First time layer questions from a first time pullet mom

[LtDanFan]

Since i started my flock with younger hens, they were all pretty much laying when i got them, it just took them a bit to adjust to the move. My first group of pullets is now coming of age and consists of 2 back yard mixes hatched from a friend’s eggs and 2 cream legbars hatched from a local breeder. They are all 5 months old and hatched out about a week apart. The next group is about 6 weeks behind them and at just shy of 4 months old, i presume still a bit on the young side for laying.
The interesting thing is that Monday i got an olive egg, Tuesday a blue egg and a pink egg. Today (Wednesday) and mixed with these have been the regular brown and/or speckled eggs that my older ladies give me. So based on the appearance, I presume i have 3 new layers from the older group of pullets, but when could i expect the second egg from each of these new layers? Is it unusual to start laying, then wait a few days to produce the next egg?
I know things can vary a bit in the beginning, but how long does it usually take for them to get on a schedule and become regular?
I will have to figure out how to set up a cam in the coop but it’s super small and dark in there, even during the day lol.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi!

Generally, it's closer to a year before they settle into a steady layer. Some breeds sooner than others.

Do you have some oyster shell in a separate dish for them in case they need extra calcium? Not saying that'll speed them up, but it does help them have healthier eggs and pass them easier.

We have Blink indoor cameras in the coops, but since cameras are motion-activated, we leave the indoor ones off or they'd be triggered constantly. If that's what you want, I'd try to find one that records constantly.

 

[LtDanFan]

Hi!

Generally, it's closer to a year before they settle into a steady layer. Some breeds sooner than others.

Do you have some oyster shell in a separate dish for them in case they need extra calcium? Not saying that'll speed them up, but it does help them have healthier eggs and pass them easier.

We have Blink indoor cameras in the coops, but since cameras are motion-activated, we leave the indoor ones off or they'd be triggered constantly. If that's what you want, I'd try to find one that records constantly.

I’ll look into those cameras. I somewhere have a few extra ring battery cameras which came as a multi-pack but no idea where they are at the moment.
I have had calcium out since day one because i got impatient while waiting for my chicks to hatch and acquired young laying hens from local sources. I even saw one of the legbar pullets help herself the other day so i don’t know if that’s a new layer or not but if not i presume she will be soon.
Interestingly enough, the olive egg was a double yolker. I won’t be mad if that continues lol as long as she continues to pass them, i plan to use the eggs for my challah bread and the yolkier the better!!
I guess im not done being patient lol. First i had to wait for eggs, then i had to wait for colored eggs, now i have to wait for newbies to get into their groove. Ugh, seems like chicken math is linear and not exponential for me so far.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

FWIW I've had a couple consistent double-yokers over the years. About 3, as I recall. None of them lived more than a few months. I assumed that producing double-yoked eggs was terribly hard on their systems and was not surprised by their loss at the time. Their sisters who produced normally lived for years and laid well that whole time.

HTH

Rusty

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Many chicken breeds do not lay every single day (and it's even more sporadic at the beginning). I have a White Leghorn who has laid an egg every day since she started laying, but that breed is known for prolific egg laying.

Cream Legbars are typically not going to lay an egg every single day (you'll probably get about 4-6 per week from them)It's difficult to say with the BYM.

From 4 new laying birds (depending on breed), I'd expect to see 1-4 eggs per day when they get fully going - which will take several weeks and may not be as regular as you might see come spring time (and 4 eggs from 4 birds on the same day will likely be a rare occasion). This early on, you may not see eggs every day.

I have 19 hens. My oldest six are 3 yrs old (so their production is WAY down), I have a group of nine that are 1.5 yr and a group of four that are 1 yr. Some are starting to molt. I'm averaging about 7-10 eggs per day. During the summer I'd get between 10-14 (I think I got 16 eggs a couple of times but those days were few and far between).

 

[LtDanFan]

Now i have a new/different question but still along the lines of a first layer question.
Today, my petsitter reported finding an egg in the coop with no shell. Like on the bottom, not in a nest box. She sent me pics and I am not convinced that its an egg, but its pretty hard to see with all the debris and bedding on it. She was sure it was an egg without a shell. I am currently feeding a layer pellet in a multi ported feeder, a grower feed in a different multi ported feeder and a mix of layer/scratch spread on the ground with 2 sources of oyster shells available for ad lib feeding. Also, when i have used about a dozen or so eggs, i will dry out and crush up eggshells and spread them in the chicken yard for them to eat as they desire.
If this was indeed a shell-less egg, how concerned should i be considering that i have 4 pullets of just barely laying age, several hens of absolute laying age and a handful of pullets who are still 3-4 or more weeks from laying……With layer feed and extra calcium available?

 

[LtDanFan]

FWIW I've had a couple consistent double-yokers over the years. About 3, as I recall. None of them lived more than a few months. I assumed that producing double-yoked eggs was terribly hard on their systems and was not surprised by their loss at the time. Their sisters who produced normally lived for years and laid well that whole time.

HTH

Rusty

Were they egg bound? I can’t imagine that a double yolker would have a harder time than a single yolker, except for the egg being larger (sometimes) and harder to pass. My two meat birds consistently produce eggs with double yolks, but their eggs are normal sized, they just lay funny cause they would normally have been eaten by now are weren’t bred for egg production. The first olive egg i found in my nestbox was giant and oblong but had 2 yolks. I am surprised she passed it TBH. I haven’t personally opened up any other ‘first’ eggs yet because my bf prefers the “older gal jumbo eggs” for the cookies he makes and its hard to bake bread (my main use of eggs) in an airfyer while living in a hotel.
I will definitely be keeping a close eye on ‘las chicas’ as much as i can though. Either way and just in case.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Now i have a new/different question but still along the lines of a first layer question.
Today, my petsitter reported finding an egg in the coop with no shell. Like on the bottom, not in a nest box. She sent me pics and I am not convinced that its an egg, but its pretty hard to see with all the debris and bedding on it. She was sure it was an egg without a shell. I am currently feeding a layer pellet in a multi ported feeder, a grower feed in a different multi ported feeder and a mix of layer/scratch spread on the ground with 2 sources of oyster shells available for ad lib feeding. Also, when i have used about a dozen or so eggs, i will dry out and crush up eggshells and spread them in the chicken yard for them to eat as they desire.
If this was indeed a shell-less egg, how concerned should i be considering that i have 4 pullets of just barely laying age, several hens of absolute laying age and a handful of pullets who are still 3-4 or more weeks from laying……With layer feed and extra calcium available?

It really does sound like something that's pretty common with pullets of just barely laying age - great term, by the way! My EE was the first to lay, with first a soft (partially) shelled egg, and then a shell-less egg on the same day, and then beautiful green-blue eggs, like a machine, nearly every day since. She's had maybe one or two since then, causing me to crank up the eggshell supplements to their flaked oyster shells.

Are you away from home on a trip? Sounds like you have a good pet sitter, if she noticed it on the floor of the coop. I'm guessing that you have a new layer whose body is still getting the complexities of egg production sorted out.

 

[LtDanFan]

I was hoping its just a new layer thing but i want to be on top of them since i am not currently sharing a property with them.
Pet sitter* is there because we are not able to live in the house due to a small brooder-related house fire 5 months ago and we are currently living la vida hotel about 30 min away. I hate being so far away from them, not to mention the mammals that i have sworn to care for before the fire. I get there as much as i can but with planned travel and a heavy, unforgiving work schedule, i cannot be there twice daily like she can so between us, they get 3 or more visits a day, if david (BEST BF EVER) is not working.
She comes twice daily and having to care for ducks and chickens has increased her knowledge base greatly, but i dont want to put that on her all the time.
Once things go back to normal, i will be yards away and spend even more time than i do now just staring at them (soooo relaxing). As it stands now, i visit every day i can, refill feed bins, sprinkle home grown or store bought organic veggies, change out nesting material, collect eggs (honestly the best reason for going lol) and then spend several hours just sitting in the chicken yard or walking back and forth between the ducks and chickens for funsies. I am fortunate to have a pet sitter who cares as much as i do, even if she can’t spend the amount of time i do when i can’t be there.
*at this point, i should really call her coparent as she’s been there for all their stages*

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I was hoping its just a new layer thing but i want to be on top of them since i am not currently sharing a property with them.
Pet sitter* is there because we are not able to live in the house due to a small brooder-related house fire 5 months ago and we are currently living la vida hotel about 30 min away. I hate being so far away from them, not to mention the mammals that i have sworn to care for before the fire. I get there as much as i can but with planned travel and a heavy, unforgiving work schedule, i cannot be there twice daily like she can so between us, they get 3 or more visits a day, if david (BEST BF EVER) is not working.
She comes twice daily and having to care for ducks and chickens has increased her knowledge base greatly, but i dont want to put that on her all the time.
Once things go back to normal, i will be yards away and spend even more time than i do now just staring at them (soooo relaxing). As it stands now, i visit every day i can, refill feed bins, sprinkle home grown or store bought organic veggies, change out nesting material, collect eggs (honestly the best reason for going lol) and then spend several hours just sitting in the chicken yard or walking back and forth between the ducks and chickens for funsies. I am fortunate to have a pet sitter who cares as much as i do, even if she can’t spend the amount of time i do when i can’t be there.
*at this point, i should really call her coparent as she’s been there for all their stages*

That is wonderful - the pet sitter, not the fire, of course.

My younger daughter gave up her life out west and moved back here after Helene literally uprooted so much of our lives, and she will be our chicken-sitter. We truly had no idea how we could take a vacation before she volunteered.