First Egg Countdown

[QueenofKings]

Quick Story Time!
During the week I am at college so my chickens are cared for by my mother. She let them out the another day and before she knew it, they had come into contact with another flock (the neighbor across the way - her chickens jump fences to get to nice grazing area by our house). They were already mixed before she knew what happened and couldn't figure out which Golden Sex-links were ours. (The rest of our chickens are pretty distinct.) So her and my cousin grabbed two, figure they were ours and put them back on the property. They bolted back towards the coop and that was that.

Well, they left 'em all in the coop until the weekend (since I'm the only one that can tell the chickens apart) so I could confirm whether they were ours or not. I glanced over and I think they are, that and because they made for the coop confirms this for me.

Anyway, upon walking into the coop I noticed three eggs on the ground - so either the neighbor's chicken got in or two of ours are finally laying!



I went in this morning and found another egg, then came back a few minutes ago and got another.

Additional news -- my sweet, docile roos and their paternal genes have kicked in and they pecked me! Wouldn't let me near the hens or the eggs until I gave them a light smack on the side and yelled.

 

[Happy Chooks]

If the ones that didn't get locked up were yours, they would have been pacing to get back into their coop. Congrats on the eggs!

 

[SaltyPaws]

Thank you to everyone for the congrats and lovely comments about my egg colors. When I first started day dreaming about chickens ( a year ago in Dec lol) all I wanted was a colorful mix of eggs in my basket.

I didn't dare hope that my first eggs would be green! And what's weird is that the hen that's laying it is a BO mix that hatched from a brown egg.

I'm so excited for my actual EE to start laying!!

 

[LadyCluck77]

I have a long but strange egg story. My favorite hen "Lady" is a white leghorn.

A few days ago, she went missing. I was panicked because I'm really attached to her. And it's been super cold and windy outside.
Here she is:

My dh was very kind to go searching and searching for her. I feared the worst.
The others are plump enough so they can't fly over the fence- but this one always could.
She typically laid in the box in the early morning, then flew the fence, spent the day as she pleased, and politely trotted up to the car when I got back from work to be put back in the coop- but not this time.
So my husband looked all over our property- for a couple of hours-
and he did find her- crouched and puffed up,
in the corner underneath the deck of a rickety storage shed about 30 feet from the coop.

But she was MAD that someone found her!
Apparently she had planned to leave on purpose.
When my husband finally moved her- and believe me, that was not easy- he found her secret nest under that corner.
She was sitting on all of these. We had to pull them out one by one with tongs.

We do not have a rooster, but there is one a few houses down. (If I can hear him crowing, I am thinking my hens must be able to hear it too, and now I wonder if Lady has visited him)

Since moving her and removing all the eggs, she still flies over the fence and goes back to that spot. We removed another egg today from "the secret lair".
She's locked in the coop with the others now for the night.

I still love her- but this is some odd behavior.

She maybe has decided that the nest boxes are no longer "good enough"?
Or do you think she was planning on returning to the coop with some chicks?

 

[Happy Chooks]

Leghorns are not usually a broody breed, but anything is possible. Sneaky girl!

 

[Gldnrose]

Beautiful eggs - are they almost pink?

I think this was directed to the eggs I posted.
The one is very light, but they are both brown, I think they seem lighter in the photo then real life.
Two girls laid their first egg, so I imagine they will get darker as time goes by.
That was Friday, they took Saturday off and then they each laid one today.
Now all they have to do is tell the other girls to get a move on and join them )

 

[Whoops]

I think this was directed to the eggs I posted.
The one is very light, but they are both brown, I think they seem lighter in the photo then real life.
Two girls laid their first egg, so I imagine they will get darker as time goes by.
That was Friday, they took Saturday off and then they each laid one today.
Now all they have to do is tell the other girls to get a move on and join them )

Yes, it was your egg that I was commenting on. If your layers can persuade the others to get on with it, send them over to have a talk with my freeloaders!

 

[Gldnrose]

I'm still waiting for eggs. The RIR is now 26 weeks, the BO is 25 wks, the Cuckoo Marans is 24 wks and my EE is 18 weeks. They bury the golf balls in shavings all the time but they don't lay anything in the nests. Nobody squats but their combs are red. I haven't heard any egg songs yet either. I guess the weather changes so much it is messing up their egg clocks. Congrats to everybody that got a egg!

I know the waiting is sooooo hard. I only have BO's but I can tell you out of the five that I have, two laid their first egg the day before they were 28 weeks. Still waiting for the other three to start. None of my girls have really squatted for me, not from what I understand others explaining it anyway, but I do have a rooster and he is "doing his job" so to speak, so I don't know if that makes a difference. And no egg songs from anyone, the two that have laid so far (two on Friday and two Sunday) did not do the egg song. Very quiet before, during and after. There was a lot of activity in the nest boxes for a few weeks before I saw any eggs though. Also, I have no supplemental lighting either.
Hope you have eggs soon

 

[Gldnrose]

This is my EE/ Olive Egger's first egg!!

Yay! Congratulations!

 

[Gldnrose]

Yes, it was your egg that I was commenting on. If your layers can persuade the others to get on with it, send them over to have a talk with my freeloaders!

LOL, we'll see how long it takes them to convince the others. I know what you mean by freeloaders though!
It is a mighty long trek from VT to NM......although they may like the weather a little better. Its so cold and windy here now (
I was hoping winter would hold off a little longer but instead it came on with a vengeance yesterday.