First eggs! But a couple questions.

bhawk-23

Crowing
Premium Feather Member
5 Years
Apr 12, 2020
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East Central Illinois
Hello all! I've noticed my Lizzy (16-17 weeks) showing some laying signs so I opened the nesting boxes, filled them with straw and two fake eggs. I've also been watching her closely and looking for an egg. This morning I came out to 2 soft eggs under the coop. One was broken and mostly eaten while the other was smashed but outer coating intact. We are first time time flock parents and I want to be excited but all I can think about is that they were not in the nesting box and ONE WAS EATEN!!
So here are my questions. Are both eggs most likely from the same girl or could there be two laying? How do I encourage laying in the nesting box? What happens if one has figured out how good they taste? How should I be feeding a flock of eight with only one, possibly two, laying? And this last question has nothing to do with egg laying but last night half the flock slept in the coop and the other half perched together in the run. Both should be predator proof (at least according to everything we researched before building) so I was not too worried, should I be?
I am having fun watching them and looking forward to getting some eggs now that one is laying (earlier than anticipated). Lizzy is hands down my favorite and always has been. She follows me, talks to me and is just so sweet. A couple are jerks, though not too mean, to the rest. And one actually challenges my dogs (one is 80 lbs!) even pecking them! So far the dogs haven't retaliated and just walk away but I'm watching closely. I step in between them and move her on. Their social behaviors are neat to watch, though I am super neurotic in watching for any bullying. But they have forced me to take the time and just sit outside, which I usually won't do in my chaotic life. I am enjoying having them.

Thanks for reading my long post and I am very appreciative of any advice you can offer!

Cara
 
To your non-egg-related question, if it's predator proof and they seem fine, kg is fine.
You generally want to prepare the nesting boxes at least a week before laying is expected, as long as they sleep on the roost. Your hens might not have realized that there is a better place to lay. You often get floor eggs for the first couple of weeks anyway. Try using a nest egg.
If an egg is eaten once or twice, it's fine. But if you have a self-proclaimed egg -eater in your flock, then you have a problem. DO NOT TRY MUSTARD! My hens loved the mustard more than the usual egg filling. There articles and threads on here that can help with that. Assuming you don't have any roosters, if the rest of your flock is expected to start laying soon, you can feed them all layer. Hope this helps!
 
hello Cara :frow As Gallinarium said, it's common to have weird eggs when they first start laying; sometimes there are kinks in the works that take a few weeks to sort themselves out.

To avoid bad egg-eating habits developing, try to check the coop and remove any eggs (in whatever shape they may be) asap and as often as possible during the day.

It's an excuse to spend even more time with your new flock :D
 
Thank you both for your replies. They all roost at night and have for many weeks now. I open the nesting boxes a week ago and added the straw and nest eggs 5 days ago. When I found the two eggs this morning I removed them right away and all the chips around them to make sure nothing was left behind. I'll be sure to keep watching and checking for a few weeks. That's a great excuse to be outside and avoiding housework, not that I don't already do that😁 Lol I'm not sure how close the others are to laying, Lizzy surprised me being just under 17 weeks.

Good to know about sleeping outside, they looked quite comfortable and happy perched together. I am fairly confident in the run with all the research, precautions and extra security we added when designing and building it.
 
A soft or thin shelled egg that is easily broken by being stepped on is fair game for eating, IMO.
It won't make them egg eaters.
They may even take a few curiosity pecks at intact eggs and dent or chip them.
It is good to keep a sharp eye and gather often tho, for the first month or so.
I like to replace gathered eggs with fakies.
 

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