First egg and a few questions

[julia305]

Good morning all

I got my first egg last night when i peeked into the nesting box to see if the girls had enough straw how fantastic! Im going to freeze it and keep it On reading through these posts it explains why one of the girls was screaming yesterday. My other half thought a fox had got into the garden and he ran hell for leather outside he said she was making so much noise it scared him. Would that have been the egg song?

But my question is - all the girls are around 15 weeks old is this the normal time for them to start laying? I was under the impression that they wouldnt start until about 6 months old and they are all on chick crumb still. I have 4 chicks and 2 ducks. Should I switch to layers pellets for them all now as I dont know for certain which chicken gave me the egg i have a feeling it is Stella who is the largest. I also have a largeish ISA brown and the other two are tiny bantams so its not likely to be them.... I dont know really. Is it safe to feed them all layer crumb now though or should I segregate their food?

What is the egg song by the way lol? I only heard about it about 10 minutes ago reading the forum. Stella is certainly getting louder and complains the most! Does this mean she is the queen of the roost? Bless her she is wonderful. Its funny because when they were babies she was the one who hated being picked up and cuddled but now she doesnt mind me stroking her at all.

Thank you in advance
Jules

 

[Outpost JWB]

Here is a link for an example of the egg song........Chickens Singing the EGG Song! - YouTube. Just because they sing it, doesn't always mean they are laying an egg. Sometimes we get "cheerleaders".

About the age of them....That is very early for them to start laying.

They should be getting chick starter until they are about 22 weeks old. This has not happened to me, but I would try to find which one is laying and feed the others the chick starter. I would feed the layer crumbles to the hen that's laying.

Also, about freezing that egg, it will probably bust. Just a word of caution.

Congrats on your 1st egg!!!

 

[julia305]

I wish i'd been there to hear it. I am pretty sure Stella is almost fully grown - she has a full comb and her wattles are a good size and wobbling away. She is pretty large for 15 weeks. They are definitely not younger as we got them when they were a week old back at the beginning of May. Will it harm them to be laying eggs then?

Oh what a shame about the egg then i so wanted to keep it lol.

Thank you for your advice. Any ideas on how to find out who is laying?

 

[nikolairapunzel]

I wish i'd been there to hear it.  I am pretty sure Stella is almost fully grown - she has a full comb and her wattles are a good size and wobbling away.  She is pretty large for 15 weeks.  They are definitely not younger as we got them when they were a week old back at the beginning of May.  Will it harm them to be laying eggs then? 

Oh what a shame about the egg then i so wanted to keep it lol. 

You can just keep the egg and do nothing. We do the eukranian egg coloring at easter and you just leave the egg as is. No boiling or blowing out. We have eggs that have sat for years and they just get lighter and lighter inside. So just put it in a safe place and it will be fine!

Thank you for your advice.  Any ideas on how to find out who is laying? 

 

[nikolairapunzel]

You can just keep the egg and do nothing. We do the eukranian egg coloring at easter and you just leave the egg as is. No boiling or blowing out. We have eggs that have sat for years and they just get lighter and lighter inside. So just put it in a safe place and it will be fine

 

[julia305]

Aww lovely. Thank you. I really don't want to eat the first one

 

[Outpost JWB]

We have done the same with a few of ours. I have also done the blow out the contents on a few only to end up breaking it later

.

It won't hurt her to be laying. I'd just watch the hens to see which one is showing signs of laying.

 

[julia305]

Sorry to sound like a dummy but what are the signs please? Both the big ones have wattles and combs but are there behavioural signs I should look for? I don't think I've seen them squatting lol awwww love them

 

[Outpost JWB]

Watch and see which one frequents the nest box.

 

[julia305]

Great. Thank you all for your advice