Egg Mystery... sleuths needed!

[MIChickandGuinea]

We have an egg!! Our first egg!!!!!!! But actually, we had TWO first eggs, but one was broken - looks like it was crushed and when I cleaned it out of the coop, it was very thin-shelled. But as far as I know, I should only have ONE girl in that coop who lays eggs this color. In this coop, I have 7 pullets, all 16-1/2 weeks old. One Isa Brown (who I think should lay eggs this color), one white leghorn (white eggs, right?), two black marans (dark chocolate brown eggs, right?), and two aracaunas (blue/green/mint eggs, right?) ... Would that Isa Brown have laid TWO eggs on her very first attempt, maybe since they're so small, and one was thin-shelled and underdeveloped?

Also, now that egg-laying has begun, do I move the whole coop to layer feed? And add oyster shells, even though it may be weeks yet before some of the girls lay their first egg? I don't know whether it's more important to protect the non-layers from excessive calcium, or to protect the layer from nutritional deficits now that she's "on the job".

And also ... did I mention ... WE HAVE AN EGG!!!!

 

[Boone Farm]

Congrats on the egg!

I would leave your ladies on grower feed but make sure to offer them supplemental calcium. You can get a 50 pound bag of oyster shell at Tractor Supply for under $10. have a bowl with that available so any chicken who needs calcium can get it.

Moving to layer feed would probably be fine for chickens that age so if you run out and want to get layer feed next don't worry about hurting the other chickens. But I think it is best to always offer calcium outside of their normal food anyway, especially because it's so inexpensive.

As for the egg color. First eggs are always smaller and normally lighter than their fully mature egg colors.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

Congrats on the egg!

I would leave your ladies on grower feed but make sure to offer them supplemental calcium. You can get a 50 pound bag of oyster shell at Tractor Supply for under $10. have a bowl with that available so any chicken who needs calcium can get it.

Moving to layer feed would probably be fine for chickens that age so if you run out and want to get layer feed next don't worry about hurting the other chickens. But I think it is best to always offer calcium outside of their normal food anyway, especially because it's so inexpensive.

As for the egg color. First eggs are always smaller and normally lighter than their fully mature egg colors.

So do you think that one of the Marans could have also laid a first egg this morning (they will lay brown eggs too, but supposedly much, much darker)? Or is it possible that Hester laid two? They were in the same place and looked identical, except that one was broken.

And thanks for the feeding tips. I want to do this properly for the sweet little ladies out in egg land

 

[Boone Farm]

So do you think that one of the Marans could have also laid a first egg this morning (they will lay brown eggs too, but supposedly much, much darker)? Or is it possible that Hester laid two? They were in the same place and looked identical, except that one was broken.

I do not think the same bird laid two eggs in 1 day. It could definitely be one of the Marans. That is a very dark first egg to be honest. I have Rocks and a Rhode Island and their first eggs were very light colored. Nothing close to as dark as that one.

 

[Ridgerunner]

One Isa Brown (who I think should lay eggs this color) ...Correct

one white leghorn (white eggs, right?) ...Correct

two black marans (dark chocolate brown eggs, right?) ...Maybe. Marans "should" lay dark brown eggs. Most Marans do lay dark brown eggs. But the actual shade can vary a lot more than many people realize. Some can be fairly light. Your Marans eggs should be darker than that, probably will be, but it's not absolutely certain.

and two aracaunas (blue/green/mint eggs, right?) ... Maybe. Are you sure they are actually Araucana and not EE's? A true Araucana should lay blue eggs, no green or mint, but many birds sold as Araucana are really Easter Eggers. EE's can lay about any color egg.

When a pullet starts to lay the eggs sometimes can be weird. There are a lot of different steps for the process to be successful, sometimes it takes a while for a pullet to work out all the kinks in the process. What's surprising is how many get it right from the start.

My guess is that your ISA Brown laid both eggs. She probably released two yolks to start the egg making process instead of just one. If two yolks are released at the same time you might get a double yolked egg. If they are separated a bit by tine you can get two eggs.

A hen normally makes enough shell material to cover one egg, not two. They also make a limited amount of coloring toe turn the egg brown. So often the second egg is thin-shelled and not as dark as the first. Not always, but often. It's not a lack of calcium, she just doesn't make enough shell material to cover two eggs.

One thing that can contribute to a pullet or even a grown hen releasing more than one yolk is excess protein. That's especially true of ISA Browns and the other egg laying hybrids. I know a lot of people on here firmly believe the more protein you can cram into your chickens the better, but with ISA Browns more protein is not always better. If that pullet persists in laying two eggs a day or double yolkers for more than a couple of weeks you might want to cut the protein back a bit.

Congrats on that first egg. It is exciting.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

One Isa Brown (who I think should lay eggs this color) ...Correct


and two aracaunas (blue/green/mint eggs, right?) ... Maybe. Are you sure they are actually Araucana and not EE's? A true Araucana should lay blue eggs, no green or mint, but many birds sold as Araucana are really Easter Eggers. EE's can lay about any color egg.

When a pullet starts to lay the eggs sometimes can be weird. There are a lot of different steps for the process to be successful, sometimes it takes a while for a pullet to work out all the kinks in the process. What's surprising is how many get it right from the start.

My guess is that your ISA Brown laid both eggs. She probably released two yolks to start the egg making process instead of just one. If two yolks are released at the same time you might get a double yolked egg. If they are separated a bit by tine you can get two eggs.

A hen normally makes enough shell material to cover one egg, not two. They also make a limited amount of coloring toe turn the egg brown. So often the second egg is thin-shelled and not as dark as the first. Not always, but often. It's not a lack of calcium, she just doesn't make enough shell material to cover two eggs.

One thing that can contribute to a pullet or even a grown hen releasing more than one yolk is excess protein. That's especially true of ISA Browns and the other egg laying hybrids. I know a lot of people on here firmly believe the more protein you can cram into your chickens the better, but with ISA Browns more protein is not always better. If that pullet persists in laying two eggs a day or double yolkers for more than a couple of weeks you might want to cut the protein back a bit.

Congrats on that first egg. It is exciting.

THANKS for the info :-D

"Are you sure they are actually Araucana and not EE's? A true Araucana should lay blue eggs, no green or mint, but many birds sold as Araucana are really Easter Eggers. EE's can lay about any color egg." ... I don't know how to tell. They were hatched at a regional hatchery and sold at Tractor Supply Company. They were labeled Aracauna. I got some others from the same hatchery (but different farm outlet) that were called Americaunas. So I don't know.

"One thing that can contribute to a pullet or even a grown hen releasing more than one yolk is excess protein. That's especially true of ISA Browns and the other egg laying hybrids. I know a lot of people on here firmly believe the more protein you can cram into your chickens the better, but with ISA Browns more protein is not always better. If that pullet persists in laying two eggs a day or double yolkers for more than a couple of weeks you might want to cut the protein back a bit." ... The ladies have been on poultry grower/finisher, which is 15% protein, so less than the typical layer feed, right? They get a few treats of a handful of dry oats or cheerios, and they get several hours of free-ranging time in the late afternoon/evening. Do you think this diet would be too high in protein?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I forgot to mention. Your ISA Brown is an egg-laying hybrid and is the most likely to start laying early like that. I have had other non-egg laying hybrids start at 16 weeks but that's pretty rare. That's another reason I think it's your ISA Brown. Your other pullets could start laying at any time but you are probably a month or two away from most of the others starting to lay. You should be able to switch to Layer now without harm to them, but I never feed Layer. I feed a Grower or Starter, depending in the ages of my chicks I practically always have with the flock, and offer oyster shell on the side. That way I don't have to worry about it.

What typically happens with egg color is that the first eggs a pullet lays are the darkest she will lay. The same thing happens when a hen starts laying after a molt, those first eggs are usually pretty dark. As the hen or pullet gets deeper into the egg laying cycle egg color normally gets lighter.

The egg on the left is from one of my EE's that just started laying. The one on the right is from a hen that has been laying about a year. When she started laying last fall her first egg was a lot like the one on the left. The longer your pullets lay the larger and lighter the eggs should get.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If you can posy photos of the Araucana we can probably tell if they are true Auracana or EE's. If you got them from Tractor Supply they are extremely likely to be EE's.

The way you are feeding them they are not getting too much protein. You are OK there.

 

[MIChickandGuinea]

This is Calliope, sold as an Aracauna. Her buddy Constance looks much the same, but has rose-colored feathers near her wings and legs, and a big, fluffy, grey beard. Constance is too shy to pose for pictures so I don't have a good one of her.

 

[Ridgerunner]

She has a tail, that's an EE.