FINCHforum

My juvenile zebras are 12 weeks old today. And to celebrate their 3 month birthday, one of them laid her first egg! I know it is not fertile, since they are both females and she is so young. Even if it were, I would obviously not let her try to raise chicks yet!
I am not sure which one laid the egg, but I suspect Astrid, as she is the "older" and seems to have finished (or nearly finished) her juvenile molt (I think).
My questions are: is it normal to lay an egg so young? What do I need to worry about in terms of health issues now that at least one is laying? I know egg binding is common in young hens so they have access to a cuttlebone (which I have seen both using more recently) and eggshell that I have been mixing right in with their eggfood. Is there anything else I can do to prevent egg binding in my lil hens? Or any special steps I should take now that they are growing up?
This is my first clutch and I still have a lot to learn. I feel like the fretting mother of teenage girls that are interested in dating.... My, they grow up so fast!!

Cool! My finches have laid infertile eggs as young as 2-3 months, and again after a few months, around 4-5 months. We did not start nesting until they were about one year.

Yeah, I'm definitely not planning on letting them nest any time soon. I'm just curious if there is any special care I need to take with young hens that I wouldn't with mature hens.

My avian vet gave our hens calcium supplement. We gave them a dose daily, by hand with a syringe. Some people add a calcium booster in the water. My hens have all done well, after the calcium dosing. Prior to that we had two with egg binding. One made and the other did not. Now, we have three hatchlings, five other Society eggs next to hatch and two bronze-wing eggs due in about 9 days.
Good Luck with them and have fun.

She laid another the next day, and both girls laid one this evening. I removed the first, they ate the second and half of one tonight. They only seem to eat them if they crack open. Does anyone have suggestions as to whether I should leave them in or not? Will they just keep laying at this age if I remove them, like some adult hens will? They don't have a nest but I am wondering if I should put one in so they can lay a clutch and sit on them for a few weeks.... Just so they won't keep laying eggs.
Anyone have experiences they would share?