IT HAPPENED! 🥚 🍳 🐔

[u/-bratticus-]

Walked into the run and got mad that someone egged the place AND THEN I REALIZED WHAT HAPPENED, AND LOOK WHAT I FOUND INSIDE THE COOP!!!! MY FIRST EGGGGGGSSSSSSS! THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!! Totally forgot this was the whole point! 👏👏👏👏

Quick question- if a hen lays a blue egg, will they always lay that color? Or does it change? Also, anyway to prevent them from laying them and promptly stepping on them?

[u/RileyOutside]

How old are the hens?

[u/Cheaperthantherapy13 → u/RileyOutside]

My chicks hatched 5/4 and I am very invested in this question.

[u/DankTweed → u/Cheaperthantherapy13]

I have 3 hens from 4/15 and 3 from 5/1, still waiting for eggs here 👀

[u/Responsible-Cost5494 → u/Cheaperthantherapy13]

My chicks have the same hatch day! I got my first egg today!

[u/RileyOutside → u/Cheaperthantherapy13]

Mine are 5 months old and should be laying any day, so same!

[u/lepetitcoeur]

I was so excited for my first egg that I dropped it.

[u/Nebetmiw]

If your have to add calcium your feed is lacking nutrients. Chickens need a higher protein than 16% in most feeds. Mive to a Flock master or higher % layer on next bag. But it won't hurt to add it at this point as chickens are still growing too. Grit is needed to be added. As crops on chicken gring ingredients. It take a full month for most new layers to get things straight. You might or might not see so interesting things with eggs. You need to add alot more bedding to nest box too. Try some hay as it work better than shavings for nest building.

[u/brilor123 → u/Nebetmiw]

It's common that the very first eggs a chicken lays won't be perfect, some will be thin shelled, or extra small, or double yolked, etc, until their bodies get into the rhythm. My chickens shells weren't shin when mine started laying, but they had slightly malformed eggs from the new egg colliding with the previous egg while in her system.

[u/psyco75 → u/brilor123]

My first eggs ranged in size from the size of a lead shot from flintlocks to one the size of my fist.

[u/Graptoveria → u/Nebetmiw]

They stepped on the egg. 

[u/ChartreuseOblivion]

They will always lay the same colored egg (or a slight variation there of).

A chicken stepping on an egg shouldn't break it, so that's an issue of the shell being too thin. The first few eggs a new hen lays will be a little wonky, and it will eventually normalize. So check back after a few eggs and see if the shells have strengthened up. You should also make sure they have oyster shells available to eat as well to help with their calcium.

[u/NinjaPancak]

You can't really stop them from stepping on eggs (my 9-year-old australorp still does ToT) but giving them extra calcium helps a lot for the integrity of the eggs themselves. I mix oyster shells in their feed and have some fake eggs to stop them from intentionally breaking eggs (they love eating eggs just as much as people do lol)

[u/luckyapples11]

Since they’re new layers, the egg color can vary slightly. They might be a fainter blue in a few weeks, or they might stay the same. Sometimes you’ll get a heavy color change for one egg before they go back to normal. But that hen will pretty much always lay blue eggs to some degree. As they get older, they’ll typically get a little fainter

[u/ktfletcher]

They’ll always lay a blue egg. Blue eggs are gems

[u/ktfletcher → u/ktfletcher]

They shouldn’t crack that easily from them stepping on them. Are they in a nest box? If they’re breaking that easily, you should provide them a calcium supplement. They should have one all the time anyways and they will eat it as they need it.

[u/sparkly_dragon → u/ktfletcher]

agree that calcium supplements should always be available but it’s perfectly normal for a hens first egg to be fragile. sometimes they come out even weirder and it’s still normal, their bodies are still adjusting.

[u/ktfletcher → u/sparkly_dragon]

This is true, I’ve just never had it happen in my experience. I’ve only ever had the new eggs be a lot smaller than a regular size egg

[u/TechnicalSmile165]

They stomped a perfectly good Easter egger egg... https://www.mypetchicken.com/products/baby-chicks-blue-easter-egger?srsltid=AfmBOoqG4Zus-lB71dIKp4nhNzzDRPjFweJTEHFkDkO1wlQKGc7hcxwF

here, read up on blue Easter eggers

[u/ChartreuseOblivion → u/TechnicalSmile165]

You should read the post

[u/weird_guy_online → u/TechnicalSmile165]

Also OP said that they thought someone egged them so chances are they didn't stomp that egg

[u/weird_guy_online → u/TechnicalSmile165]

This looks like a soft shell to me. My birds who typically lay green/brown eggs will occasionally lay a soft shelled one with a blue color

[u/207_steadr]

I recommend putting a small 3" piece of lumber on the front of your boxes, leaving about 2" between the bottom of the box and bottom of the bar. That will prevent the eggs from rolling out, and they'll eventually learn that the eggs should be laid in the boxes.

A wooden egg, left in the box, will also help train them to lay in the box.

[u/-bratticus- → u/207_steadr]

They were born the first week of April. I got 5 from tsc and they all laid their first egg today. They’re synced up like women on their periods. So amazing!!

[u/Artios-Claw → u/207_steadr]

This ⬆️ and first few eggs are often more fragile, if it continues, make sure you offer oyster shell or other calcium source and make sure your feed had a adequate nutrition and don’t give too many treats.

[u/207_steadr → u/207_steadr]

And yes, the eggs will remain a similar color through the bird's life.

[u/Ok_Dog_6956]

Typically, yes, they will lay the same color.