First Eggs! I have questions!

[JSossong]

Got our first egg the other day! I was pleasantly surprised when I found it considering my girls (RSLs) are only a little over four months old. I think I can tell which hen laid it based off of her behavior. Since then she skipped a day- but for the past 4 days she's been leaving us an egg!

I'm curious as to when my other girls will start laying since they are all the same age. Is it true that when one from a flock lays that the others usually follow suit and start laying shortly after the first?

Also, after the first egg do you usually consistently get an egg from the hen everyday after? Or does it depend?

Lastly, I was told to switch to layer feed when my girls start laying- should I wait until they all start laying to switch over?

Any comments, suggestions and answers are welcome!
Thanks

 

[Firekin1]

Got our first egg the other day! I was pleasantly surprised when I found it considering my girls (RSLs) are only a little over four months old. I think I can tell which hen laid it based off of her behavior. Since then she skipped a day- but for the past 4 days she's been leaving us an egg!

I'm curious as to when my other girls will start laying since they are all the same age. Is it true that when one from a flock lays that the others usually follow suit and start laying shortly after the first?

Also, after the first egg do you usually consistently get an egg from the hen everyday after? Or does it depend?

Lastly, I was told to switch to layer feed when my girls start laying- should I wait until they all start laying to switch over?

Any comments, suggestions and answers are welcome!
Thanks

Congratulations on your first egg! It is an exciting find. Every chicken is different, even with in the same breed. Your others may start shortly or my wait a little longer. Being production layers, they do tend to start laying a little earlier than most heritage breeds. It's common to receive 1 egg a day, sometimes 2 from a hen right up to a change in daylight or a molt. Then they take a temporary pause but soon go back into lay. Most times you start layer feed once they've all started their lay as it's high in calcium. What I do (and this is personally, others may be different) is if I have some in lay and some not I continue feeding them their regular feed but offer free choice oyster shell. Most times it's only the hen in lay who eats it as she's craving the calcium. Occasionally the others may take a snack here and there but then leave it as they don't crave it.

 

[JSossong]

@Firekin1 great! Thanks so much for your response! Hopefully my other girls catch on and want to lay too!