One of my EE, Merna, began laying in Feb. Since she started laying, she hasn't really laid a normal egg. Some came close, but most not so much. She lays eggs wrapped in a membrane, siamese eggs, and almost all of her eggs have paper thin shells. She frequently lays from the roost, and occasionally in the run. When she does lay in the nest box, the egg usually cracks on contact with the other eggs (or if a chicken steps on it) and makes a yolky mess of the nest. The eggs I have been able to collect without them breaking have been x-large on average. She also lays more sporadically than any of my other girls. Some weeks I'll get two or three eggs from her, and sometimes she'll go a week or two between eggs (although how much of that is that she isn't laying and how much of it is that she may be laying shelless eggs that the other chickens eat before I find them I don't know). I've given up on her ever laying normally and am fully expecting her to become an internal layer (if she isn't already).
But yesterday, I found a little green egg in the run. It was a perfectly normal egg. The shell didn't dent when I picked it up and applied gentle pressure to it. It wasn't covered in a membrane, and it didn't have a lot of rough pimply calcium deposits on the shell. I was confused. I have seen one of the other girls lay in the run, but it's a rare occurance for anyone other than Merna and this certainly didn't look like a Merna egg. So last night I collected eggs right before bed. Sure enough, there were two green eggs in the nest boxes. I had three perfect normal EE eggs!
I know better than to hold my breath, but I do hope this trend continues. Merna is one of my favorites and one of my toddler's favorites too and I had been planning on culling her in the fall. If she has finally managed to work out the kinks I wouldn't have to do that. I wouldn't care if she only laid 2-3 eggs a week, as long as they were normal.
But yesterday, I found a little green egg in the run. It was a perfectly normal egg. The shell didn't dent when I picked it up and applied gentle pressure to it. It wasn't covered in a membrane, and it didn't have a lot of rough pimply calcium deposits on the shell. I was confused. I have seen one of the other girls lay in the run, but it's a rare occurance for anyone other than Merna and this certainly didn't look like a Merna egg. So last night I collected eggs right before bed. Sure enough, there were two green eggs in the nest boxes. I had three perfect normal EE eggs!
