# First Eggs!



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Wednesday I went out to the coop check on the chickens my neighbor gave me as chicks a while back and got a nice surprise, our first egg! It was small and didn't have a yolk but it was an egg all the same.

Had the same surprise again yesterday, looks like those little buggers are going to start earning their keep at about 5 - 6 months of age.

The grandson(5-1/2), started asking a lot of questions about "How and Why", I told him to go ask him moma!:laugh:


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Cool, the eggs are always small at first. I've had chickens several years and am jealous. Mine completely stopped laying for some unknown reason, haven't had but a couple of eggs in 2 months. They finished moulting but didn't restart laying.

Got 6 young hens that have yet to lay their first eggs... maybe that will kick start the rest. Hopefully!


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## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

Wonderful!

I still feel giddy with every egg I find and we've had laying hens for years


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

Good for you. That's always an exciting moment


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

First egg - What a feeling! One more step to independence. 

I was surprised that my 5 & 7 year old grand daughters never questioned anything about the hens when they started laying. Just excitement that they finally started laying at almost exactly 4 months of age.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

jeff47041 said:


> First egg - What a feeling! One more step to independence.
> 
> I was surprised that my 5 & 7 year old grand daughters never questioned anything about the hens when they started laying. Just excitement that they finally started laying at almost exactly 4 months of age.


My uncle bought a batch of chicks last year that started laying right at 4 months, asked him what verity they were but he said he didn't remember. He works for a "Farm and Ranch" store and takes any unsold leftovers they have each spring, he must have 50 or 60 running around his place.


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## jeff47041 (Jan 5, 2013)

I bought 12 chicks on 4/4/14. 
First 3 eggs was on 8/5/14 I think. Thrilling!

4- (grey) barred Plymouth rock because they are winter hardy and although they don't lay a lot, they lay all winter (supposedly)

4- (tan) buff orpington

4- (red) Rhode Island Red

4_ white chicks that ended up being 3 hens and 1 rooster. I wanted white leghorns, but she was out of them and gave me 4 white birds of a different breed. I didn't write it down when she told me what they were, so I have no idea. I do know they are not Cornish cross, because I asked for some of those to raise a meat, and she was out of those too. (I only get brown & tan eggs. I expected that the white chicks would lay white eggs)

I really don't know who is laying and who isn't because they are never on the eggs when I go in. I have had a grey feather stuck to a few eggs, and a tan feather stuck to a few. So that's my clue to which breed laid there, but not which girl. 

I see that people get rid of their older girls when they quit laying. I don't have to worry about that yet, but I don't know how I will know who to get rid of in a couple of years.


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## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

Most hens have their peek the first year at around an egg per day, once they get going and during sunny weather. Some breeds don't need the sun but most do. The second year they generally lay an egg every 2 to 3 days and down from there. Most people I know eat the hens at around 2 years old but I keep them to 5 usually and longer. Sometimes the older hens are better broody hens and, if they free range you're still getting free eggs and free bug control. 

Contrary to popular belief, hens never completely stop laying. We have a hen named Old Hen, who turned 15 this year and still lays about 6 to 8 eggs per year. She's an Amerucana, as a chick she was the sole survivor of the neighbor dogs getting into the pen early in the morning before I had let them out and massacred every chicken we had but the one chick. Two little terrier mixes, didn't even eat any of them, just tore them apart for the fun of it.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Well, went back out to check the water a few minutes ago and what do I find, yet another one! 

I haven't gotten the nesting boxes made yet but guess I'm going to have to get it done this week.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

For nest boxes I use the plastic flats soft drinks come in. They are removable, easy to clean and stackable when not in use. Don’t know if you’ve heard of using golf balls… 2 reasons. It encourages chickens to lay in a nest and (2) it encourages chicken snakes to swallow golf balls instead of eggs. They can’t pass a golf ball.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Cotton said:


> For nest boxes I use the plastic flats soft drinks come in. They are removable, easy to clean and stackable when not in use. Don't know if you've heard of using golf balls&#8230; 2 reasons. It encourages chickens to lay in a nest and (2) it encourages chicken snakes to swallow golf balls instead of eggs. They can't pass a golf ball.


Good idea!


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

jeff47041 said:


> First egg - What a feeling! One more step to independence.
> 
> I was surprised that my 5 & 7 year old grand daughters never questioned anything about the hens when they started laying. Just excitement that they finally started laying at almost exactly 4 months of age.


The only question we got from the young grandkids was why the rooster was choking the hens......


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## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

When a snake swallows a golf ball or wooden egg they die a slow and painful death. Most egg eating snakes are also very beneficial snakes. They help keep the rodent population down and many eat other snakes too. 

*edited to add that I have a crazy irrational fear of snakes.

Borax works wonderfully and is safe and easy to use. I sprinkle it in and around the nests, at the openings to the henhouse, along the walls and generally all over the floor. You should take care it doesn't get in water or food, and not where children and pets can't get it. 

The way it works is that it abrades the snakes skin causing discomfort. It does not kill or maim. It also has the bonus of killing fleas but a downside of killing insect the birds eat. I've only had to use it a few times though.

Also, adding herbs to the nest boxes can encourage laying and discourage vermin. I've done many experiments  Garden or English Thyme seems to encourage egg laying. Tansy is good for keeping insects out. The chickens eat some of what i add as well. 

Pennyroyal is excellent for keeping mice away. I use it all in the house, pantry etc... and anywhere I don't want mice or rats. It is a strong abortive though, so care should be taken. 

I have a very medieval setup now, it started out temporary but the hens seem to like it a lot. In the center of the chicken pen (they free range all day and are locked up at night) we have a small doghouse with removable lid (for gathering eggs) sitting on small log stilts. There's a funky long ladder for them to walk up and two old Igloo bottoms as lean-tos on the side. Plenty of outdoor roosts so everyone can get a high spot. When given the choice several times of this set up or a larger enclosed house with roosts inside, they chose this one every time. Even in the dead of winter with ice on them *-*


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Jewel said:


> When a snake swallows a golf ball or wooden egg they die a slow and painful death. Most egg eating snakes are also very beneficial snakes. They help keep the rodent population down and many eat other snakes too.


Your post brought back a pleasant memory. I was born on this farm and remember my grandfather teaching me about chicken snakes long ago.

I remember asking grandpa "If chicken snakes (rat snakes) eat mice don't we want to keep them?"

Grandpa said "That's what the cats are for!" 

The approach with wooden eggs or their modern counterpart isn't gentle but it is effective.

Some of you may be wondering about chicken snakes and eggs. They swallow them whole. Then the snake will climb a fence post or hay bales to get altitude. It will launch itself off and fall to the ground as many times as necessary to break the egg inside it's body. As a child I witnessed this a couple of times. It's amazing to watch.


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## Jewel (Sep 6, 2014)

Cotton said:


> Your post brought back a pleasant memory. I was born on this farm and remember my grandfather teaching me about chicken snakes long ago.
> 
> I remember asking grandpa "If chicken snakes (rat snakes) eat mice don't we want to keep them?"
> 
> ...


I agree with your grandpa!! I am Not a snake person! That's why we have cats and use borax  The snakes don't compete with the cats for mice, the cats will harry the snakes to death. But eggs make it worth the trouble to the snakes. If they can't get eggs then they just move on.

Very rarely a large snake will kill a hen and they'll also eat chicks and ducklings.

As much as they have a right to be in the wild, they are not welcome on our property, or at least not around the animals or us.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

I don't mind having rat/chicken snakes on the property because they eat mice and rats as well as gophers. As far as I'm concerned, they can go any where on the ranch except the chicken coop. You just have to be able to identify the different kinds of snakes in your area. I have no qualms about grabbing a rat snake with my hands, hauling it out of the coop, and shooting it; but, mistakenly grabbing a venomous snake would not be a happy event.

We free-range the chickens which leaves the gate to the hardware cloth pen and the coop door open for the slithering serpents; however, since the Guineas got older they seem to be doing a pretty good job of keeping snakes out of the coop. That being said, nothing is perfect. We live in the country and we have to take the good with the bad. We found a weakness in the coop security after a rat snake killed two small Guineas several months ago.

Right now I'm dealing with chicken hawks, owls, foxes, and a young bobcat. I've lost chickens to the owl, fox, and bobcat so I changed their free-range time and, so far, that's helped. The two hawk attacks (that I know about because I was less than 20' away both times) have been successfully defended by the Guineas. The Guineas are also alerting when a hawk is in the area and the hens learned early on when the Guineas start running for cover they had better be doing the same thing.

It's absolutely worth it to have the birds. We get fresh eggs from the hens (the Guineas aren't laying yet - they only lay in spring). We have a built in pest-control team with a bonus of the Guineas being partial to ticks. Free fertilizer. And entertainment. What more could you ask?


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