- Feb 22, 2009
- 46
- 4
- 34
Hi -
We have four pullets that we've been raising from chicks, and one has begun to lay (yay)! I highly suspect that it's our Red Star hen. She has "the look" - which, as a newbie, I find hard to describe, other than seeming the most developed and well-along. She's also been the most vocal with her 'brawk brawk' sounds lately. I found two brown eggs two days ago (I hadn't checked on them for about a day and a half, so I was quite surprised to find TWO eggs there)! One was in the nest box, and the other was on the floor of the coop. It's possible that I may have missed seeing one when I had checked on them earlier. I wasn't expecting to see anything, I guess!
We also have a white leghorn (so definitely not her eggs), a barred rock (could be hers, but she just doesn't seem like she's ready yet to me), and an EE. Hoping for blue eggs from the EE. Pretty sure it's just one bird so far - the red star. I bet our leghorn starts soon, though - her comb and wattles have all of a sudden become quite large and red.
Anyway, all of yesterday and this morning there haven't been any eggs at all. I had put in some extra shavings in the coop and nest box the day before yesterday, hoping to encourage the laying and keep the eggs from breaking with a little extra padding. I've dug around a little in the nest, to be sure that I wasn't missing anything, and looked around the coop and run, too. I also put a golf ball in the nest box, hoping to encourage laying only in the box, instead of the coop.
So... are pullets kind of "stop and start" for a while after they begin to lay? Did I possibly freak my hen out with the golf ball being in there? (I can sort of picture her thinking, "Okay, this is weird, and I know it's not mine, must be aliens...") So weird to find two eggs, and now nothing for two days.
Thanks for any tips - my kids are dying to see that next egg! (I'm having to put the kibosh on checking every hour!)
Amy
We have four pullets that we've been raising from chicks, and one has begun to lay (yay)! I highly suspect that it's our Red Star hen. She has "the look" - which, as a newbie, I find hard to describe, other than seeming the most developed and well-along. She's also been the most vocal with her 'brawk brawk' sounds lately. I found two brown eggs two days ago (I hadn't checked on them for about a day and a half, so I was quite surprised to find TWO eggs there)! One was in the nest box, and the other was on the floor of the coop. It's possible that I may have missed seeing one when I had checked on them earlier. I wasn't expecting to see anything, I guess!
We also have a white leghorn (so definitely not her eggs), a barred rock (could be hers, but she just doesn't seem like she's ready yet to me), and an EE. Hoping for blue eggs from the EE. Pretty sure it's just one bird so far - the red star. I bet our leghorn starts soon, though - her comb and wattles have all of a sudden become quite large and red.
Anyway, all of yesterday and this morning there haven't been any eggs at all. I had put in some extra shavings in the coop and nest box the day before yesterday, hoping to encourage the laying and keep the eggs from breaking with a little extra padding. I've dug around a little in the nest, to be sure that I wasn't missing anything, and looked around the coop and run, too. I also put a golf ball in the nest box, hoping to encourage laying only in the box, instead of the coop.
So... are pullets kind of "stop and start" for a while after they begin to lay? Did I possibly freak my hen out with the golf ball being in there? (I can sort of picture her thinking, "Okay, this is weird, and I know it's not mine, must be aliens...") So weird to find two eggs, and now nothing for two days.
Thanks for any tips - my kids are dying to see that next egg! (I'm having to put the kibosh on checking every hour!)
Amy
