How old are chickens that start laying eggs discrepancies?

[Llahsinned]

Hello, I am just getting into raising chickens. We have 3 and they were already eggs layer when we got them. We are now thinking about getting some spring chick's. I am curious how old they are before laying eggs? I have conflicting information, some sites say 4-6 months, depending on breed. Others say it is about 16-18 months, depending breed...Which is accurate?

 

[nuthatched]

It depends completely on the individual bird, and the time of year they were hatched.
It's not a discrepancy.

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

It depends on the breed, time of year they were hatched, individual bird

 

[Ridgerunner]

Hi, welcome to the forum! Glad you joined!

Hello, I am just getting into raising chickens. We have 3 and they were already eggs layer when we got them. We are now thinking about getting some spring chick's. I am curious how old they are before laying eggs? I have conflicting information, some sites say 4-6 months, depending on breed. Others say it is about 16-18 months, depending breed...Which is accurate?

Do you have a link to that site that said 16 to 18 months? I'd like to read that in context. On the face of it, that is ridiculous. Maybe they meant weeks?

As the others said, it depends on different things. You can get an average for a breed under ideal conditions but that is just an average. If two pullets of the same breed are hatched together and raised together you can still get a couple of months or more difference in when they lay their first egg. A pullet hatched in spring could easily start laying in early fall or she might wait until the days get longer the following spring.

I've had pullets start as young as 16 weeks. I've had some start at 9 months. Most of mine start around 5 to 6 months but it can really vary.

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I raised a lot of chicks last summer and all the pullets that hatched in May or later did not start to lay until this February (9 months at most). All of the pullets that hatched in March or April began to lay at about 5 months old and laid eggs all winter. It is also influenced by breed and all chickens are individual but those were my results.

Much of laying age is dependent on the amount of daylight you are getting when they get to laying size. If it’s short or rapidly decreasing, their body will wait to lay eggs, which makes sense because it’s harder to raise chicks in winter, which is her purpose for laying eggs.

I agree with @Ridgerunner that 16 to 18 months isn’t reasonable.