First Egg

[BigMama]

I just had to share. I've been checking the nesting boxes everyday this month. Everyone knows its like waiting for water to boil!!!

Last night DH threatened to eat my chickens if they didn't start laying eggs soon, and what do you know, this afternoon when I checked the nesting boxes there were three beautiful brown eggs laying right next to the ping pong ball!

I was so excited, everyone got their picture taken with the eggs. It was a riot! And of course even though eggs weren't on the menu, I had to make a batch of muffins so I would have an excuse to crack them open and eat some.

I just had to share with everyone!

 

[mamaboyd]

Congrats on your first eggs!! i bet they made yummy muffins. I can't wait for my first eggs, if I can convince my DH to let me keep some hens instead of processing them, and than I still have to wait a couple of months til they start laying

 

[momoftwinsinwi]

I'm so jealous!! I have another couple months too....seems like it's taking FOREVER!!!!

 

[horsewishr]

Quote:
We were just saying the same thing. Ours hit the 20-week mark this weekend, and still no eggs. I'm getting VERY impatient. (But we'll be stuck with four "barren" hens for life, if they don't lay. Nobody here has the heart to actually eat one.)

 

[BigMama]

This morning I didn't even change out of my pj's before I ran outside to check the nesting boxes where I found one more egg!

My husband thought I was nuts, but I just couldn't wait. I'm keeping track (so far anyway

) of how many eggs we are getting a day on a calendar. I've been marking chicken milestones on the calendar, since we've gotten them.

I do have a couple of questions for the pros. I know that I could probaly find it somewhere on this site, but I'm hoping someone will just answer my questions. How often do chickens lay eggs and how many do they lay? I think I read somewhere here one egg a day, or one egg every other day.

Well thanks for the help!

 

[wegotchickens]

My chickens are 19 weeks old this week, and I guess I'm too anxious about getting eggs.
I dreamed last night about finding eggs. Of the 2 eggs I collected in the dreams, though, one was already soft-boiled and the other had no shell. Does anyone else dream of collecting eggs?

BigMama, I think egg production depends on breed and age of the hens. I've read that hens lay more their first year, and can stop laying when they get 'old'. But that's relative, again, to the breed. I've also heard of 10-year old hens that still lay a couple of eggs a week.
A young hen can lay an egg a day in summer, except when she's molting, but they don't lay as much in winter. And they lay fewer eggs if they get stressed out, like in really hot weather.

 

[BigMama]

Thanks! I think I will be checking the nesting boxes every couple of hours until the newness and excitement wear off.

Some more questions: How long can the egg sit in the box before its unedible?

Has anyone heard of the float test (putting an egg in a bucket of water, if it floats its unedible), and is this true?

Do all fertilized eggs have blood in them? DH and I were arguing (oops,

I meant discussing, lol) he said that if the eggs are fertilized you will see blood in them right away, I told him that I didn't think you would if they were fresh and hadn't been sitting around. Who is right?

Thanks in advance!

 

[wegotchickens]

Eggs are designed to sit in the nest for several days before the hen sets on them. So they are good even if you don't get them the day they're laid. If you leave them for too long you run the risk of a hen deciding it's time to hatch out a clutch, though.

Yes, don't eat the floaters.
No, the blood doesn't form right away. If you keep them picked up and get them into the fridge you should see little or no blood. You shouldn't ever see any blood if you don't have a rooster...

 

[BigMama]

Thanks for the great information.

One more question, once refrigerated how long do the eggs keep?

I'm up to 8 eggs in 24hrs! Out of 21 hens I haven't figured out yet who is doing the laying. They seem to be popping them out throughout the day. I guess I had always assumed that they layed bright in early in the morning. Don't know exactly where I got that notion.

I do have a rooster. I don't know what breed he is, but he is such a handsome devil. I couldn't let DH butcher him with my cornish.

 

[buc]

I have shown this same excitment when this spring my gals started laying eggs.

Can you believe how us grownups act over the simple act of collecting eggs.

I have described it in the past as one of life's simple pleasures.