Well, today my daughter brought in a "First" egg from one of my Rhode Island Reds, or what appears to be a "First" egg. The confusing thing is that during the summer, I added three new girls to my henhouse (I now have 8 hens and 1 rooster) and they were 16-18 weeks old at the time, which would put my youngest hens at approx 40 weeks old. The egg is about twice the size of a quarter, the same size as most of the other "Firsts" we have gotten. It seems to me that 40 weeks old would be late for a first egg, isn't it?
It's a bit on the late side, but within normal limits. We are spoiled by all those early laying production breeds out there, so we expect all birds to start laying young. I just had a new layer start. That layer would be about 48 weeks old. She is a late bloomer. Enjoy the new eggs.
One of my hens born in May just layed her fist egg today, and one of her "siblings" still hasn't... I'm patient!
Thanks for your responses. I am only 3 years into this and do still have some of my original girls, so I don't add newbies very often.
