New layers

[MK farm]

I am new to chickens, and one of ours just started laying... several days ago was the first egg, and then nothing until today.... today I didn't get a chance to check until this afternoon and there were 3! My questions (and forgive me if they're stupid) do they usually lay around a certain time? And are the eggs still good if they say there for a day?? Do you even eat the first eggs?? They are pretty small but do have normal hard shell...
Thanks!

 

[ChickonLand]

As long as the shell is hard eat those first eggs! I always try to collect the eggs daily and if an egg sits for a day out in the coop it should be fine. Do you have a rooster? If the eggs are fertile make sure you collect before any hen starts sitting on them. You don't want to crack open an egg to a baby chick.

Also, most hens will kinda lay around the same time once they get going. The first few eggs might be at different times in the day but once your hen gets more consistent they might have a certain time they go and lay their egg.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

No stupid questions, none of us was born knowing these things and asking is the only way to learn.
A pattern takes a while to set in. Some hens stick to the same time of day while others lay progressively later for several days before they skip a day.... the time out takes to form an egg is stated as 23-26 hours friending on the expert being quoted so that accounts for the variance.
Yes the egg will be fine.
There is no reason not to eat the first eggs... they will increase in size and frequency in the next several weeks

 

[Tlmcq]

Yes eat them! The first eggs can be some of the best eggs, although small. She's been saving up all those Nutrients it takes to make eggs until now.

 

[MK farm]

Thank you ! I do not have a rooster, so no worries there I was reading they only lay one per day, so this means all three of mine later today..?? In the same nesting box...? Is that normal?

 

[Tlmcq]

Yes, 5 of mine will lay in same nest box even though I have 3 boxes. Sometimes, I'll catch 2 at same time in same box with one waiting or trying to get in too. Rarely will I find an egg in any other nest box. Even if I put a dummy egg in the others they still lay in the one.