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

[StarLover21]

Happy 30th week birthday Nutella (wheaten maran). Sigh.

 

[fuquay nc girl]

I feel your pain, I'm still waiting.

 

[TnMama]

I would say that since they have been going around to where the dog house is, it's probably become a habit to go to that place, so I would start your bucket there and gradually move it closer to the coop each day or two. I would also put a fake egg or two in the bucket you want them to use to further encourage them to lay there. Hens like to lay in places where there are already eggs...they usually aren't picky about having their own space. Why? because they know that since someone else already laid there, it must be a safe spot and they will drop theirs right next to the other one. I'm no expert, but it seems logical to me to start your bucket in the spot they are already accustomed to.

We have cooped up the girls to get them used to using the hen house for nesting. Only 3 are laying yet,far as we can tell. I set a bucket over there where she was laying. No go. She's laying up against the shed wall. The bucket will be going there today! Molly is getting out of the coop to go lay there! It's frustrating. I follow her, pick her up,adn put here in the hen house. Earlier, I even shut the yard door with her by herself. When I let her out an hr later, no egg! She's gotten out 3 times, and IDK how, b/c the rest are staying in the pen. I told her she was going to be fried up if she doesn't cooperate! There is a golf ball in there,and pine shavings. I'm going to put pine needles in the bucket since she prefers them.

Any advice would be helpful, b/c I can't spend my whole day getting my wayward girl!

 

[blondiebee181]

We have cooped up the girls to get them used to using the hen house for nesting. Only 3 are laying yet,far as we can tell. I set a bucket over there where she was laying. No go. She's laying up against the shed wall. The bucket will be going there today! Molly is getting out of the coop to go lay there! It's frustrating. I follow her, pick her up,adn put here in the hen house. Earlier, I even shut the yard door with her by herself. When I let her out an hr later, no egg! She's gotten out 3 times, and IDK how, b/c the rest are staying in the pen. I told her she was going to be fried up if she doesn't cooperate! There is a golf ball in there,and pine shavings. I'm going to put pine needles in the bucket since she prefers them.

Any advice would be helpful, b/c I can't spend my whole day getting my wayward girl!

Hm, very tricky...I feel so lucky now that I haven't had any problems with my girls laying in the yard. I would definately track down the spot where she is escaping from because not only is it annoying, but it could potentially be a vulnerable spot for predators too. How many girls do you have? Is Molly the only one not laying in the place you want?

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

Well, my girls are 21 weeks old and nothing yet...9 of them are Cinnamon Queens too, I figured they'd be at it by 19 weeks...

 

[blondiebee181]

Strange thing this morning, I went to check the nests and when I opened the lid there was a little brown egg in one side (presumably Petries) and Daisy, my Leghorn (who's been laying good, strong eggs for several weeks now) was sitting in the other side. so I collected the egg and closed the lid quietly. A few minutes later, Daisy came out so I went back to look and where she was sitting was a thin shelled egg that had broken open and the whites and yolk had squished out. At first I thought it was her that layed it, but that suprised me because even her first egg, almost 3 weeks ago was strong. So I have a few scenarios in mind, tell me which one you think is the most plausible.

#1 It is indeed Daisys egg and she just happened to have an "oops" egg moment

#2 When I checked the coop last night just before going to bed, my 5 or so year old SLW hen, Silver was sitting in the box. Silver's laying has slowed because of her age anyways, and she has been moulting so I haven't gotten any eggs from her since the 2 she laid the first week I brought her home back in June. Could she possibly have laid it and it was weak because of the moult?

#3 My RIR, Ginger has been squatting the past few days and she is due to start laying. Could it have been hers and Daisy just stepped on it attempting to lay hers next?

Okay investigators, let's figure this out!

 

[MadabtChickens]

Strange thing this morning, I went to check the nests and when I opened the lid there was a little brown egg in one side (presumably Petries) and Daisy, my Leghorn (who's been laying good, strong eggs for several weeks now) was sitting in the other side. so I collected the egg and closed the lid quietly. A few minutes later, Daisy came out so I went back to look and where she was sitting was a thin shelled egg that had broken open and the whites and yolk had squished out. At first I thought it was her that layed it, but that suprised me because even her first egg, almost 3 weeks ago was strong. So I have a few scenarios in mind, tell me which one you think is the most plausible.

#1 It is indeed Daisys egg and she just happened to have an "oops" egg moment

#2 When I checked the coop last night just before going to bed, my 5 or so year old SLW hen, Silver was sitting in the box. Silver's laying has slowed because of her age anyways, and she has been moulting so I haven't gotten any eggs from her since the 2 she laid the first week I brought her home back in June. Could she possibly have laid it and it was weak because of the moult?

#3 My RIR, Ginger has been squatting the past few days and she is due to start laying. Could it have been hers and Daisy just stepped on it attempting to lay hers next?

Okay investigators, let's figure this out!

Was the egg brown or white? I got one thin shelled egg from my Leghorn before when all of her previous eggs were very thick shelled. It's probably just a glitch in their system.

 

[blondiebee181]

Well the color was hard to tell, it was sort of brownish whitish...that probably doesn't help

 

[utlancem]

Hello everybody!!

This First Egg Countdown is killing me. haha

I have been reading all the posts throughout this thread and it sounds like my RIR "Corncob" should start to lay any day now. She is going on 20 weeks this Friday. Her comb has turned quite red over the last week or so, but I have no idea if she is squatting or not. lol

We also have her with some other younger pullets and was wondering if that might have any affect on when she starts laying?

Corncob is our first Chicken ever and we are very excited to get that "FIRST EGG".

The next in line would be 2 BR that are turning 14 weeks this Friday, so i think they still have a month or so to start.

Lance

 

[blondiebee181]

Hello everybody!!

This First Egg Countdown is killing me. haha

I have been reading all the posts throughout this thread and it sounds like my RIR "Corncob" should start to lay any day now. She is going on 20 weeks this Friday. Her comb has turned quite red over the last week or so, but I have no idea if she is squatting or not. lol

We also have her with some other younger pullets and was wondering if that might have any affect on when she starts laying?

Corncob is our first Chicken ever and we are very excited to get that "FIRST EGG".

The next in line would be 2 BR that are turning 14 weeks this Friday, so i think they still have a month or so to start.

Lance

Having your RIR in with the youngins won't affect her laying when she's ready, just make sure you have a nest box open for her to use. I would suggest putting a dummy egg in it too. Also might want to make sure your younger girls aren't sleeping in the nest cuz then you'll have poopy eggs, good luck!