Coming in Pairs?

[SophiaRose]

I have three chickens, a rhode island, an easter egger and a silkie. We've started to get eggs (YES!) and we think that they are
from the silkie because they are consistently tiny and perfectly shaped. Regarding the photo, keep in mind that my hand is small. Also, we've seen the silkie spend a lot of time in the nesting box. Here's the problem, every two days or so we get two eggs, never just one- always two. Just sitting next to each other. Is this normal...? Also when letting the chickens free range they go nuts over pine needles and I just wanted to make sure that it's okay for them to ingest them.

Thank you!

 

[sumi]

I think you have 2 hens laying and one is being very sneaky about it. Sometimes you'll get a hen that lays 2 eggs a day, but that is extremely rare (my grandparents had one when my mom was a child, she laid 2 eggs a day, on their bed!) When a pullet starts laying her eggs are usually small, sometimes normal size, which is why I think you have 2 active layers. One (silkie) is laying normal size eggs and the other hen could be laying small pullet eggs.
As for the pine needles, I've looked at some older threads and some of the members said their hens have been scratching in it and eating and came to no harm. I see it is also a popular material to spread around chicken runs.

 

[donrae]

And be aware that free range birds take advantage of lots of special places to hide their eggs from you!