The Eggplant
In the Brooder
Just wanted to share our First Eggs story - it's been a very EGGsiting day around here!! We have 4 Barred Rock pullets, and got our first eggs from Edna about a week ago - she has consistently laid 2 eggs at a time, about every 48 hours. They are tiny, and very soft shelled. And she lays them from the roost, so unfortunately, they've all been terribly cracked. The first two she laid were not that great, but the problem seemed to be getting worse despite my best efforts to make sure she is getting what she needs to lay "good" eggs. Two nights ago, I went out to the coop to check on them, and saw that she had laid the first of her two eggs (it was directly under her from her perch on the roost, so I very carefully and gently picked her up and placed her in one of the nesting boxes… she didn't love that, and started wandering the coop, and within a couple of minutes I saw some clear liquid exit through her vent, and I actually watched her lay the second of her two eggs right in the coop! I was alarmed though because it didn't even have a full shell around it - it was like the top half of the shell was never even formed... But I've made some changes in the last week to their diet, like integrating a layer feed into the last of their general purpose feed, offering crushed egg shell, limiting and even stopping treats, and adding apple cider vinegar to their water. Yesterday morning we heard the "egg song" for the first time, and I was so ridiculously excited, I went out to the coop, and waited patiently for all 4 of them to come out of the coop, and then I opened up the door to check for any eggs, but there were none… But, Edna was in the nest box, pumping her back end and "nesting"… she was in and out of the coop house most of the morning, but never did produce anything. Then, this morning, things got very exciting! When I went out to the coop to check on the girls and check for any eggs, I found a "good" egg!! Slightly larger than those in the pair of eggs that I have been getting from Edna, but still laid from the roost, and cracked - my theory is that this was still one of Edna's eggs, but instead of waiting roughly 48 hours to lay a pair of soft shelled eggs (as has been her pattern so far), she finally just laid one good one in a roughly 24 hour period instead - yay, progress!!! - Now if I can just get her to stop laying them from the roost! So an hour or so goes by, and I hear the "egg song", and we got a 2nd egg!! In the nesting box, too!! I'm thinking the 2nd egg is from Graham Cracker (my 4 year old daughter named her
)… and then a little bit of time goes by, and I go out to check on them again, only to find a 3rd egg! But this egg was obliterated, and was just on the coop floor… it had zero shell around it - it was just a yolk on the floor, but there was some pieces of shell scattered about the coop, too - but the yolk was intact. So I got it all cleaned up right away. But I kept hearing the egg song from the girls - probably half a dozen times… and Cosette was in the coop most of the time, so I went back out there after seeing her come back out of the coop and found a 4th egg!!! And it's perfect! So now I know I have at least 3 girls laying. So, it wouldn't surprise me if the 3rd egg was Edna's second egg, or Daphne is also laying - which would be a little surprising only because she's quite a bit smaller than the other 3, and her comb and wattles are not as big or as red yet… but maybe - I'll just keep an eye on them and we'll see! Anyway, just had to share my excitement!
.
Pictured - Top egg is a store bought egg. Bottom left to right: 1st egg (cracked badly on the other side), 2nd egg (Most likely Graham Cracker's), and 4th egg (Cosette's)
.
Pictured - Top egg is a store bought egg. Bottom left to right: 1st egg (cracked badly on the other side), 2nd egg (Most likely Graham Cracker's), and 4th egg (Cosette's)
Last edited:
