Who else is waiting for that first egg?

[GentleFarmer]

My Plymouth Rock took 23 weeks to lay their first eggs, one of the two Rhode Island Reds laid her first egg today at 24 weeks old, and the two Amercauna don't seem to be in a rush to start up their egg production. Lucky for them that they are so pretty!

 

[Oliver Douglas]

Finally, my third of three Barred Rocks, Alice, who was the runt of the flock, laid her first egg! All three hens delivered today for the first time! And she belted out a very nice song afterwards to let us know she had come through. 27 weeks old. Her waddles and comb are just now turning red, comb a bit underdeveloped. What is funny is that Pojo, the lead hen who is constantly putting her on the bottom rung of the pecking order, had to wait until Alice had finished laying for her turn in the nest box...Alice finally stood her ground!

 

[ChickenGrass]

The first egg is always exiting....
I have kept chickens for years and have been
Breeding them for 3 years
And still look forward to getting the first egg lol

 

[cluckylady812]

Yeah I'm waiting, i told them soon or else we be talking, chicken salad, fried chicken, chicken stew and more....lol 

I tried that lol. No response, but the duck started laying, an egg daily, so on day 3 i showed my girls the egg and pointed out that they were all being showed up by a Duck! Got our 1st chicken egg thr very next day! Maybe try the shame tactic with yours lol

 

[BenandHelen]

Week 22 .... still waiting....... They keep pulling the straw out of the nesting boxes and strewing it around the inside of the coop!

 

[Tasha1981]

Week 22 .... still waiting....... They keep pulling the straw out of the nesting boxes and strewing it around the inside of the coop!

I'm going crazy with mine just turning 18 weeks today. I can't imagine how you are feeling.I am already having a hard time wondering if they are happy, am I doing enough. They seem so happy but no eggs. This was taken a few days ago

 

[PerfectPlumage]

Week 24 still no eggs. I have Silkies, Red Sex Links, and a Sumatra.

 

[Red Rooster 68]

I'm in the same boat! We have four older chickens (two Delaware, one Red Russian Orloff, and one Barnevelder) that are twelve weeks old yesterday, and thirteen younger pullets (when can you start calling them pullets vs. chicks or hens???) that I believe are about eight or nine weeks old. They're a mix of breeds; ten Golden Lace Wyandottes, two that I'm not sure of, and one that I believe is an Americauna cross. I'm not expecting anything for quite some time, but the other night one of our older twelve-week old Delawares started making that "I'm going to lay an egg" sound and started wandering towards the house. Nothing ended up happening, but we're planning on getting nesting boxes built this weekend just in case! 

We're going through a ton of store-bought eggs, and the chickens are eating...and eating...and eating. Hopefully they'll start earning their keep soon!

 

[mrsjonis]

Thank you for your feedback. We blocked off their nesting boxes for a month. When we opened them, we added a bottom lip so they couldn't kick the straw out. Then, we added another perch and raised them above the boxes. We also made an automatic feeder. They get the bag of recommended seed for egg layers. Can't remember what it is, just buy what QCSUpply tells me to. We use sawdust for the poo box, different from nest and feed them treats, table scraps in the afternoon.

We also stared to let them out to free range more, but I didn't like the poop on my patio. So I am rethinking that.

We have
3 Wyandotte
4 Rhode Island Red
2 Plymouth Rock

With all the recommendations from this site. We finally have our first egg!!! So exciting! Now she is the biggest and she has been laying one per day for four days.

I need to learn more about how to properly wash store and prepare the eggs. also, one was a little cracked. That broke my heart to throw it out. Is it from her laying it? Is their diet missing something?

Thank you again for all your help!

 

[mrsjonis]

Put a piece of wood trim 4 to 5 inches tall at the bottom of the nesting boxes. They have to hop over it but can't pull straw out. Works great! They want to build a nest but can't. There isn't anything stopping the straw from coming out.