19 and a half weeks old and still no eggs :( egg countdown anyone??

[Rhoise]

That sounds like it. About your other question, couldn't have answered it until about 30 minutes ago - just got FIRST EGGGGGG! SO EXCITED. I noticed first squat almost five days ago. This is my first "first egg" so I don't know if that's average or not. She laid it in the nest box right next to the ceramic egg.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/album/6261819/id/5254001/sort/display_order
I wish I could figure out picture posting instead of just links!!! I can't copy/paste from my phone album.

YaaaaaaaY!!!!! CONGRATS!! My Frankie squatted 6 days before the egg arrived

 

[Rhoise]

WHhoooo Hoooo
21 weeks and I got my first BLUE egg....
As there is 4 girls I am hopping for more soon.

My proud boys and thier girls...

Congats!!!!! cool looking flock yay!!!! blue eggs too cool!!

 

[FirewifeJess]

Well....no eggs...but one of my Buff Orps squatted 2 days ago!!!!! I'm checking the nest boxes all the time but they don't seem interested yet. We'll see how long it takes but I think we're pretty close! Woohoo!

 

[blondiebee181]

Bitter Sweet first egg! I am a bit worried about my pullet Frankie, she was acting weird late this afternoon so I picked her up and put her in the coop she came out and just stood around tail down acting weird clingy and dopey, so I put her back in the coop to hang and was poop scooping the run checking on her periodically, once when I looked she was in the nest box laying down(a first) she then stood up took two steps out and plopped out this weird soft shelled egg in the coop not fully formed!!! She was acting really strange standing around not moving tail down for several hours afterwards but seemed to perk up a bit after a while and went to roost with the other ladies at dusk? I hope she was just in shock! and nothing is wrong. It was about the size of a large grocery store egg with a deep yellow/orange yolk! I had it for dinner with a salad and our first garden tomatoes. We are very very proud of our little Pullet she was 17 weeks and 6 days old today...We will keep an eye on her and hope for the best in the week to come, we have 4 girls squatting now out of nine, Frankie did her first squat last Sunday 6 days ago..........

HELLO FELLOW BOISEAN! Nice to finally see someone else on here from B-town

Congrats on your first egg and to Frankie! I have a hen (Xena) that is needy sometimes too especially when she has an egg brewin'! My 4 are about 20 weeks and 2 of them are laying currently, my Leghorn Daisy and my Americauna Xena. My Barred, Petrie, just started squatting yesterday! I loved your story about her squatting in front of you, my girls do that too especially when I have treats and are trying to get them all back in the run during the day, they run right in front of me and sometimes they squat! I almost run them right over!

As to your Frankie, when she squats, pet her and congratulate her, if you didn't already know, this stance is a preparation for mating so the rooster can get on. Once she gets into laying, she will probably be more comfortable, it will become part of her "ritual" and she won't be as clingy. As far as the state of your egg, this is quite normal. It is normal for them to be abnormaly formed, smaller than usual, laid with little or no shell, with double yolks or no yolks, and with a little blood even around the egg. Make sure your girls are getting enough calcium (oyster shell) and are on layer feed. It's also been hot here in Boise as you know, so make sure they are getting plenty of fresh, clean water as well. Sometimes I mix a pack of Sav-a-chick in with mine. You can find it at Zamzows and it's basicaly just a mineral and electrolyte supplement that dissolves in the water. Like Gatorade for chickens. Good luck with your girls!

 

[PoultryGirly]

My barred rock is 21 weeks old. I feed them layer, scratch, and flock raiser. What's the oyster shell for, do I HAVE to have it? Oh, and she's been doing that about 9 days now. Will they do that after they start laying, because I want to make sure they are not eating their eggs. Thanks again!!!!

 

[Rhoise]

Thanks Blondeebee!! and yes I have seen you on here too fellow Boisean, we'll have to meet some day in person and talk chickens Thanks for the reassuring words about Frankies first egg, she is better today but still actig a bit clingy, as with other animals and their first time reproducing it is all a learning curve, I am just so much less experienced with chickens and eggs than mammals and live young!! I will continue to encourage calcium with free choice oyster shells, changed exclusively to layer pellets yesterday (was finishing chick crumbles in last bag and feeding pellets as scratch treats), and may go get some electrolytes just to make me feel better if nothing else! Again thanks for the comforting post that it is pretty normal to see weird eggs at first, It was a bitter sweet shock to me, but the cool thing is I actually saw it happen, and know that Frankie was the special girl

Thanks! Julie

 

[Sunnysimplelife]

Mine were at 20 and 21 weeks so you are close.

 

[Rhoise]

My barred rock is 21 weeks old. I feed them layer, scratch, and flock raiser. What's the oyster shell for, do I HAVE to have it? Oh, and she's been doing that about 9 days now. Will they do that after they start laying, because I want to make sure they are not eating their eggs. Thanks again!!!!

Hi ChickenPerson, oyster shell is fed to incease calcium for nice hard shells. Although there is calcium in the layer feeds, I offer it free choice because my girls are out in the yard alot and I feed scratch too which they say to limit to around 10% of their total intake(whatever that is when their free rangeing its hard to tell sometimes). I took a neat idea from this web site and nailed an old tuna can to my outside run and filled it with oyster shells for them to peck at. They seem to peck at it and spill it a bit but don't really seem to eat much yet, others have said they will eat it as they need it. My Frankie squatted 6 days before laying her first egg yesterday. Three other girls have started squatting this week and clucking alot and messing around in the nest boxes so something is up!! As you can tell from everybody else's experience age of first egg and time from squat to first egg all is different, I can just tell you this if they're squatting, you are closer than when they weren't, usually around 1-2 weeks after squatting you get an egg, some peoples chicks never squat
(or they don't spend a disturbing ammount of time watching their hens like me

) and they get eggs too, Julie

 

[blondiebee181]

My barred rock is 21 weeks old. I feed them layer, scratch, and flock raiser. What's the oyster shell for, do I HAVE to have it? Oh, and she's been doing that about 9 days now. Will they do that after they start laying, because I want to make sure they are not eating their eggs. Thanks again!!!!

Yep, she is close. They will continue to squat after they begin to lay. They will squat the most in the hours before they lay the egg and not quite as much the few hours after it has passed. Oyster shell is a calcium supplement and laying hens HAVE to have calcium to produce nice, thick shells. Sometimes layer feed has enough, but I offer oyster shell free choice anyways, especially because everyone is going back to flock raiser soon so I can integrate my 4-week old Indian Runner female ducks into the flock. Extra calcium also makes it harder for hens to crack and eat the eggs if they decide to. None of mine have eaten their eggs so hopefully you don't have problems there. Making sure they have plenty of free-range time and extra table scrap treats will discourage egg-eating. They are usually after the extra protein in the yolk. Also make sure you are starting to place "dummy" eggs in your nesting boxes so they are encouraged to lay there, and NOT in your yard. Good luck!

 

[blondiebee181]

Thanks Blondeebee!! and yes I have seen you on here too fellow Boisean, we'll have to meet some day in person and talk chickens Thanks for the reassuring words about Frankies first egg, she is better today but still actig a bit clingy, as with other animals and their first time reproducing it is all a learning curve, I am just so much less experienced with chickens and eggs than mammals and live young!! I will continue to encourage calcium with free choice oyster shells, changed exclusively to layer pellets yesterday (was finishing chick crumbles in last bag and feeding pellets as scratch treats), and may go get some electrolytes just to make me feel better if nothing else! Again thanks for the comforting post that it is pretty normal to see weird eggs at first, It was a bitter sweet shock to me, but the cool thing is I actually saw it happen, and know that Frankie was the special girl

Thanks! Julie

Sounds great, Julie! Hope everything goes well with Frankie, sounds like a sweet girl! I love talking chickens! I'd like to see some more pics of your girls!