New chick mom questions

[lleeme]

I have 5 young hens just reaching laying age. I have had 2 eggs i think they may have layed. The first one was smaller than my laying hens eggs with an odd ringed coloration and the shell was kinda rough. I found it on the floor of the chicken house. The second one seems bigger with the same odd coloration that I found in the coop tonight when I put them to bed.

First question, is this egg probably from the same chick or do I have a second one starting.

Second question, I have 3 laying hens and I had gotten fake eggs to leave in the nesting boxes but I forgot to grab them one night from the nesting box in the coop and a raccoon chewed the ends off. They sleep in a henhouse that is secure. Should I get more?

Third, do they slowly ramp up to daily laying?

Fourth, I have two smokey pearls, and had bought (I thought) 2 golden comets, and 2 isa browns. One 1 of the last 4 mentioned looked different but she was lost to a racoon. Do they all lay the same colored egg? The 2 eggs I have gotten are brownish blue.

Thanks in advance for any help. Photos attached. The last is the 6 I raised from TSC. The first one to the left of the smokey pearls was the different one that I lost.

 

[Happy hen lover]

First question, is this egg probably from the same chick or do I have a second one starting.

Probably 2 are starting to lay. They lay pretty goofy eggs at first, Small, double yolkers , not regular, rough ones, etc.

Second question, I have 3 laying hens and I had gotten fake eggs to leave in the nesting boxes but I forgot to grab them one night from the nesting box in the coop and a raccoon chewed the ends off. They sleep in a henhouse that is secure. Should I get more?

I wouldn't bother getting more some folks use gold balls for this.

Third, do they slowly ramp up to daily laying?

Yes the ISA and comets should, smokeys maybe not daily but regular. They like laying when it's cooler weather though.
Fourth, I have two smokey pearls, and had bought (I thought) 2 golden comets, and 2 isa browns. One 1 of the last 4 mentioned looked different but she was lost to a racoon. Do they all lay the same colored egg? The 2 eggs I have gotten are brownish blue.
I have 2 ISAs and one lays cream and one lays rich darkish brown so I don't know about bluish tint.
Lastly ( and should have been first ) WELCOME !! here it's a great place to learn lots.

 

[aart]

I had gotten fake eggs to leave in the nesting boxes but I forgot to grab them one night from the nesting box in the coop and a raccoon chewed the ends off. They sleep in a henhouse that is secure. Should I get more?

If coop is secure, how'd a raccoon get in?

 

[lleeme]

I never said the coop was secure. The hen house is secure. The coop has it's issues that I work hard to mend. I walk it weekly looking for weak spots however the chicken wire is rusty and I do not have the money to replace the whole roof. It is 16feet by 48 feet. This was all here when we bought the place.

The hen house is secure, however I bought an electric door for it. It closes within 20 minutes of dusk, but the racoon came in before that and grabbed my baby. The rooster and two hens were outside the henhouse because they ran. I showed up a few minutes after the door should of shut because I was not trusting it to close yet, and was surprised by the rooster by the gate. I chased him for about 10 minutes trying to get him in the hen house, then I saw the hens on their outdoor roost! I caught them all and put them into the henhouse. I did several head counts and searched the entire coop several times double checking nesting boxes looking for Goldy. I now go out before dusk and close their door.

We have nesting boxes both inside the hen house and in the coop area. I had left the fake eggs in the outside nests because the girls were interested in them.

I also bought a trap and since the first racoon was shot no more are visiting it. It took a few rounds due to my husband's glasses fogging up.

 

[aart]

I never said the coop was secure. The hen house is secure.

Ah, terminology confusion.
Usually the place where the birds sleep is called the coop(your "hen house").
The pen surrounding or attached to it, where they spend most the day is called a run(your "coop")

 

[lleeme]

Hi everyone! I think 2 are laying. Had those 2 weird eggs, not sure if it was the new layers. But I have gotten 2 new colors for the last three days. Very smallish but I am so happy! Thanks for the help.