Sapphire Gem laying at 15 weeks?

[Beachcomber]

Hello,
I have 2 Sapphire Gems and one started laying at 15 weeks and the other at 16. The first couple of weeks their eggs were sporadic with quite a few soft shelled eggs on the coop floor. Everything normalized after a few weeks and now at 24 weeks old they lay 5 to 6 perfect eggs a week. I think early laying and glitches seems to be common with the breed because I've read about quite a few on BYC the past couple of months.
I've been feeding all flock pellets as well with free choice oyster shells on the side.
Good luck!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I think my Sapphires started laying at 15 weeks, and yes , I got some soft-shelled eggs at the start. They have been really good layers so far, they are just over a year old.
One went broody a month ago and was pretty determined to hatch eggs. She was hard to break.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I’ve been feeding Nutrena chick starter/grower. The packaging says they can be kept on that until 22 weeks or onset of lay whichever comes first. This is my first time with chickens so I have just been following the directions on the package I was just shocked about how young my bird is and the onset of lay.

Without intricate knowledge of poultry nutrition, the absolute best thing to do is follow the feeding instructions on the bag