I been waitin' and waitin'!! My older hens, the BRs and EEs, are over 19weeks old. The BSLs are over 18weeks and the silkies and GLWs are 16weeks old. I knew Elvira was going to be the first to lay an egg, because she matured the earliest. She's one of my BSLs. Her sister Morticia is probably going to be next. Altho... the BRs and EEs are all turning red and doing the submission pose when I go to pet them, so they're definitely sexually mature and obviously ready to lay at any moment as well!! I check every morning, but nothing happened until this morning. I went out to feed them their goodies and open the coop door. Hadn't even noticed Elvira wasn't out of the coop yet. Opened the door, and there she was sitting in one of the nesting boxes! She got up and circled around and looked in the box, then sat back down. Don't know what time she started, but at that point it was around 7:15 or so. I was in and out of the house all morning, changing my sprinkler stations. Kept expecting to hear the so-called blood-curdling screams they're supposed to do when laying the first time, but never heard anything, other than the clucking and silly sounds the rest of the ladies make. If she cried out, it must've been when I was inside! I went up there about 9:05 with some sunflower heads my husband's co-worker gave us, and I sat in the run pulling seeds out for the ladies. Then all of a sudden, Elvira hopped down and came out to feed with her sisters, just like nothing ever happened. I went in and there it was!! The cutest little brown egg! I can't wait for the rest of them to start laying now!!
Here's Miss Elvira sittin' in her nesting box...
And here's her egg
Here is a comparison to one of my store bought Jumbo brown eggs..
Not too bad for her first one! I think she's going to be a good layer. I've heard of hens just dropping eggs unexpectedly wherever the first time and being all freaked out about it. So for her to be so prepared and to go sit there in the nesting box for a couple of hours...that's pretty cool, I think!
Here's Miss Elvira sittin' in her nesting box...
And here's her egg
Here is a comparison to one of my store bought Jumbo brown eggs..
Not too bad for her first one! I think she's going to be a good layer. I've heard of hens just dropping eggs unexpectedly wherever the first time and being all freaked out about it. So for her to be so prepared and to go sit there in the nesting box for a couple of hours...that's pretty cool, I think!
