Tips and tricks for new egg layers??

[Piggy51015]

Hi I am new to chicken raising. And today our first egg showed up. Now our chicken who laid the egg is 4 months old on Monday. This seems a little young. So the nesting boxes aren’t open. Any tips to help us with this new step in there life. We are going to open the boxes today.
Her breed is a Olive Egger

 

[neo71665]

Around 18 weeks so 4 months is about right. Time to open those nests.

Congrats, got my first one off me newest flock this morning too.

 

[aart]

Congrats!
16 weeks is a bit early, but some do that.
Open the nests.
Put a fake egg in all but one nest(some don't like the fake eggs).
Hopefully the nests are lower than the roosts,
but make sure they aren't sleeping in nests at night.
It still may take some time for her to find and use the nests, so don't be surprised if she doesn't use them right away.

Redundant maybe, but:
New layers can be quite goofy acting, they don't know what they are doing at first and can be confused and anxious, it can take up to a month or so before they get it all figured out. Putting some fake eggs or golf balls in the nest might help show them where to lay. They may scratch around in the nests for weeks before laying, spreading the bedding everywhere. They will scratch around a bit less in nest as they get used to the routine. Meanwhile, eggs everywhere, some of them can be rather funky looking, soft or thin shelled, huge double yolked eggs.

 

[Piggy51015]

Congrats!
16 weeks is a bit early, but some do that.
Open the nests.
Put a fake egg in all but one nest(some don't like the fake eggs).
Hopefully the nests are lower than the roosts,
but make sure they aren't sleeping in nests at night.
It still may take some time for her to find and use the nests, so don't be surprised if she doesn't use them right away.

Redundant maybe, but:
New layers can be quite goofy acting, they don't know what they are doing at first and can be confused and anxious, it can take up to a month or so before they get it all figured out. Putting some fake eggs or golf balls in the nest might help show them where to lay. They may scratch around in the nests for weeks before laying, spreading the bedding everywhere. They will scratch around a bit less in nest as they get used to the routine. Meanwhile, eggs everywhere, some of them can be rather funky looking, soft or thin shelled, huge double yolked eggs.

Thank you!! I opened the nesting boxes today. And our new layer went inside and laid an egg. So that’s a good start. This new egg is Tiny but that’s normal ( from what a read). Thank you for the tips!

 

[LadyHenof4]

I got my first egg yesterday afternoon! I found it this morning in the middle of the yard..... I have 4 chickens and 3 nesting boxes. The chicken who laid the egg was in the nesting box yesterday around noon but I accidentally scared her out of it cause I was checking where she was...... Will she continue to lay her eggs in the yard, now that she did it her first time?

 

[aart]

The chicken who laid the egg was in the nesting box yesterday around noon but I accidentally scared her out of it cause I was checking where she was...... Will she continue to lay her eggs in the yard, now that she did it her first time?

Hmmm...maybe, maybe not.
At least she started in the nest, and hopefully will get over her 'scare'.

 

[Piggy51015]

I got my first egg yesterday afternoon! I found it this morning in the middle of the yard..... I have 4 chickens and 3 nesting boxes. The chicken who laid the egg was in the nesting box yesterday around noon but I accidentally scared her out of it cause I was checking where she was...... Will she continue to lay her eggs in the yard, now that she did it her first time?

We put golf balls in our nesting boxes so they have an idea where to lay. My chicken laid her first egg in the roost. But once she figured out they she is supposed to lay in the boxes that’s where she has been laying. So you might get 1 or 2 eggs in the yard until she learns to lay in a box.

 

[minou33]

Yay! So exciting. My girls are 16 weeks too (but no eggs yet). I'm really surprised yours used the nesting box right away. I'm new to chickens too but from what I read they usually like to explore the boxes for a little while before they lay and they don't always know to use the nesting boxes initially. We have porcelain eggs in our nesting boxes. I also learned an interesting fact from another group (maybe the more experienced people will know if it's true) that chickens will sort their eggs by color and prefer laying in nesting boxes with eggs of the same color. Have you begun adding oyster shell yet free choice?

 

[LadyHenof4]

Yay! So exciting. My girls are 16 weeks too (but no eggs yet). I'm really surprised yours used the nesting box right away. I'm new to chickens too but from what I read they usually like to explore the boxes for a little while before they lay and they don't always know to use the nesting boxes initially. We have porcelain eggs in our nesting boxes. I also learned an interesting fact from another group (maybe the more experienced people will know if it's true) that chickens will sort their eggs by color and prefer laying in nesting boxes with eggs of the same color. Have you begun adding oyster shell yet free choice?

I do have oyster shell out for them, my Rhode island reds were the first to lay eggs and they both now lay in the nesting box. I have 2 barred Plymouth rocks and I think 1 layer an egg in the yard yesterday hopefully she will learn too. This morning I went out to the hen house and notice an exploded egg on the coop floor from where one of the lady hens had laid one while roosting. It was a soft shell so I'm thinking it could have been from my late bloomer. She didn't start getting her comb and wattles bigger and more red until the first chicken laid her first egg so I think it may have pushed her into gear but she wasn't quite ready.