Hi, I'm totally new to chicken keeping. I've been wanting them for years and my wife finally gave in
Now I have three Rhode Island Reds and I got my first (albeit small) egg today. Yesterday I noticed two eggs on the lawn, one had a very very soft shell and the other was without a shell at all. But this morning I found the small proper hard shelled egg... It tasted perfect too!
I've set up my run in the corner of the garden set on sand with a pickets fence around them. Although they discovered that they could just about squeeze through the pickets! So I'll have to run some chicken wire around it tonight. I had the breaded clip their wings, and they haven't tried to jump up over the fence yet, but I will wait and see what happens once I've put the chicken wire on.
Anyway, I've been totally bitten by the chicken keeping bug, are there any hints and tips that anyone can give to a newbie?
My son loves them, although he insists on only feeding them grain from a small spade! Ha ha
Now I have three Rhode Island Reds and I got my first (albeit small) egg today. Yesterday I noticed two eggs on the lawn, one had a very very soft shell and the other was without a shell at all. But this morning I found the small proper hard shelled egg... It tasted perfect too!
I've set up my run in the corner of the garden set on sand with a pickets fence around them. Although they discovered that they could just about squeeze through the pickets! So I'll have to run some chicken wire around it tonight. I had the breaded clip their wings, and they haven't tried to jump up over the fence yet, but I will wait and see what happens once I've put the chicken wire on.
Anyway, I've been totally bitten by the chicken keeping bug, are there any hints and tips that anyone can give to a newbie?
My son loves them, although he insists on only feeding them grain from a small spade! Ha ha
and Welcome To BYC! Congratulations on that first egg! 
they are worth the wait aren't they! Soft shelled eggs and other odd eggs are fairly common in pullets as they are starting to lay as they get their system in gear, they usually aren't anything to worry about. A great place to start is the BYC Learning Center, lots of nice articles on all aspects of poultry keeping you'll find helpful 
