First Egg Countdown

[NickyPick]

My young pullets are now 20 weeks. Most of the New Hampshires and the Australorps as well as a few of the EE's are now pretty red in the face. Still no eggs from them. The old guard (2+ years) are still plugging away. One of my old hens looks like she's egg bound, so I just gave her a warm epsom salt soak. She seemed to like it.

Hope it does the trick.

 

[chicksak]

My young pullets are now 20 weeks. Most of the New Hampshires and the Australorps as well as a few of the EE's are now pretty red in the face. Still no eggs from them. The old guard (2+ years) are still plugging away. One of my old hens looks like she's egg bound, so I just gave her a warm epsom salt soak. She seemed to like it.

Hope it does the trick.

What does an egg bound hen look like?

 

[mckenzy]

What does "egg bound" mean? I can assume I know the answer, but I'd rather learn for real.

 

[NickyPick]

Means the egg is stuck and won't come out - kinda like being constipated. Amber is laying down, feathers all fluffed, and breathing heavy. Her vent is opening and closing and her abdomen is very swollen. If she's unable to pass this egg and all the feces that's probably backing up behind it, she will die. I'm going to give her another warm soak in a while.

 

[Happy Chooks]

My young pullets are now 20 weeks. Most of the New Hampshires and the Australorps as well as a few of the EE's are now pretty red in the face. Still no eggs from them. The old guard (2+ years) are still plugging away. One of my old hens looks like she's egg bound, so I just gave her a warm epsom salt soak. She seemed to like it.

Hope it does the trick.

What does an egg bound hen look like?

They walk like a penguin.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Also, it's very unusual for a young pullet to become egg bound.

 

[mckenzy]

I say give her a big squeeze. A hug fixes everything.

 

[Junibutt]

Hi Folks,

Do any of these pullets look close to laying? Both are making noises all day. Squatting is out of question because I just got them 3 weeks ago and they don't let me close. They are approximately 16 weeks.


Mable was sold to me as a Silver Laced Wyandotte
As you can see she obviously is not since she . (Correct me if I am wrong)






Koko (to the right) is supposedly an Australorp.

 

[Junibutt]

I got a nice surprise this morning. One of my red-stars laid a jumbo egg. She had started with laying medium sized eggs, then progressed to borderline large for a few weeks and now this one. Its more than likely a double yolker. I feel like saving it though instead of eating. BTW she has not missed a day since she first laid an egg on July 26th. I know I am far from a record by any standards, however am keeping a spreadsheet log of my hens laying records. Does anyone know if I need to do something special to claim how many eggs my hen laid in a year? Do I need to save all her eggs?



It weighs 84 gms/2.96 ounce



Jumbo egg in my 10 year old daughter's hand


Marcy-who laid the jumbo egg. Her 4 week old picture.
She was perfectly fine today after she laid this egg!

 

[Happy Chooks]

Mable is a silver laced Wyandotte, though she has the incorrect comb and is not of breeding quality - she will lay eggs just fine for you. She does look close to laying.

You probably have a few more weeks on Koko. She is getting there, but doesn't look super close.