This afternoon when I went outside to check on the chickens and ducks I was standing at the door of the chicken pen and all of the ladies were acting nonchalant. There was no excitement or celebration going on. Just the normal scratching and sunbathing and dust bathing activities. After checking the water and talking to the girls for a few minutes I happened to glance under the old wheelbarrow that was propped against the wall of their coop. Nestled in the pine shavings was one perfect brown egg. I begged the girls to tell me who had left this wonderful little treat here but none of them would even give me a hint. I have seen no squatting and heard no egg songs. I bought these 5 red stars from TSC on Saturday, April 7 and I had guessed that they had hatched the previous weekend. That would make them 18 weeks old this past weekend. I really was not expecting any eggs for a couple more weeks so this was really a delightful surprise. I'm gonna be watching closer tomorrow to see if I can catch one of them under that wheelbarrow. Tonight I also spent some time walking around the yard looking in cozy little areas for more eggs since my little flock has the run of the yard for around 6 hours each afternoon.