When will she lay?

[lablover]

I have a flock of 5 hens, and one rooster. Rooster and one hen are 17-18 weeks old. The youngest is 14 weeks. The roo has been after the two oldest hens, and I actually saw him breed the oldest hen today. When can I expect her to lay an egg? Until I can get some oyster shells, can I feed her the egg shells from the store bought eggs? With the eggs I will be getting, will I need to wash them before eating them? I plan on refrigerating them.

 

[aggie9296]

Mine started laying less than 1 week after the rooster started breeding them. So maybe he knows they are close. You can feed them the extra calcium and the egg shells from store eggs. They wil eat it if they need it.

No need to wash the eggs unless a lot of poop or dirt on them. I moisten a paper towel and wipe off heavy soil.

 

[Den in Penn]

My rooster started on the pullets a week ago. They can do it a few weeks ahead of the egg. At 18 weeks yours could be sooner than later.