What are the eggs supposed to be like the First Few Days/Weeks of Egg Laying?

[Basia St Clair]

With so many newbies having chickens figured some of us are experiencing the first ever eggs from our grown up chicks!

Please share your "first egg(s) experience". Would also love to hear from those experienced chicken owners on this subject. From researching I believe that it can take time for the Hens to get in the rhythm of laying healthy eggs. Perhaps sharing experiences will help put any concerns to rest and/or at least understand if there IS something wrong.

My flock consists of 2 ISA Browns and 1 Asian Black, purchase 1 day old on April 9, 2020 from TSC. They've been fed layer feed since about week 17. They have free choice OS. I do give them garden scraps, and they free range on about an acre most of the day. One started to lay this week. The laying chicken has a very big, bright red comb.

Here is the progression of egg characteristics:

Day 1: two eggs laid at once with extremely thin shells. She laid under the perch, in a lot of chicken poop. I threw them in the compost.

Day 2: perfect medium egg laid in the nesting box. Not sure what i am going to do with it because, as my first, i don't think i can eat it! Is there a tradition around your very first egg ever? Keep it? Color it? Take a picture, get over it and eat it anyway?

Day 3: Yolk and white of egg with no shell at all. It looked exactly like a cracked open egg. She kinda pooped it out in the run. There was a big storm here last night as remnants of Laura are impacting my area. My Asian Black started eating it and I promptly stopped her and cleaned up the egg. I don't want them accustom to eating Their eggs.

Anxiously awaiting the next few days, AND for the other two to start laying!

 

[chrissynemetz]

With new layers, honestly anything goes. You can get all sorts of weird and bizarre eggs for a while until they get all the kinks worked out. Extra large, extra small, soft, wrinkly, oval, pointy, thin shell, no shell... you name it, they might possibly lay it.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

Is there a tradition around your very first egg ever? Keep it? Color it? Take a picture, get over it and eat it anyway?

I took many pictures of mine, weighed them, cracked them very carefully, ate them, and kept the shells.

 

[HenneryTheEighth]

I got a fart egg the other day. I am not sure if it is a first egg from one of my almost ready pullets or just a tiny egg from the only layer I have. I cracked it open - and it was a perfect tiny egg.

 

[Aleta]

I just found two eggs today. One is blue the other brown. The blue egg was in the nesting box and the other in the run in front of the coop. I don’t know who laid them. Is there a way to know who lays which eggs? I have 5 Ameracauna hens they are about 23 weeks, and one Buff Orpington (she is about 20 weeks). The eggs look perfect. I accidentally dropped the brown egg and the yolk looks normal. How do you know when your hens are ready to lay? Not all of them have very prominent combs.

 

[offleash]

Two of my hens have been squatting for about a week now, but there have been no eggs in the nesting boxes. So I bought a few fake eggs, put them in the nesting boxes and....still nothing. I went out last night to clean the coop, opened the big doors on the side (not near the nesting boxes and there was a PILE of eggs (11 in total) hidden behind a bag of hay. They weren't there last week and I think they are from my Swedish Isbar and one of my Azure Eggers (the two that are squatty) though they are very alike in color... So I moved the bag of hay to block that area, made sure the nesting boxes were clean, took out the fake eggs (in case it was deterring them somehow) went out this afternoon and there is an egg laying square in the middle of the run, perfect and uncracked. How can I get them to use the nesting boxes?

 

[offleash]

I just found two eggs today. One is blue the other brown. The blue egg was in the nesting box and the other in the run in front of the coop. I don’t know who laid them. Is there a way to know who lays which eggs? I have 5 Ameracauna hens they are about 23 weeks, and one Buff Orpington (she is about 20 weeks). The eggs look perfect. I accidentally dropped the brown egg and the yolk looks normal. How do you know when your hens are ready to lay? Not all of them have very prominent combs.

They squat when you get near them and raise their little butts up in the air.

 

[rosemarythyme]

While anything goes with new layers, you can get pretty lucky. Overall I've not had too many problems with new layers - haven't ever gotten a fart egg, or repeated soft shelled eggs, or anything else overly glitchy to the point that it can't be eaten.

Is there a way to know who lays which eggs?

How do you know when your hens are ready to lay? Not all of them have very prominent combs.

1. The 100% confirmation method involves staking out the coop and nest area. If you have time to stand around like me, you can usually get a feel for the timing of laying, and then catch the pullet in the act as she lays for a positive ID.

If you're not a stalker, you might be able to make an educated guess with the signs below.

2. Comb coloration and development, onset of squatting, and with a bit of practice, measuring the distance between pelvic points.

How can I get them to use the nesting boxes?

BLocking off the area they were using was a good move.

Have they shown any evidence of being in the nest boxes (i.e. nesting material kicked around)? They might be unaware they're even there. Any photos of your nest box set up?

 

[LaFleche]

How can I get them to use the nesting boxes?

Put the fake eggs back in the nests and be patient.

Inspect the position and dimensions of your nest boxes, maybe they are not cozy and dim enough for them to feel secure. Some nicely formed hay in the nests will entice too.

 

[LaFleche]

With so many newbies having chickens figured some of us are experiencing the first ever eggs from our grown up chicks!

Please share your "first egg(s) experience". Would also love to hear from those experienced chicken owners on this subject. From researching I believe that it can take time for the Hens to get in the rhythm of laying healthy eggs. Perhaps sharing experiences will help put any concerns to rest and/or at least understand if there IS something wrong.

My flock consists of 2 ISA Browns and 1 Asian Black, purchase 1 day old on April 9, 2020 from TSC. They've been fed layer feed since about week 17. They have free choice OS. I do give them garden scraps, and they free range on about an acre most of the day. One started to lay this week. The laying chicken has a very big, bright red comb.

Here is the progression of egg characteristics:

Day 1: two eggs laid at once with extremely thin shells. She laid under the perch, in a lot of chicken poop. I threw them in the compost.

Day 2: perfect medium egg laid in the nesting box. Not sure what i am going to do with it because, as my first, i don't think i can eat it! Is there a tradition around your very first egg ever? Keep it? Color it? Take a picture, get over it and eat it anyway?

Day 3: Yolk and white of egg with no shell at all. It looked exactly like a cracked open egg. She kinda pooped it out in the run. There was a big storm here last night as remnants of Laura are impacting my area. My Asian Black started eating it and I promptly stopped her and cleaned up the egg. I don't want them accustom to eating Their eggs.

Anxiously awaiting the next few days, AND for the other two to start laying!

Your hens might benefit from some supplemented calcium+VitD+VitK to overcome the first difficulties with egg laying.