Do young pullets lay smaller eggs? And what about Marans' color?

[magdelaine]

Hi,

We are brand new to this chicken thing and I'm not sure what to expect, so bear with me. We got 5 9 month Red Stars 2.5 weeks ago. They laid beautiful largish eggs from the first day and have been quite prolific. A couple of days ago we added 6 month marans (3) and a dominique. One of the marans has been haunting the nesting boxes and making lots of noise; the rest of the newbies largely ignore the coop. Yesterday and today we got a much smaller egg in a box. The one yesterday was a slightly darker brown but is still in range of the what we get from the red stars; today it was decidedly lighter but with dark speckles. It had poo on it and I had to shoo the marans out of the box to collect it.

So, my questions: Do younger pullets lay smaller eggs? Or can egg size vary in a single hen? Does the color of marans' eggs also vary, or is light eggs just a sign that the marans isn't very well bred (if it was her who laid it)?

I can post pics if that would help.

Thanks!

 

[hennyannie]

Younger pullets do lay smaller eggs at first. Color does vary alot and any breed can lay eggs with those speckles. The new hens probably have not layed yet, it usually takes some adjustment time.

 

[schellie69]

When a pullet (under a year old female chicken) starts to lay their eggs are smaller they start to larger as they age. I noticed a big change after there 1 year molt. I am not sure about the darkness of marans when they start to lay I don't have any but it could be on of your marans getting her system worked out.

 

[magdelaine]

Great! Thanks for the info... I was not expecting any eggs from the newbies for a while, but after two "oddities" in two days since they came I think it has to be where they are coming from. The reds have been absolutely regular in size for more than two weeks.

 

[magdelaine]

A few more days and a few more eggs. The day before yesterday we got another small, roundish egg that was clearly a Marans' as it was visibly darker than the rest, though light by Marans' standards. Yesterday, nothing small, then today we got one small light colored, long egg and a shell-less egg (with a Marans in the box). So I think that the new girls are coming on line, I suspect the small, light, longish eggs are coming from the Dominique and that one of the Marans laid a shell-less today. Apparently Marans eggs can start off light before they get darker so you don't count the first dozen?

The other girls are laying an egg each every day.

Sure is fascinating...