Got my first egg today! What a cutie...no idea who layed it, it was a total surprise, went in to change the water and looked in the box and there it was! I wanted to know what family member was playing tricks on me. They were 22 weeks this past tuesday
Cheryl, Congratulations! It happened that way for me, too. It was a shock to find an egg. I was so thrilled. Still am. I have 5 girls, and they've been laying for about 2 weeks. I have a little egg production chart, where I keep track, and make notes on who laid what, and how big the eggs are, etc... Such fun! Just wait until you bust one of your ladies coming out of the nestbox, reach in and find a HOT egg. In this cold weather, it feels hot, not warm. What a hoot! So, what are you going to do with it? Eat it?
I'd like to fry it just to see how nicely it stands up in the pan! I wish I could say it was warm, but it was well refrigerated when I found it! It never got out of the 20's here today and at the time, the door of the coop was wide open and probably had been for an hour! My son let them out in the around 4 pm and I was checking them in for bed around 5!
So now that I've gotten "one" egg, (my family says they aren't playing tricks), what should they be eating? I have really just stuck to laying feed (not pellets) and I'll give them warm oatmeal when it is cold and a handful of cracked corn and black sunflower seeds (I know they are enpty calories, but we all love our sugar!) Oh and occasional crickets from the pet store, is that fun to watch!!!
Sunflower seeds are actually very very good for your birds. Lots of protein, definitely not something I consider "empty calories" Sounds like you are doing everything right. Their laying will increase as the daylight increases and the temps stabilize.