First egg broken....I could cry!!

hoosierhen

Songster
12 Years
Sep 26, 2007
382
1
139
Indiana
Today when I went to the coop I let my girls and guy out for some fresh air and sunshine. One of my RIR hens perched on the door jamb to the coop. The next thing I know she has layed an egg onto the concrete floor (There are a few shavings in this area, as it is where I store feed etc. but not enough to cushion an egg with a 6-8 inch drop. When I picked it up, the contents oozed out and the other chickens started to eat it. I scooped it up quickly with some shavings and threw it out, so they couldn't eat it.
Now I'm wondering if this REALLY IS the first one, or have they been laying and eating them?
They are 19 weeks old, so I figured it would be a while longer before they started laying, being winter and all.
I will get layer feed tomorrow along with oyster shell calcium. Is it ok to use up the rest of the chick feed with it?
 
i let my chickens eat egg sometimes.is that bad for them?
hmm.png
 
If they are just starting to lay they are probably still trying to figure everything out. Do you have th ewhole golf ball thing going in the nesting boxes????

Mine did this too once or twice. It never became a regular thing so you might not need to worry at all. I know it i sa big bummer though. Sorry:-(
 
I have 2 fake eggs in the nesting boxes. When I went into the nesting area, I noticed her digging around in the shavings to make an indentation, but I didn't think much of it, as they have been doing this sometimes to sleep.
She just followed the rest of the gang outside, and then hopped up on the door jamb and perched there. I just thought she was sunning herself. It is near 40 today. Much nicer than the below zero days of a few days ago.

Rooster97, I didn't want them to eat the egg raw and freshly laid. I'm afraid they will consider it part of their diet. I would like the option of giving them eggs. I will boil them first though.
 

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