Our first egg!

[Julia62]

Mrs. Howell (white leghorn) layed her first egg today! It weighs 41 grams. It look pretty good! Now, do I just wash it with warm/hot water and that's all? I don't need to use a bleach solution or any soap do I? We will hope for another tomorrow so we can each have one.

We have three other hens that haven't laid yet. 2 Wyandottes and 1 EE.

 

[LRH97]

Congratulations on your first! It's one of the most exciting and memorable parts of the hobby. You don't really need to wash the eggs if there's no manure or any nastiness on it. If it came out clean, it's fine. If it does bug you that it has not been through any cleaning process (and it does bug some people), you can rinse it off if you want. Those Leghorns will shoot those eggs out too!

 

[Julia62]

Thanks for the reply! I'll just rinse it then, it looks pretty clean to me. I read some things about using a diluted bleach solution but I'm guessing that was for reselling or commercial purposes. We were so surprised watching her the last week or so, it seemed every day her comb and waddle got larger and redder. She's a real chicken now! I love these girls, so much fun. So much personality. Who knew??

 

[LRH97]

Thanks for the reply! I'll just rinse it then, it looks pretty clean to me. I read some things about using a diluted bleach solution but I'm guessing that was for reselling or commercial purposes. We were so surprised watching her the last week or so, it seemed every day her comb and waddle got larger and redder. She's a real chicken now! I love these girls, so much fun. So much personality. Who knew??

Yes, I'd say the bleach is for commercial use as well. It's just so rewarding to watch them blossom into adult birds isn't it? To think they were once those little balls of puff and then you've successfully reared them into beautiful grown-ups! There's no other feeling like it. Shes's graduated from a girl to a lady. Best of luck to you and enjoy your eggs!

 

[Julia62]

She hasn't layer another egg yet. When we go to pet her, she crouches down and looks like she wants to take a big poop. Is another egg coming? I just don't want her to be egg bound or something as I wouldn't know what that is or how to help. Other than that, she acts perfectly fine. She has always been the least "pet-like" out of the four of them. So now I find it funny that I can reach down and pet her.

 

[Julia62]

Spoke too soon! Egg #2 this morning! It weighed 47 grams, getting bigger. Ginger Chicken (EE'er) has been going into the coop in after wake up too so I think she is going to lay any day now.

 

[MistyMountain]

She hasn't layer another egg yet. When we go to pet her, she crouches down and looks like she wants to take a big poop. Is another egg coming? I just don't want her to be egg bound or something as I wouldn't know what that is or how to help. Other than that, she acts perfectly fine. She has always been the least "pet-like" out of the four of them. So now I find it funny that I can reach down and pet her.

Congrats on the eggs!!

My leghorns were the first to lay in my flock, and at one year old both lay large to jumbo eggs daily! Mine are also super friendly, more friendly and easier to catch than any of my other breeds!

The crouching you are explaining called squatting, what the hens will do for the rooster to mate or even as a submissive gesture to other hens higher in the pecking order. I have found the squatting is a good indicator that a hen is getting close to laying age.

 

[Julia62]

Woo Hoo, our EE laid her first egg this morning. It weighed in at 40 grams. It is brown though. I thought EE lay green and blue eggs?? Ginger was the only hen in the coop at the time, so it is her egg. The other three were in the run. We have two Wyandottes that will lay brown eggs when they start. Our leghorn has the white eggs. Maybe she isn't an EE?

This is her a couple weeks ago

 

[MistyMountain]

Woo Hoo, our EE laid her first egg this morning. It weighed in at 40 grams. It is brown though. I thought EE lay green and blue eggs?? Ginger was the only hen in the coop at the time, so it is her egg. The other three were in the run. We have two Wyandottes that will lay brown eggs when they start. Our leghorn has the white eggs. Maybe she isn't an EE?

This is her a couple weeks ago

Congrats on the second egg!!

EE can lay any color egg from tinted to pink to brown to blue to green. It is hard to say what color they will lay until they actually lay because they are basically a mixed breed. Usually if they have a pea comb (yours has a single comb) there is a good chance they carry the blue egg gene because the two genes are located close together. Another way to ensure that you get blue or greenish eggs would be to get a purebred of one of the blue egg laying breeds--- Ameraucana, Araucana, cream leg bar, etc.

Ginger is a very pretty girl!! Does she have colored legs?

 

[Julia62]

Ginger has yellow legs. I noticed one of our SL Wyandotte's legs are much lighter in color than the others.

I have been amazed at watching them mature. Our Leghorn's (Mrs. Howell) comb and waddle grew at such a fast pace the last two weeks. Vibrant red and her comb flops over now that it's so big. Really surprised me. Ginger's is bigger now too. The Wyandotte's (MaryAnn and Tammy) have more waddle than comb. They are quiet layers too, no singing that we're heard anyway.