Thanks, autumn hearth and COChix!
I'm glad she's laying for you again! That first egg after a long break is always really exciting! Our girls took almost a 5 month break one year between a fall molt and a cold winter, but that was an aberration--luckily they have kept us in eggs this winter. After a little more scrolling through older posts, I found your pics of Victoria's eggs in comparison to the others. I see now that they do look smaller, but not too much--I will just be excited to have white eggs! My kids will, too--because they have been raised on our eggs (all green and brown), they see white eggs as an exotic novelty. It will definitely come in handy next Easter, too--the green and brown eggs just don't dye up quite the same. It doesn't bother me, but my daughter (born in 2008) would really like to have bright pink and purple eggs, not all blues and earth tones.
The BR and the SLW are currently giving us light brown eggs--I do think they are lighter than they were in the warm months, too, like you said. Maybe it's their winter diet? We have a red heat lamp in the coop for our hens, but no other lighting, and I have read that the red light does not affect the laying cycle the same way white light does.
Her eggs are on the smaller side, but I unfortunately haven't gotten a large sample from her. She was the last to lay of our girls. She laid her first egg in early November at 30 weeks (our BCM laid at 29) and laid very well, averaging 5-6 eggs a week. However in December she started a soft molt which lasted almost 3 months. She just laid her first egg since then today. I know that hen's eggs tend to get larger after their annual molt, but probably not after an 8 month mini-molt, we'l see. While Dorkings are known to mature late, I don't think her winter molt is representative of her breed. Though perhaps how long she took is, our EE also molted but only for a couple weeks, but she was our first to lay and I chalk that up to hybrid/mutt vigor versus slow heritage breeds. Pipdzipdnreadytogo has two lovely SGD (and a Welsummer!) I would be curious to know how they have been laying this winter. I am really happy Victoria is contributing again but honestly she became my favorite chicken during the molt, she is just such a good companion. Our Buff Orp loves to snuggle but is a bit demanding and jealous.
Really excited to get a Welsummer next week. I wish we had gotten one last year. They were on the over hatch list that day but I couldn't convince my husband to let us add one more. I think the Welsummers and Silver Grey Dorkings look really pretty together
I'm glad she's laying for you again! That first egg after a long break is always really exciting! Our girls took almost a 5 month break one year between a fall molt and a cold winter, but that was an aberration--luckily they have kept us in eggs this winter. After a little more scrolling through older posts, I found your pics of Victoria's eggs in comparison to the others. I see now that they do look smaller, but not too much--I will just be excited to have white eggs! My kids will, too--because they have been raised on our eggs (all green and brown), they see white eggs as an exotic novelty. It will definitely come in handy next Easter, too--the green and brown eggs just don't dye up quite the same. It doesn't bother me, but my daughter (born in 2008) would really like to have bright pink and purple eggs, not all blues and earth tones.
COChix, thanks so much for posting the pics of your eggs! What a beautiful variety! So, looking at the breeds listed in your signature, am I right in guessing that all of the darker eggs in those pictures come from your two Welsummers? They are certainly pretty, and definitely distinguishable from the regular brown eggs. I also like the pinker ones in the mix. Do you know who lays those? I think our Buff Orp was laying pinkish brown eggs for us--they stopped appearing in the nest box right around the same time she disappeared...Hi and welcome to the thread! Nice selection of girls you got there and glad to know they are still productive after 6 years, that is great. We have 5 EE from Meyer and two Welsummer's. Here is a shot of our eggs last fall when everyone was an egg laying machine. They have been very sprodadic of late but we have had flock drama. Anyway, on the Welsummer's, for us we do not add supplemental lighting, and I notice a difference in a lot the flocks eggs as far as pigment goes. The Wellie's don't seem to be as dark as when they were basking in the sun everyday.
The BR and the SLW are currently giving us light brown eggs--I do think they are lighter than they were in the warm months, too, like you said. Maybe it's their winter diet? We have a red heat lamp in the coop for our hens, but no other lighting, and I have read that the red light does not affect the laying cycle the same way white light does.
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