Our First Egg (and some questions)

[tjcib]

My son was super excited to find this. We have 6 Australorps and they just turned 20 weeks.

It raised a few questions though:
The egg is very small. Is that normal for the first few?
The hen did not lay in the nesting box. She laid right next to it in the corner. Do I need to do anything to train them to lay in the boxes?
Is store-bought feed (TSC) with calcium enough, or do I need to start adding egg shells/oyster? (They free range a 2-5 hours per day)

 

[sassysarah]

They egg size is fine for a new laying hen. My Australorp has recently started laying too. That's the size of her egg. The eggs will soon get bigger as they get older. No if you even have them in a pen, that's fine. Especially free ranging! No, you should need extra grit. They will eventually lay in the nest box. Some of my hens did that too. Just put an egg in the nest box to encourage her.

 

[tjcib]

Thanks for the quick reply.

My 8 year old son is raising the chickens himself with the help of a book. But there are a few things it doesn't mention, and I want to know how to steer him if needed.

 

[sassysarah]

There are lots of very helpful articles on byc!
Check these out, "maintaining A Healthy Flock"
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/category/maintaining-a-healthy-flock.24/

 

[Chickassan]

Those little pullet eggs are always so cute! When chickens are young egg size can go all over the place, don't be surprised if those girls lay some gigantic eggs too.