Cubalaya Thread For Sharing Pics and Discussing Our Birds

[bruceha2000]

Peep, my BR pullet from Ideal laid her first egg yesterday.



Obviously it is the small pinkish one. I don't know if they will get bigger. For comparison, the two on the bottom are from the Anconas laid 11/23 and the two either side of the Cubalaya egg were laid today. The one on the right is the first full size Large egg from the girls. The one on the right is a store egg.

The Anconas always loudly sing the egg song after they lay (and sometimes before

). Peep just did her job and left the box. Had I not been working on the coop at the time, I wouldn't have known who gave us that egg, Do Cubalayas not know the egg song? Fay, the splash red checked out the nest box today.

Bruce

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Peep, my BR pullet from Ideal laid her first egg yesterday.



Obviously it is the small pinkish one. I don't know if they will get bigger. For comparison, the two on the bottom are from the Anconas laid 11/23 and the two either side of the Cubalaya egg were laid today. The one on the right is the first full size Large egg from the girls. The one on the right is a store egg.

The Anconas always loudly sing the egg song after they lay (and sometimes before

). Peep just did her job and left the box. Had I not been working on the coop at the time, I wouldn't have known who gave us that egg, Do Cubalayas not know the egg song? Fay, the splash red checked out the nest box today.

Bruce

Pullet eggs are always small even in production breeds like Rhode Islands. Everything I have read about cubalayas says they lay a medium sized egg, so they will get bigger, but I think not a whole lot. I am interested to know how many eggs Peep lays on her first cycle and how often she lays. Keep me posted if you would. Thanks

 

[bruceha2000]

Pullet eggs are always small even in production breeds like Rhode Islands. Everything I have read about cubalayas says they lay a medium sized egg, so they will get bigger, but I think not a whole lot. I am interested to know how many eggs Peep lays on her first cycle and how often she lays. Keep me posted if you would. Thanks

Will do. She went in the box again today but no egg. I'm guessing tomorrow morning. I'm sure the poor things are all "what the heck is THAT new feeling?!" the first couple of times. I'm not expecting the Cubalayas to put out large eggs, maybe medium, which is about the size of the Ancona eggs before Yue laid that large one today. Interestingly, Zia laid several eggs before Yue started, but Yue had the first "regular" sized egg.

Bruce

Peep laid egg #2 today so one on 11/23 and one on 11/25

 

[wood&feathers]

Yup Bruce, cubalayas know the egg song. They are individuals like all chickens and some are more prone to brag than others. My smallest white hen sings the egg song for her own efforts as well as every other hen in the coop. Seems like she is spending more time squawking than eating. Others hardly sing at all. I suppose it is related to pecking order and such.

Egg size in my flock averages medium. I have one very big wheaten hen, one of my original trio from cubalaya, who lays a large egg, a real porcelain beauty. But she is nearly as big as the rooster. I need to weigh her...

 

[bruceha2000]

Since JungleExplorer (BEAUTIFUL picture on your profile page!!) asked me to keep him abreast of the girls laying, I started an article because it seemed silly to post here every time:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/cubalaya-laying-history

I'll try to keep it updated.

BTW, today Peep laid her 3rd egg (in 4 days) and Fay laid her first.

Bruce

 

[saladin]

A good strain of Cubalayas should lay between 120-150 eggs per year.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Since JungleExplorer (BEAUTIFUL picture on your profile page!!) asked me to keep him abreast of the girls laying, I started an article because it seemed silly to post here every time:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/cubalaya-laying-history

I'll try to keep it updated.

BTW, today Peep laid her 3rd egg (in 4 days) and Fay laid her first.

Bruce

Thanks. I am excited to see how many she lays on her first cycle and how long it is before she starts her second cycle. The reason I want to know this is because I want to incubate and hatch out some of the eggs from my hen. I have heard say that pullets eggs should not be hatched, but I don't want to risk something happening to her before I get some offspring from her (I only have 1 BBR hen and 1 B/R hen). So, if cubalayas lay, let's say, 20 eggs on their first cycle and then stop for a month or so before starting their next cycle; then I might wait for the next cycle before trying to hatch any. But if they go several months before starting their next cycle, then I will hatch the pullet eggs out.

If you like the picture on my profile page, you should check out my website, www.jungleexplorer.net. It is just a place for me to post pictures. I have traveled a lot in my life and I love to take pictures. I only post the best ones on my website. Most of the pictures on my website can also be found on Google Earth or my Pandoramio account (also: jungleexplorer). You be able to see where they were taken in the world on GE and Pandoramio. I have a lot more to put on my website, but I am busy building breeding pens for my cubalayas right now.

 

[bruceha2000]

Given the size of the girls' first eggs so far, I don't think I'd be hatching them just yet. They are quite small. Peep's first egg fit in a measuring tablespoon and I think Fay's first might be even a bit smaller. And I would wonder if the amount of light mine are getting (basically 12 hours with 2+ of those being "twilight" level CFL) and other environmental factors may make my experience different that what you might see.

Apparently I am learning something new, again - always again. I didn't know they had cycles other than they moult annually after their first year and won't likely lay during that period. And a lot of chickens don't lay as much (if at all for some) during the darker winter months.

Maybe I'll add a general size estimate to the page so we can see how long it takes from first tiny egg to "this is the long term consistent size" eggs. I'm told we got 3 more today (wife called with an unrelated item). One Cubalaya, one Ancona and one EE. Though I didn't get very good info ("it looks like a regular egg") the Ancona and EE are apparently regular Large size. The EE's first egg (on Sunday) was an XL double yolk. Both Anconas have been laying mediums so far, but one laid a double yolk large Sunday, then dropped a shell-less egg from the roost right in front of me last night so I assume she is not the one who laid today. Her system is still trying to figure things out. That means Zia laid a Large, it would be her first.

Bruce

 

[Jungleexplorer]

Given the size of the girls' first eggs so far, I don't think I'd be hatching them just yet. They are quite small. Peep's first egg fit in a measuring tablespoon and I think Fay's first might be even a bit smaller. And I would wonder if the amount of light mine are getting (basically 12 hours with 2+ of those being "twilight" level CFL) and other environmental factors may make my experience different that what you might see.

Apparently I am learning something new, again - always again. I didn't know they had cycles other than they moult annually after their first year and won't likely lay during that period. And a lot of chickens don't lay as much (if at all for some) during the darker winter months.

Maybe I'll add a general size estimate to the page so we can see how long it takes from first tiny egg to "this is the long term consistent size" eggs. I'm told we got 3 more today (wife called with an unrelated item). One Cubalaya, one Ancona and one EE. Though I didn't get very good info ("it looks like a regular egg") the Ancona and EE are apparently regular Large size. The EE's first egg (on Sunday) was an XL double yolk. Both Anconas have been laying mediums so far, but one laid a double yolk large Sunday, then dropped a shell-less egg from the roost right in front of me last night so I assume she is not the one who laid today. Her system is still trying to figure things out. That means Zia laid a Large, it would be her first.

Bruce

I may be using incorrect terminology when I say cycle. That is just what I call it. I don't know anything about the egg laying cycles of cubalayas. I have mostly only paid attention to my production breeds. I don't know how universally true this is, but in my experience, most normal chickens will lay a reduced amount of eggs on their first cycle. In rhode island reds, they will 30 to 35 eggs on their first cycles, 40 to 45 on their second, and maybe 50 to 60 on their third. 60 is about their maximum per cycle and a normal RR will lay around 240 eggs per year at their peak with the right care. So that means that they will have about a month or two of down time in between each cycle. Many things will effect how many eggs a chicken lay per cycle and how long their down time will be (age, nutrition, daylight, broodiness etc.) In hens that are broodier then others, you will need to break them off the nest as soon as possible to shorten their down time. And of course if you allow a hen to set on eggs and hatch them, she will not lay another egg for seven months.

 

[troyer]

And of course if you allow a hen to set on eggs and hatch them, she will not lay another egg for seven months.

I have 3 cubalaya hens that hatched 3 broods each this summer. They started setting in early March and had the third hatch in late August. I took their eggs away from them in October, as they would have continued, but I didn't let them. They needed to go through the molt and rest for next season. I will not let them do more than 2 settings next year, as it wears them out too much.
I've had hatchery cubalayas twice in my lifetime, the first time I had cubalayas I got them from Marti Poultry, those were excellent setters. The second time I got them from Ideal Hatchery and those cubalaya did not set at all
Now some breeds might just simply not be as broody as cubalayas. Some cubalaya lines are not as broody as these are. I assume that most production breeds are not broody unless they are in ideal situations.
I'm not trying to stir up any hard feelings, just sharing my experiences.