what clues are there to know when a chicken is going to start laying eggs

[LauraSac]

I blew out my first eggs from my girls!

Well now I feel really guilty!

 

[subhanalah]

Well now I feel really guilty!

sorry.

 

[LauraSac]

sorry.

lol. That's ok. I am told another egg is waiting for me when I get home. I will probably just eat this one too. The problem is I love a good fried egg!

 

[subhanalah]

lol. That's ok. I am told another egg is waiting for me when I get home. I will probably just eat this one too. The problem is I love a good fried egg! 

Me too, since you have to scramble it to get it out, I scrambled it up and shared it with the girls

 

[Faraday40]

I blew out my first eggs from my girls!

That's a neat idea. For me it was many, many photos.....
Here's the egg in the nest. Here's my daughter holding up the egg in one hand with the chicken who made it under the other. Here's the egg in our egg basket being carried into the house. Here's the first egg next to the second egg. Here's what it looks like when cracked & compared to a store egg. Here's our first egg sandwich.......

Of course I have a rainbow flock, so I had to then get photos of every color. Thankfully, I got myself & my camera addiction under control. On a positive note, I now have a very photogenic flock who are never afraid of cameras.

 

[subhanalah]

That's a neat idea.  For me it was many, many photos.....
Here's the egg in the nest. Here's my daughter holding up the egg in one hand with the chicken who made it under the other.  Here's the egg in our egg basket being carried into the house.  Here's the first egg next to the second egg.  Here's what it looks like when cracked & compared to a store egg.  Here's our first egg sandwich.......

Of course I have a rainbow flock, so I had to then get photos of every color.  Thankfully, I got myself & my camera addiction under control.  On a positive note, I now have a very photogenic flock who are never afraid of cameras.

oh, yes...These eggs are like my grand children.
Here she is practicing

Here it is just laid

Here she is looking at it confused about what just happened back there

Here it is compared to a fake egg, a real egg, and a quarter

And here it is scrambled, after I blew it out.

And here she is after she laid an egg. I love this chicken.

 

[LauraSac]

I didn't preserve the shell, but I chronicled Janet's first egg, too, from her visit on my chair prior to her first visit to the nesting box (which I posted here - it was like live blogging!), to the egg in the nesting box (which I also posted here) and then I took a picture next to a large egg from my CSA delivery (with the nesting box bedding still stuck to it) and finally, how it looked in the pan. I forgot to take a picture of it on the plate and wish I had taken one with a quarter. Her second egg looks just as small, though. She's a RIR, so I believe her eggs will get fairly big. How long before they're regular size?

 

[Faraday40]

I didn't preserve the shell, but I chronicled Janet's first egg, too, from her visit on my chair prior to her first visit to the nesting box (which I posted here - it was like live blogging!), to the egg in the nesting box (which I also posted here) and then I took a picture next to a large egg from my CSA delivery (with the nesting box bedding still stuck to it) and finally, how it looked in the pan. I forgot to take a picture of it on the plate and wish I had taken one with a quarter. Her second egg looks just as small, though. She's a RIR, so I believe her eggs will get fairly big. How long before they're regular size?

Just wait until you get a double-yolker, bumpy, wrinkled, or shell-less egg! They do all kinds of weird things during the first few months. The size gradually gets bigger on average, but differs slightly from egg to egg. Many hens laid large eggs regularly in about 2-3 months after their 1st. One hen's eggs just started getting to medium size after 5 months of laying. Before their 1st B-day you'll know your hens' patterns. You'll also be able to tell by shape & color who made the egg. We write the date & hen's name on the shell. My friends & family enjoy being able to say which chickens made breakfast. Of course, those first few eggs are just so precious, so you'll probably want to enjoy them yourself.

I read: After their first molt, the eggs should again increase in size. However, the shell may seem a little thinner. (Same amount of shell material spread over a larger area.) I have not experienced this yet.

 

[Faraday40]

Here were some of our pics:

Store egg left / Our backyard egg right


After saving up a weeks worth of eggs, our family had egg sandwiches on home made bread. (Our neighbor made us a sign for the coop. He now gets some eggs.)


Here's when we first learned that our eggs were fertile!


One of my favs: Our silly rooster trying to show the girls how to lay an egg. He even sings the egg song along with them.

 

[subhanalah]

I didn't preserve the shell, but I chronicled Janet's first egg, too, from her visit on my chair prior to her first visit to the nesting box (which I posted here - it was like live blogging!), to the egg in the nesting box (which I also posted here) and then I took a picture next to a large egg from my CSA delivery (with the nesting box bedding still stuck to it) and finally, how it looked in the pan. I forgot to take a picture of it on the plate and wish I had taken one with a quarter. Her second egg looks just as small, though. She's a RIR, so I believe her eggs will get fairly big. How long before they're regular size? [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR]

your boy is doing his job!