We got our first egg today!
I have 4 barred rock pullets. They are 23 weeks old. I’m a first time chick mom so this has all been very exciting! I didn’t think we’d get any eggs until spring but though the nights have been getting cold, our days have been warm (50s-60s) and sunny. Two of the girls have been squatting when petted and getting quite red in the ears so I figured their hormones were amped up.
But this morning, Tomoe wouldn’t follow her sisters around the yard. I let my girls free range and I kept hearing her on the front porch. I went outside and noticed she was just agitated and kept wanting to climb on me so I wondered. I led her to the coop and she immediately started trying to nest in corners of the coop. My nest boxes are about 15” off the ground and she had no interest in going in it so I was like, fine let’s do this on the floor. I sat down on the floor of the coop and was talking her through it but she seemed so agitated about finding the right spot. I took one of the fake eggs from the nesting box and placed it into a corner near me and she looked at it and then rolled it under herself and began nesting. She squirmed for awhile and finally settled down, pulling nesting towards herself. She let me stroke her head and talk to her as she had contractions. Finally, she began pushing. She stood in a squat and slightly spread her wings. She got very still and quiet and focused. And then I spied the egg -I started crying! LOL I was so proud of her. I didn’t expect to feel emotional but I’ve grown very attached and fond of them. After a few minutes of just relaxing and composing herself, I picked up the egg and we both left the coop. She went straight to the run and got herself a well-earned drink. I went inside and gazed in awe at the egg. I’ve seen them all my life in cartons from the store, but I’ve never seen an egg as beautiful as this one.
