Finally, the 1st egg!!!

[dee88]

Laid by my RIR, Helen Reddy! She is approx. 20 wks. old! It was a small, perfect little light brown egg! She laid it on the ground, not in the nesting box! I picked the egg up from the ground in front of her, and placed it carefully in the nesting box, hoping she will get the messge! Is this common for them to lay the first few eggs on the ground? Anything I can do to get her to lay in the box?

 

[3goodeggs]

on the first egg! yes, chickens like to nest where they see others have nested. Get some fake eggs or golf balls and put them in the nesting area. This should help. My hens would roll out the golf balls. They did not like them.
Good for Helen! She was ready.
by the way, how did she get her name? I like it. It's cute.

 

[gryeyes]

Lots of people, myself included, "seed" the nest boxes with a golf ball. (Chickens can't tell the difference - they're round, they look like somebody ELSE likes to use that nest box.) Or wooden or ceramic eggs, or even plastic Easter eggs, filled with sand and glued shut.

It's quite common for new layers to lay an egg just about anywhere at first, because they don't really know what's going on with their bodies. "What IS this horrible sensation? This is worse than over-eating dry cereal! ACK! NOW!! Now!! Whew, glad THAT'S over!"

They'll get it together soon enough. But they like to share nest boxes, so if they think somebody else is using the nest, they will most likely use it too. "Looks like this is a safe place to lay an egg."

 

[dee88]

Hi 3goodeggs,

I named Helen "Helen Reddy" because she's a RIR and because she IS reddy!!!! (ready) Your welcome to use the name! It must be good luck because she's my first hen to lay!!!