We have an EGG!!!!!! Help!!!???

[lindsayc1821]

So we got two chickens from a friend of a friend. We're first time chicken owners and are currently raising 5 other baby chicks. This evening, to our surprise, one of our older girls must have laid an egg sometime during the day. Im guessing the girls must have pecked at the egg some, but the shell was also very soft.

They are still on chick starter as advised by the food brand and feed store, and we were definitely not expecting any eggs for atleast another month or so.

We thought Lucy and Olive were about 11 or 12 weeks old....any thoughts? Are they maybe much older than we were told they were when we got them? They both seem to have grown since we got them, but we're kind of stumped.

Should we switch their food to layer feed and start giving them oyster shells? Or are they maybe getting too much protein from their food and thats why they started laying early??

They are on unmedicated Nutrena chick starter. The also eat garlic and have had a few other treats- strawberries, rasberries, broccoli, and peas. I also give them ACV and probiotics in their water.

Below you will see a picture of Lucy and Olive and the egg we found this afternoon.

 

[QueenMisha]

12 week olds should not be laying yet. At least one of them is older, 16 weeks minimum. They should be switched to a laying feed. I recommend a higher quality feed, Nutrena is only average. Good feed brands I know of are Bar Ale (sold on the west coast, the absolute best feed available), Scratch and Peck (mostly sold in Washington state but also some of the surrounding states), Coyote Creek (Texas), and FRM feeds (various eastern states). Definitely stay away from Purina, Walmart brand, etc. Anything from a huge national conglomerate is cheaply sourced and has sat in a warehouse for months. Smaller brands, especially those offering natural options in addition to conventional, are usually going to have a better quality of feed.

 

[sjturner79]

Depending on breeds chicks can start laying anywhere from 12 weeks. If you are getting eggs you need to switch to layer feed and put out oyster shell for them

 

[lindsayc1821]

Depending on breeds chicks can start laying anywhere from 12 weeks. If you are getting eggs you need to switch to layer feed and put out oyster shell for them

We think Lucy and Olive are Rhode Island Reds

 

[Toddrick]

The Reds in the pics do like like 12 week olds to me. You don't need to switch to Layers feed, as it is too early for the other birds. I would just put out a bowl of crushed oyster shells.

 

[QueenMisha]

The birds look like anywhere from 12-16 weeks of age. 12 and 16 week olds do not have a lot of difference in appearance, except that 16 week olds are a bit bigger. (I work at a poultry specialty store and we regularly have 50-200 birds of these varied ages there, so I've had a lot of time to see the differences.)

12 week olds cannot lay. The very earliest a hen can lay is 16 weeks. If a hen is laying, she's ready for a layer feed.

 

[lindsayc1821]

The Reds in the pics do like like 12 week olds to me. You don't need to switch to Layers feed, as it is too early for the other birds. I would just put out a bowl of crushed oyster shells.

The pictures i posted above were from when we first got them(4 weeks ago). They have gotten bigger and now have waddles. Here's a picture of Lucy taken yesterday...

 

[lindsayc1821]

When we got them, we were told they were 7-8 weeks old.. so at this point they would be 11 or 12 weeks...but they seemed so much older and bigger when we got them.

 

[Countrychickkk]

If It was its first time laying an egg It being soft is normall because it usually is the first time

 

[Toddrick]

When we got them, we were told they were 7-8 weeks old.. so at this point they would be 11 or 12 weeks...but they seemed so much older and bigger when we got them.

If the first pictures (that look like 12 week olds) were from four weeks ago, and now they have red combs/wattles, the. I'd say they are around 16 weeks old. That makes perfect sense, the store just gave you the wrong age. Pullets normally grow a red comb/wattles right before laying. In production breed 16-18 weeks is fairly normal time to start laying.