Post your FIRST EGG pics!

[Belinda7]

HELP! SOMETHING ODD HAS OCCURRED!

Either a Black Sex link or an Isa Brown chicken left a normal egg with a hard light brown shell in the yard today (19 weeks 4 days old.) The "normal" hard-shelled egg I was hoping for in the photo to the left of the ruler..

I found my first egg a couple of days ago in the yard, but it was unusual in that it had a soft rubbery shell rather than the hard shell I had expected. I cut and popped it open with a sharp knife, and it looked like an egg you would expect from a chicken - with a large bright orange yolk on the inside.... But I thought because it had such a soft, rubbery texture shell and small size that certainly, it must have been dropped by some other type of creature...like some type of reptile.....however.... today, my son actually SAW the Cornish Hen pop out the smaller darker egg on the RIGHT. It has the exact same consistency of a slighlty deflated balloon, but the rubbery shell is very strong. It is just like the egg I found in the yard a day ago.

They have been on DUMOR LAYER until they were about 17 weeks old. The POULTRY GROWER/FINISHER FEED was not available, so I started them on LAYER when the STARTER feed ran out. It was my belief that if they are on LAYER feed, they should not need any additional vitamins or minerals AS THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS ON THE PACKAGE. In addition the chickens free-range all day long on 30 acres of mixed habitat, so have access to whatever they want or need.

I have one perfect egg from one of the other breeds (not sure which one dropped the good egg,) and two rubbery eggs that the Cornish Hen dropped. I know Cornish Hens are supposed to be more of a meat chicken....and mine is large enough to be turkey dinner at this point....it has gotten huge as she eats voraciously! Does she need more calcium or something to produce a good HARD SHELLED egg?....Or is it because that's just the type of egg Cornish Hens produce, because they are typically only raised as Meat Chickens rather than an Egg-Layer Chicken?

Unfortunately, my elderly father cares for them when I cannot be around. He walks very slowly with a cane, and the Cornish hen can keep up with him. So when he arrives, the Cornish Hen always greets him, and follows him around, and accompanies him back to the car when he leaves...so they have become quite attached. My Dad really likes that bird...so, I was thinking if it lays eggs well, then I would just keep her as an egg-layer.

But at this point I am really not sure what to do about the type of eggs it is dropping! Maybe this is the type of egg they lay because they are classified as a meat chicken and NOT an egg=layer???! Or more likely, am I not doing something I should be doing so it CAN produce a hard-shelled egg!?

PLEASE HELP! WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE A CHICKEN LAYING SOFT RUBBERY-SHELLED EGGS, LAY A HARD SHELLED EGG INSTEAD?!

...OR IF THAT'S NORMAL, IS IT OKAY TO EAT THEM, AND HOW DO YOU "CRACK" A SOFT SHELLED EGG TO COOK IT????

 

[Mac84]

With only 2 chickens laying in one week they have laid 13 eggs!!!! I'm amazed! I love my girls!!! And one of the other chicks has laid her first one today at 23 weeks of age!! That makes it 14 eggs!! Weeeeeeeee

 

[horsegrits]

We got our first egg a week ago and have gotten an egg a day so far. I am really hoping this is just from one bird as we have seven that are the same age and three that are about a month younger than the those seven.

 

[Angelicisi]

What a pretty color!

The chicks are 19 weeks old today. I was expecting the Barred Rocks to be my first layers of the group but found a little surprise in the egg box this afternoon. The small egg is from the chick. It's next to an egg from one of my older hens for size comparison. I was shocked to see that the Easter Egger was the first girl to lay. We'd not seen her squatting but had found her nosing around in the nesting box and heard her singing an egg song the other day. She has virtually no comb and what little she does have is very pale. Quite a pleasant surprise!

 

[Angelicisi]

Some calcium like oyster shell or I crush up my egg shells and feed them back with cayenne pepper, yogurt helps too

HELP! SOMETHING ODD HAS OCCURRED! Either a Black Sex link or an Isa Brown chicken left a normal egg with a hard light brown shell in the yard today (19 weeks 4 days old.) The "normal" hard-shelled egg I was hoping for in the photo to the left of the ruler.. I found my first egg a couple of days ago in the yard, but it was unusual in that it had a soft rubbery shell rather than the hard shell I had expected. I cut and popped it open with a sharp knife, and it looked like an egg you would expect from a chicken - with a large bright orange yolk on the inside.... But I thought because it had such a soft, rubbery texture shell and small size that certainly, it must have been dropped by some other type of creature...like some type of reptile.....however.... today, my son actually SAW the Cornish Hen pop out the smaller darker egg on the RIGHT. It has the exact same consistency of a slighlty deflated balloon, but the rubbery shell is very strong. It is just like the egg I found in the yard a day ago. They have been on DUMOR LAYER until they were about 17 weeks old. The POULTRY GROWER/FINISHER FEED was not available, so I started them on LAYER when the STARTER feed ran out. It was my belief that if they are on LAYER feed, they should not need any additional vitamins or minerals AS THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS ON THE PACKAGE. In addition the chickens free-range all day long on 30 acres of mixed habitat, so have access to whatever they want or need. I have one perfect egg from one of the other breeds (not sure which one dropped the good egg,) and two rubbery eggs that the Cornish Hen dropped. I know Cornish Hens are supposed to be more of a meat chicken....and mine is large enough to be turkey dinner at this point....it has gotten huge as she eats voraciously! Does she need more calcium or something to produce a good HARD SHELLED egg?....Or is it because that's just the type of egg Cornish Hens produce, because they are typically only raised as Meat Chickens rather than an Egg-Layer Chicken? Unfortunately, my elderly father cares for them when I cannot be around. He walks very slowly with a cane, and the Cornish hen can keep up with him. So when he arrives, the Cornish Hen always greets him, and follows him around, and accompanies him back to the car when he leaves...so they have become quite attached. My Dad really likes that bird...so, I was thinking if it lays eggs well, then I would just keep her as an egg-layer. But at this point I am really not sure what to do about the type of eggs it is dropping! Maybe this is the type of egg they lay because they are classified as a meat chicken and NOT an egg=layer???! Or more likely, am I not doing something I should be doing so it CAN produce a hard-shelled egg!? PLEASE HELP! WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE A CHICKEN LAYING SOFT RUBBERY-SHELLED EGGS, LAY A HARD SHELLED EGG INSTEAD?! ...OR IF THAT'S NORMAL, IS IT OKAY TO EAT THEM, AND HOW DO YOU "CRACK" A SOFT SHELLED EGG TO COOK IT????

 

[KilnChick]

No longer feeling left out!

what a wonderful thing to come home to after all night at work! Ye ha, Yipee, hoorah!!

 

[Chicnextdoor84]

. Our first carton full!! We love our colorful eggs!! Can't wait till our EE's lay so we can see what colors they will bring to the table!! I love seeing all of the egg pics thanks for sharing

 

[jstlitlome]

. Our first carton full!! We love our colorful eggs!! Can't wait till our EE's lay so we can see what colors they will bring to the table!! I love seeing all of the egg pics thanks for sharing

Those are really a lovely grouping of eggs! How many EEs do you have? I bought mine mostly because of the brown eggs, (then I threw an EE in there for the heck of it). I didnt realize how many different colors of brown their were! One of my Barred Rocks lays a practically pink egg. Now I wish I had gotten a chocolate layer, an Olive layer and another EE. My EE lays a green/blue egg, but I assume that those will come into many different shades too. I cant do that, because my coop is a little tight as it is. I will have to wait. I'm sure that my flock will cycle out over the years.

 

[jstlitlome]

Some calcium like oyster shell or I crush up my egg shells and feed them back with cayenne pepper, yogurt helps too

What does Cayenne Pepper do for them? I wouldnt think they would like that?

And Belinda7,your hen should be laying a hard egg, but when they just start laying, they have to work out the kinks. Angelicisi is right, that they probably just need some calcium. Get some oyster shell. I started hand feeding this to my laying girls because they didnt seem interested in it. Once they tasted it, they are sampling it on their own. I have had one soft egg. (laid from the roost, so it broke all over the coop floor) From what I'm reading on here, it's pretty normal.

 

[duck29g]

My first eggs from my black tailed japs

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