First egg on the Poop tray! Normal?

[Allyssa]

HI all, Hope someone can help! I have 7 hens, three of which are 16.5 week old red/black stars which are supposed to lay anywhere from 16-18 weeks. One of the has been exhibiting signs that she is ready (crouching, larger & redder combs, etc), so I was expecting it to occur shortly. She has been behaving very strangely by wandering around by herself and coming to me. I assume she was looking for a place to lay, so I took her to the nesting boxes which are in the coop, just for a reminder. this morning when I went to open the coop, there was an egg that had been "layed" on the poop, tray which was of course broken from the fall. Any way I can correct this problem? I am also wondering about feed. I have the three 16.5 week old red/black stars and four Easter eggers who are 14 weeks old. Can I give them all layer feed? How do I go about feeding for the two different ages? Thanks for any help! Allyssa

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The first eggs are often something that kind of catch the birds by surprise - the whole process is new and somewhat confusing and there is not a whole lot of control - so, yes, eggs being laid from the roost (or while standing at the water station, or any other odd situation) are quite common. It really isn't a problem that you need to "correct" so much as it is just a matter of her figuring it all out. Are your nest boxes set up in a way that are easily accesible to them? Have you placed some "bait" (golf balls, wooden eggs, etc) in them to indicate that is what the box is for (chickens are attracted to places other chickens have already laid)
For feed - given your flock I would suggest feeding the feed you are giving now (presumably a grower ration) and offering some oyster shell on the side for the birds that are laying to take -- I would not switch to layer feed until they are all at least 18 weeks old and/or laying eggs (well, *I* wouldn't switch to layer at all, but if you want to use layer feed that is the point to make the change)

 

[Allyssa]

Also want to mention that she has been wandering off by herself for several days. She spends most of her time with the others, but a good amount wandering...

 

[Allyssa]

Thanks for your quick help! I do have golf balls in the nesting boxes. I did make changes to the nesting boxes yesterday. I had 4 gallon square buckets on shelves with astro turf in them, but I started thinking they were maybe too small, so I switched out a few of them for round/shallow planters on the top shelf. Should I confine her to the coop so she lays inside? Also, what do you feed since you don't give layer feed?

 

[aart]

You want your nests lower than your roosts or they will roost(sleep) in the nests and poop them up, making for some gross eggs.

Nest should be easy to access, getting up and down, and they like to look before entering so a perch in front can help.
They may want more than astro turf at first, adds some bedding to scratch around in.

If you're free ranging you may want to keep them confined to coop and run for a couple few weeks,
until they get in the habit of laying in the coop nests instead of finding another place to lay.


I like to feed a 'flock raiser' type 20% protein crumble to all ages and genders, as non-layers(chicks, males and molting birds) do not need the extra calcium that is in layer feed and chicks and molters can use the extra protein. Makes life much simpler to store and distribute one type of chow that everyone can eat.

The higher protein crumble also offsets the 8% protein scratch grains and other kitchen/garden scraps I like to offer.

Calcium should be available at all times for the layers, I use oyster shell mixed with rinsed, dried, crushed chicken egg shells in a separate container.

Animal protein (mealworms, a little cheese - beware the salt content, meat scraps) is provided during molting and if I see any feather eating.