First Egg Countdown

[meemnum1]

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Welcome!

Your BR's probably aren't old enough yet. Do you have a picture of them? The others are too young to be laying.

Game bird feed will be fine for them, just make sure you have oyster shell a ails me on the side. They will take it as they need it. Depending in your soil, you may need to provide grit as well. I don't because our soil has plenty of small pebbles.
Congrats! Pretty color!

Yes pretty eggs.

I do have pictures, but I only have the internet on my phone so I can't upload the pictures. I'll try to get to my dad's house soon and upload them. I'm not sure about the grit. I thought that the oyster shells also provided "grit" as well as calcium?

 

[LadyCluck77]

If they have been eating the eggs, you would see some yolk in the shavings, and usually a messy face for the egg eater, so thats probably not the case here. Yours probably are just not yet laying. You are doing everything right.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote: Could be she hasn't applied the spray paint to the egg yet. They could darken as her body adjusts to laying. All brown eggs are white with brown spray paint. My hatchery RIR lays an egg the color of the one on the bottom right.

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Quote: You should be able to upload from your phone.

No, oyster shell is for calcium only - it dissolves. Grit is for their crop - it is needed to break down plant material. If you have a good amount of tiny pebbles in your soil, you will be fine. If not, you will want to provide grit as well.

 

[Happy Chooks]

My Buffz have been squatting too and no eggs?! I put my Red In the nest box last night and she made the straw into a beautiful round nest. Is this a sign she is close to laying?

My 4 month BO has started squatting...

how much longer now before we should see an egg?
Thanks

It's hard to say, as chickens are individuals and as such, mature at different rates. Generally, they will start laying within a couple weeks of squatting.

 

[meemnum1]

If they have been eating the eggs, you would see some yolk in the shavings, and usually a messy face for the egg eater, so thats probably not the case here. Yours probably are just not yet laying. You are doing everything right.

My attempt at posting a picture of my BR that is the oldest.

 

[Hayduke27]

Look what I found in the nest box last night when I shut the coop! Yay!!!




I didn't witness it, but I am sure it was laid by my black sex link. She's got the biggest comb and waddles by far, and she squatted for me once a few days ago. Here she is:



There is a peck spot where she cracked the shell a little, but didn't break the inner membrane. I have read they sometimes peck the first egg, not really knowing what it is. I am going to eat the egg this morning, see if it has a yolk and whatnot (it's very small!). I'm so happy!!!!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Congrats!

 

[jakeflock]

Awesome I can't wait to find my first egg!!

 

[Junibutt]

Could be she hasn't applied the spray paint to the egg yet. They could darken as her body adjusts to laying. All brown eggs are white with brown spray paint. My hatchery RIR lays an egg the color of the one on the bottom right.
You should be able to upload from your phone.

Ok that was helpful, however today she laid an egg around 11:00 AM. It was much smaller than what she laid yesterday and then around 7:00 PM she almost froze while eating next to my feet. Then pooed a watery splash and then started walking slowly and really strange. At first I though she probably got some acute intestinal infection and she is just going to die on me. But low and behold, she laid another egg walking around me. The egg doesn't have any shell though, it only has a membrane and seems jelly like.

One, I did not expect her to lay two eggs in a day and two, I am worried about her health. Should I really be worried or it just happens in the beginning sometimes? I am going to try to post a picture of the eggs

 

[LadyCluck77]

That can happen the first several weeks when they are starting up. One of my leghorns kept ejecting shell-less eggs, then sometimes thin shelled eggs. Sometimes three total in a day. It was very messy and frustrating. She also laid her eggs from the roost, so even the good shelled ones broke when they hit.
She did eventually normalize, and now lays a nice white egg every day in the nest box.
Just keep offering oyster shell and she will be fine.