Who else is waiting for that first egg?

[Ol Grey Mare]

mine are about 23 weeks or so and still no eggs! they are Americana mixes, does that madder?

23 weeks is not at all "late" for the onset of production - the normal range is 18-28 weeks (20-26 being most common) with some breeds taking even longer to mature.

 

[Granny368W]

Hi, I'm Rae and new to the BYC.. I had an account but could not sign into it.... So tonight I opened another account..... I have 4, 7 week old Australorps and 10, 4 week Australorps... I know I have a long time to wait but that's okay... Tonight is the first night they are all in the coop, we just finished it today.. Now we are going to start on the run... I am asking everybody if our hen house is big enough for 14 chickens, it us 8 ft. By 8 ft. Square... and the rules is going to be 16 ft. By 8 ft.... when they get bigger we will let them out into the huge yard when we can be close by... we live in the mountains in the south central Montana... we have many preditors,so we really had to build a safe hen house...
thanks, Rae

 

[mommato5chicks]

Cute birds - but if I am reading your post correctly it sounds as though your birds are sleeping in the nest box?  If that is the case, this is a habit you want to break - especially now that the eggs are coming in as the last thing you want is nest boxes full of poop (they expel a LOT of waste in the overnight roosting hours due to the amount of digestion that takes place at that time while they are in one, set place).  If this has been something that you have allowed until now it is going to take a bit of work to change their routine and get them roosting on the roost and using the nest boxes for what they are meant, to nest in while laying eggs.   One approach is to block their access to the boxes about half an hour before "bedtime" so that they can't get into the box and will look for a different place to sleep - thus finding the roost.  Another option is to go out at roost time and physically lift each bird out of the nest box and place them on the roost - eventually they get the idea of where they are supposed to be when it's time to settle in for the night.  While nest box sleeping is not unusual for young birds to develop a habit of doing, sometimes the cause is more to do with the layout of the coop - can you tell us a bit more (or show a photo of) the interior of your coop?

Yes they are I wasn't expecting them to lay so soon considering they are only 16 wks I have roosting bars and areas around the coop. I just added hay a few days ago I was cleaning out the boxes every morning do to there nightly messes lol we had a possum prob so I would lock them in the box but now we hunted it down and I'm going to train them to be on their roosting bars and close the door to the nesting boxes now that we hunted a predator.

 

[Granny368W]

We just put ours in the hen house today... the roosts are the only thing in there, we will build the nesting boxes in a month or so.... I ordered 2 of those feeders that hang on the wall,from coopsnmore, we should get them tomorrow and we have the five Gallon Buckets with lids, we're waiting on the nipples which should be here tomorrow... lol...

 

[Manyana]

such a lot to learn.

 

[jimbo2680]

i has a similar situation, as soon as i put a golf ball in the nest box they stopped seeping there., 2 ays later one made to nests then layed shortly after.

 

[LeiaLayers5]

I got my first eggs yesterday! So exciting!

Those cream colored? What breed are they from?

 

[Nic_Domino]

is this egg ok to eat? not sure why the shell is chalky. this egg is number 5






here is our first egg

 

[Nic_Domino]

It takes time and a little practice for some of them to get the hang of things. One other thing to do is to consider whether there are things contributing to the nest boxes being unappealing to them as it is not *just* about using bait (golf balls). How long have your birds been laying and can you share a bit more about the coop, nest boxes, etc - possibly include a photo or two? Have they been seen to be investigating the nest boxes?

Then Hens used the nesting box today! I was so happy We lower them down figured they were to high up for them but after that they were more interested in them

 

[pudgysimba]

Those cream colored? What breed are they from?

My buff Cochin bantam she had her 4th one today

(The egg in this pic is egg #3 )