Easter egger egg laying question

[21hens-incharge]

It is also winter, she is young, pullets come into lay later when maturing over winter.

There are a lot of reasons this pretty bird isn't laying yet.

 

[Vaskarb12]

It is also winter, she is young, pullets come into lay later when maturing over winter.

There are a lot of reasons this pretty bird isn't laying yet.

She laid her first egg,but her egg is very tiny;is there any thing I can do to improve the over all size on an egg.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

She laid her first egg,but her egg is very tiny;is there any thing I can do to improve the over all size on an egg.

Have you changed her living conditions since the original post?

 

[Vaskarb12]

Yeah! I now give her the laying pellets and etc.

 

[Vaskarb12]

I’m trying to build her a coop but I don’t know who to ask.

 

[Acre4Me]

First eggs are smaller typically. Their egg making systems are getting into sync. Often it’s said that within a few weeks to a couple months everything smooths out and size is typical for the breed.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Time takes care of the size as Acre4me said.

Congrats on the egg!

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Yeah! I now give her the laying pellets and etc.

I’m trying to build her a coop but I don’t know who to ask.

Awesome! I’m not very handy myself but there are plenty of articles on building coops.

 

[Warwickchickenhill]

Do you wanna live in the basement in the dark by yourself??

 

[Firefoot]

I’m trying to build her a coop but I don’t know who to ask.

There are lots of pre-fab coops available at places like Tractor Supply, Rural King -- even Amazon! Also check Craigslist and your local FB chicken groups for used coops. There are billions of pre-fab coops designed for urban yards that could work really well for you, especially if you got your girl one or two more friends. Most of those types of coops are ideal for 3 chickens and many come with an attached run (though most are really small so if you can let them out with supervision or enlarge the run, that'd be ideal).

Animals respond to daylight and their hormone cycles are driven by the amount of light they receive. Even though it's February and the days are getting longer, if your chicken is not receiving all that light because she's in the basement, her hormones are not up to speed. She may also be depressed from being alone. I don't say this to be mean, just trying to explain! If you got her a friend and were able to keep her out in the yard to receive all the sunlight and fresh air, she would definitely thrive.

However, people here are absolutely right that she is not acclimated to the cold. It is cold where I live and my chickens live out in my yard and have survived temps below 0, snow, wind, etc. just fine. But they are acclimated. If you got a coop next week and put her out there, she might die from the shock of the temp change.

So if I were you, I'd buy her a coop with a run and maybe she could spend a couple hours out there in the afternoons if it's sunny and warm, then come inside. Start on a warm day (40F+) and plan for acclimation to take a long time, probably the rest of the winter/spring. Also, plan to get her 1-2 more friends. 2 would be ideal. Aim to get pullets in the same age or slightly younger than her and a similar breed or at least not an aggressive breed. EE tend to be very timid and aggressive birds might freak her out. By late spring, all 2-3 of your birds should be acclimated and living outside with no problems and should be laying well for you!

Next winter, there might be a few things you need to do to your coop/run set up to winterize it, but otherwise keeping your birds outside should really cheer her up!

Also, you say you're leaving her by a window -- is she contained in a crate all day? If so, the lack of movement might also be adversely affecting her situation.