eggs you eat with the How Many Chickens Calculator.
Frequently asked questions
When do young hens start laying?
Most pullets start laying at 18–24 weeks old, depending on breed and season. Fast-maturing hybrids tend to the early end of that window and slower heritage breeds to the later end. If you are raising chicks rather than buying point-of-lay hens, plan for roughly five months before the first egg.
Why is my 20-week-old hen not laying yet?
Twenty weeks is inside the normal window, not past it — heritage and dual-purpose breeds commonly start towards 24 weeks. If she is past the window, check the calendar (short winter days delay laying — hens need about 14 hours of light), her feed (she should be on layer feed from about 18 weeks), and her water. Most late starters are waiting on season, not suffering from anything.
How long after hatching do chickens lay their first egg?
About 18–24 weeks after hatch day. Chicken eggs themselves take 21 days to hatch, so the full wait from setting eggs to first eggs is roughly five to six months: about 22 March hatch for eggs set on 1 March, with first eggs from late July to early September depending on breed.
Do chickens lay eggs in their first winter?
Pullets who come into lay before winter often keep laying through their first one, unlike older hens, who slow down in winter and pause while moulting. A pullet who only reaches laying age in mid-winter may wait for lengthening days instead. Either pattern is normal.
How many eggs will my hens lay once they start?
By breed type: high producers about 5.5 eggs per hen per week, standard layers about 4.5, heritage and dual-purpose breeds about 3.5. Ten standard hens at 4.5 each lay about 45 eggs a week. The Egg Production Calculator turns your flock size and rate into weekly, monthly and yearly totals.
The bottom line
Expect the first egg between 18 and 24 weeks — earlier for hybrids, later for heritage breeds, and later still if that window lands in winter, when light, not the hen, is usually the holdup. Count backwards before you set eggs or buy chicks: spring hatching puts first eggs in summer, and the full set-to-breakfast run is about five to six months. Once your pullets are in lay, the Egg Production Calculator shows what the flock should give you each week.