First time layer questions from a first time pullet mom

[BlindLemonChicken]

Definitely not unusual for new layers to have weird eggs. Before my Buckeye started laying I got a couple off-the-roost shell-less eggs. They have had calcium available since they were a few weeks old (not that they’ve been eating it but it’s there for the older hens). I wouldn’t worry about it unless it becomes a regular thing or one of the older hens starts having issues.

 

[LtDanFan]

Ok, i will keep an eye out then. I just want to be on top of an issue before it becomes a bigger issue. I presume its one of the new girls, as my older ladies have been pretty solid (no pun intended) with production and egg integrity (egg-tegrity? Lol pun absolutely intended).
@Mother of Chaos, yes, i have been fortunate in finding such wonderful pet sitters. Unfortunately, they are spoiling Lt Dan (the only K9 living at the house because he prefers his kennel in the basement to the real world anyway) and he now refuses to walk away from the house. Instead, he prefers to be driven…straight to starbucks 20 min away for his pup cup . So now i pay the dog walker to drive my dog to starbucks instead of walk him around the block.
He will be sorely disappointed when his hoomans move back in….

 

[LtDanFan]

Ok, back to newly paying..er…i mean laying…pullet questions. Ive read about the “egg song” and in fact my head (and oldest) hen is named dolly carton for her refusal to get off the stage before and after laying her beautiful large medium brown/speckled eggs. Ive noticed however that the others are not so vocal but there are definitely days im getting 3-5 eggs, so i have to have new layers. Plus the colors im getting are definitely not Dolly’s handiwork. Even dolly has been quietier recently. Is this due to having a rooster? (Previously russel was not really old enough to be a roo, but he’s stepped up and claimed his birthright as a dude and taken charge). I think dolly is still definitely a head hen based on how she acts and how the others treat her but i just thought it was weird that the other girls are not vocal before or after laying (it always seems to be a surprise, and when im visiting i find myself checking the box several times before i leave in case i didn’t notice a new egg rent contribution.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Definitely an individual personality/breed thing. Some are super vocal and others aren't. My Leghorn sounds like she's being murdered every morning (while she's frantically searching for a place to lay her egg that ISN'T a nesting box) and my bantam Ameraucana makes the weirdest noise I've ever heard from a chicken. I have some that just cluck about all day, and I have some that don't seem to vocalize at all even before/after laying. They're all unique!

 

[LtDanFan]

I’ve just noticed the ladies are all a little quiet since Russel came of age. Not that i think he’s one of those fundamentalists that believe women are meant to be seen and not heard, i just wondered if that was a thing. Although yesterday when i visited they seemed to have a rousing game of “marco polo” with one hen in the inner run area and half the flock on the other side of that mini fence. She’d call, they’d answer, she’d move a little closer, they’d be quiet, she would call, they would answer, they would move quietly, she’d call again… i was just waiting for her to call “fish out of water” so someone else would have to be “it”