Question for Chicken keepers.......

[Maxi'sMinis]

My Brahma hens even though they are younger than the Marans hens have started laying eggs.

I have had a little brown egg the last 2 days. Today I let the chickens out and no eggs.

About noon time a Brahma hen went back in and layed 2 eggs. It seemed hard for her.

I examined her and I could feel an egg. Went in to get a glove and some lube and while I was gone she had them both. 1. Was broken and crushed a little.

One of my questions is this normal?

And how do you process your eggs?

Collect them 1st thing?

How do you wash them and store them?

Thanks for sharing your experience!

 

[jayne]

New layers often have a few seemingly weird things happen until they get into the swing of regular laying. I feel bad for your little hen with the broken egg inside. Sounds like she's laid a good one behind it, but watch her, and if it appears she's straining, glove-up and lube-up a finger and make sure there are still no broken pieces in there. I've had to do it. I'm sure your finger is smaller in diameter than her eggs, so don't worry.

I do not let my chickens out until after noon for a couple of reasons. One, I want them to lay in the nests in the morning (although some late layers do seem to go back to the coop, but it's not guaranteed) and two, we have seen coyotes in the morning, so it's just safer. I collect the eggs in the late afternoon. Something about those eggs sitting in there encourages them to add to the collection! I have six boxes and 11 hens, and they usually choose to lay in just two, and maybe a third. It's not the same boxes every day, either. Who can know what a chicken is thinking?!

It is my understanding that you really shouldn't wash the eggs (unless it's nasty) because they come with a natural 'bloom' that protects them. Once you wash that off, bacteria can go into the pores and cause problems. Since it's just us, and two other friends eating my hen's eggs, we're OK with them staying in the natural state until we use them. I don't even wash them before I used them unless there is something to wash off. So I just collect them every afternoon (and look for any stragglers when I lock them up at night) and put them in cartons right in the fridge.

I love having chickens and am sorry I waited so long to get them. They bring me so much enjoyment, and of course the eggs are great too. I am wanting to add three more hens, probably in the spring, and I am having fun researching breeds that would compliment my colorful flock. I am thinking Brahma or Buff Orpingtons are next!

Jayne

 

[AnnaC]

As has been said, young birds coming into lay can get all sorts of 'funny' things happen, but usually only for a day or two. They will also miss a day or so until they come into full lay. Most chickens will lay in the morning and usually pick a nest that already has an egg in it - which is why some folk buy china false eggs and leave one in each of the nest boxes, then they collect the laid eggs regularly, leaving the false one behind, there is less likelyhood of a chicken breaking a normal egg when she climbs into the nest box to lay if you have done a regular 'pick up'!

Also, again as has been stated, eggs should never be washed. You can wipe them over with a clean damp cloth if dirty, although it is far better to keep the nest boxes and bedding really clean than it is even to use a damp cloth.

Anna

 

[Katiean]

When eggs are laied they have an antibiotic covering them. They say you should not wash your eggs. When I get poopie eggs I just toss them (but not to the chickens). They say to flake the poopie off with a clean dry cloth. But that is just grose to me. We get 3-6 egs a day and we have 10 chickens. All the hens are not going to the nest because or they are not laying any more because they lay the blue/green eggs. It is funny sometimes we will have 3 hens sitting on each other. They all want the same nest.

 

[FoRebel]

We have 30+ layers right now. You've been giving a lot of good information about the hens.

When we collect eggs we bring them in the house, wipe the outside of the egg with just water on a paper towel. I fold it into four and use only one quadrant per egg and then throw it when I've used the quadrants. The eggs are placed in cartons and refrigerated immediately. Honestly, if we were to throw out all the eggs that have poop on them, we wouldn't have any eggs or at least VERY few. My kids even have been selling the eggs because we get better than 20 dozen a week usually so they sell them to local people to make a little cash.

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Ok not washing the eggs, wiping them off with damp paper towel.

I only have one hen laying out of 6 right now. Each day she tries to lay an egg.

She takes quite a long time in the nest box, has been more than an hour. She also makes a clucking kind of distressed sound when laying. Today she was in the nest a 5PM but no egg.

Does all this sound normal? She has laid 5 eggs so far. All are pretty small. What is the average amount of time that they take to actually pass the egg?

Thank you all so very much, this has helped greatly.

 

[jayne]

Mine take varying amounts of time to produce an egg, and I don't think an hour is that unusual, especially for new layers. I have one hen that I have observed that seems to work sooo hard to get her little egg out...I feel so bad for her. Sometimes she stands up and strains and almost moans! She's been doing this for years now, and I make sure she's healthy and not too fat, but gets black oil sunflower seeds to help keep things lubricated.

Just keep watching and if she seems OK with life when it's all over, it's probably normal for her.

Jayne

 

[Katiean]

With young, starting to lay hens, we have had little spots of blood on the eggs. I guess it is like becoming a non-vergin. They still go in and lay almost every day. It only happens a few times with new hens. If the egg shells are too thin and being damaged while they are being laied, try providing oyster shell. Get it at the feed store. It costs about 20 cents a pound. I get 1-2 pounds and it lasts me a couple of months. I also mix egg maker pellets and scratch grians.

 

[susanne]

Ditto to all of the above...

I actually am posting to say that I LOVE your signature, Jayne! I want that on a bumper sticker.

 

[jayne]

Oh Susanne, that's too funny...because that's where I saw it in the first place! I've seen them around so I know you can find one.

 

[billiethekid40]

Susanne, the bumper stickers are from a company called Cloud Star (they make super awesome biscuits and dog shampoo by the way!) Heres the website: Wag More Bark Less

 

[Bunnylady]

For some reason, I always have a few free-ranging hens that prefer to lay their eggs in a corner of a horse's stall. I usually check their favorite corners several times a day, because I've had several egg-eating chickens over the years, and eggs that lie around seem to inspire that behavior. I thought I had weeded all the egg-eaters out, so when I didn't get an egg out of the barn for a week, I thought I had a new one starting. Turns out I did, but not a critter that I ever would have suspected. I caught her with egg on her face, so there is no doubt about the culprit - Blondie. I have an egg-eating horse!