Forewarning: This post lies somewhere between "Could there be something wrong?" and "I'm trying to be patient, but come on!".
I've wanted blue eggs for so long and earlier this year, I happened to be at the right place at the right time and a local guy was selling a hatch of John Blehm's true black Ameraucanas. They're absolutely BEAUTIFUL birds!
My large brooder was under construction at the time, and they were a bit pricey, so I decided 3 would give me good odds of 1 hen and 1 cockerel. So I got 4. Weeks pass, and I find out I have 3 cockerels and 1 hen. That's my luck! Haha! So I picked the prettiest cockerel and my lonely hen, and put them in a coop together and waited... and waited..... and waited......... just waiting for that first blue egg.
They were hatched on April 9th. That's 9 months (40 weeks) ago and not a single blue egg yet! She's in a 5x10ft coop with a cockerel and 2 olive egger hens (that were hatched in June and have been laying for weeks). They get quality feed, scratch, oyster shell, veggies, treats... but I get nothing. I've even put ceramic eggs in the nesting boxes to try to encourage her. I had named her Etta (after Etta James) "because she lays the blues"... but she hasn't laid JACK!
Have you ever had a hen just not ever lay an egg? Could I have a defective hen? The weather is starting to get colder and some of my other girls are slowing down. Is she going to make me wait until Springtime? Ugh! I hope not.
I've wanted blue eggs for so long and earlier this year, I happened to be at the right place at the right time and a local guy was selling a hatch of John Blehm's true black Ameraucanas. They're absolutely BEAUTIFUL birds!
My large brooder was under construction at the time, and they were a bit pricey, so I decided 3 would give me good odds of 1 hen and 1 cockerel. So I got 4. Weeks pass, and I find out I have 3 cockerels and 1 hen. That's my luck! Haha! So I picked the prettiest cockerel and my lonely hen, and put them in a coop together and waited... and waited..... and waited......... just waiting for that first blue egg.
They were hatched on April 9th. That's 9 months (40 weeks) ago and not a single blue egg yet! She's in a 5x10ft coop with a cockerel and 2 olive egger hens (that were hatched in June and have been laying for weeks). They get quality feed, scratch, oyster shell, veggies, treats... but I get nothing. I've even put ceramic eggs in the nesting boxes to try to encourage her. I had named her Etta (after Etta James) "because she lays the blues"... but she hasn't laid JACK!
Have you ever had a hen just not ever lay an egg? Could I have a defective hen? The weather is starting to get colder and some of my other girls are slowing down. Is she going to make me wait until Springtime? Ugh! I hope not.
