Please help! Worried about first time layer - input needed!

[4xhennifer]

My 20 week old australorp just laid her first egg today which consisted of a small but healthy looking egg. She also had a yolk with it (outside the normal egg). This happened at 6:30am. Now since 8:30am she has been in and out of the nesting boxes. It’s now almost noon and she’s still sitting in one. I’m very worried about her. I don’t know if she’s trying to lay again, going broody (after her first egg?!) or she has some remnants of whatever was there from the yolk still inside her. It appears that the yolk came out first and then the egg, so it’s unlikely she has remnants but I don’t know! Should I try to get her out of the nest? I visually checked her vent and it was pink and a little moist but I haven’t felt down there and wouldn’t know what the heck I was looking for anyway! She’s panting in the nest and clearly feeling some type of way but I have no idea what to do! Picture of the egg laid and yolk.

 

[p4PaDuck]

It’s completely normal. New layers often lay extremely odd eggs and will pace in and out of the box. They just don’t know what to do. They will do this before they lay the fist egg and a few days to weeks later.

 

[p4PaDuck]

She’ll get the hang of it

 

[p4PaDuck]

In the meantime clean up and egg remains. Egg eating is a terrible and super hard habit to break

 

[4xhennifer]

It’s completely normal. New layers often lay extremely odd eggs and will pace in and out of the box. They just don’t know what to do. They will do this before they lay the fist egg and a few days to weeks later.

Ok this is a relief. I did take her out of the nest box bc she was literally panting and so hot. I think she would have stayed there all day if I let her. She’s drinking electrolytes now.

 

[4xhennifer]

In the meantime clean up and egg remains. Egg eating is a terrible and super hard habit to break

Yep. I removed the whole pad immediately. I did take her out of the nest. She was panting and hot and would have stayed there all day if I let her!

 

[TooCheep]

First: No, not broody at this time.

Unfortunately glitches do sometimes happen with with first eggs. Shelless, broken, etc. I know it is impossible to not worry, but try not to obsess over it.

The odds are high that this is just her system working through initial kinks to get the process smoothed out. I've recently helped 2 people where it took 2-3 eggs before things smoothed out.

From your description, it doesn't sounds like she it in immediate trouble. Just keep a general eye on her and wait for her next egg.

Question: What are you feeding her- both primary food and any treats, etc?

 

[TooCheep]

And a suggestion...

It is helpful if you include your general location in your profile. The answers to many questions will be affected by pest/predator, climate, etc. that are location-specific. It will help us to help you.

 

[4xhennifer]

First: No, not broody at this time.

Unfortunately glitches do sometimes happen with with first eggs. Shelless, broken, etc. I know it is impossible to not worry, but try not to obsess over it.

The odds are high that this is just her system working through initial kinks to get the process smoothed out. I've recently helped 2 people where it took 2-3 eggs before things smoothed out.

From your description, it doesn't sounds like she it in immediate trouble. Just keep a general eye on her and wait for her next egg.

Question: What are you feeding her- both primary food and any treats, etc?

Thank you so much. To answer your questions: she gets crumble free choice, fermented mash 2x a week, watermelon or blueberries on days that are over 85 (I’m in Southern California. We have every predator except bears where I am but they are in a heavily secured part of the property. That being said, it’s been brutally hot lately and I’ve had to manage it every 30 to 60 minutes with misters, evaporative cooler, and high water treats like watermelon).

They are on grass the majority of the day in shade. So they also get worms, bugs, etc when they forage.

I reached out to my avian vet and she said the same thing. She said they have contractions before and after laying, especially in the beginning and she (my pullet) just thinks she has to lay again. She said she’ll figure it out in a few days/weeks.

She told me to keep her out of the boxes if she’s already laid and make sure she has lots of water and electrolytes. I also gave her some watermelon just bc she was really panting heavily when I finally evicted her. She seems right back to her silly self and the family just shared her egg and it was quite literally the best egg I’ve ever eaten.

 

[TooCheep]

Sounds good. First eggs are always exciting. I couldn't tell from your picture, but early eggs tend to be smaller. They are called pullet eggs. They will gradually grow to full size.

Just so you know, my girls are currently in 95 degree heat and are doing fine with shade and plenty of water. The only change I make when it gets hot is to add open water containers in addition to the water nipple system to make it easier to get more water. The enclosed coop/nest area is where it gets hottest due to the reduced wind/circulation.

Your overall food situation sounds good, but I was wondering about the crumbles. Are they grower, layer or all-flock? You can upgrade to pellets assuming you don't have much smaller chicks there- much less dust to deal with. Some people do stick with crumbles, but I prefer to get away from them when the pullets are of reasonable size.