Pullet laying patterns - what is normal?

[RGEISENDORF]

Quote:
ahhh Gwen (leghorn) came through. Took three days of laying REALLY thin shelled eggs but yesterday and today we had breakfast! We layed off the grapes, watermelon etc and now they are perfect! Never have gotten another brown egg since that one. Of course we had the record breaking heat last week! I kept ice water all over the property... all day dumping ice cubes in the water. They would actually stand in it they were SOOO HOT! Poor things. So Gwens not a dud but Brittany (RIR) maybe shes just a once a monther ... ha ha

 

[walterd]

Well - it looks like the streak has ended.

I've become fairly convinced that the egg laying that started a couple weeks ago is from a single hen - one of our Wellsummers. She layed for 15 straight days, then took a break yesterday. Today she kindly delivered again (still early in the morning) so hopefully she'll keep on going. The BPR that started a few days ago has also been steadily deliverying for 5 straight days now, though still in a "yard nest" rather than the roosting boxes (need to figure out how to teach her that trick). Oh - and we did get another double yolk that ended the streak.

We'll continue to keep track, but I'm not sure I've learned much in terms of pulley laying behavior (besides our two data points). If others could still chime in I'd appreciate it!

 

[walterd]

Well we are on day 38 since our girls first starting producing. We are now getting 3 eggs a day pretty reliably. Once or twice a week its 2, but never 4 so far. I think we have 4 of the five hens laying as we occationally get two dark eggs in the same day, though usually just one with two lighter ones. So they must be splitting up the work and alternating taking a day off. Still interestingly they are reliably laying in the morning (or maybe overnight). By about 10am all 3 are there; by 7:30am there are usually already 2 (not sure who the late sleeper is!).

The eggs continue to be small, but are gradually increasing in size it seems. Most are what I would call small by grocery store standards (about 1.25 to 1.5 oz each). Sometimes we get a larger one. We've had just one double yolk since the early pattern when we got several.

I am hoping that size increases more as these breeds are supposed to have larger eggs. Our girls seem to have started early which I read can mean that smaller eggs are produced over their lifetimes. It would be nice to see EVERYONE working as well - I put in all the prep work in building the facilities and raising them properly. Now its their turn!

Derek

 

[georgialee]

It's kind of crazy but I could have written your first post. We have one hen laying every day from day 1 and about every 3rd egg is a double yolker. Her 'normal' eggs are 1.3oz and her double yolkers are 1.8oz. Hers are brown eggs. It's going on about 2 weeks right now with an egg every day. Yesterday we got two eggs, 1 a tiny .7oz creamy tinted egg and the regular brown egg. Just checked today and another brown and white.

When our first pullet started laying I thought we must have two laying since she's a bantam cochin and really *shouldn't* be laying every day (at least according to breed info).. but in the two weeks I would think there would have been an overlap where we would have gotten 2 eggs. Also, every egg is the EXACT same size weight 1.3 or 1.8 oz for the single and double yolk respectively.

 

[walterd]

Yes - we've seen similar consistency. It seems odd just from a "likelihood" standpoint and does counter the limited references I have read. Apparently the chickens don't read those books and so don't understand the rules!

The tiny "pullet eggs" never seemed to last for more than one, maybe two days then seemed to change into the "regular" size/pattern. So apparently there isn't much of a learning curve for their bodies to get the hang of pumping out eggs. But it has served as our sign that someone new is laying!

 

[codybird]

Same issue here. I have 6 Black sex links. They are 20 1/2 weeks old today. First egg came at 19 weeks on a Friday about 1:00 PM. No egg Sat. 1 egg Sunday afternoon. No egg Mon. 1 egg every day since then. I don't know if I have 1 really consistent egg laying pullet or two doing a tag team. When I get 2 eggs in one day I guess I will know.

 

[walterd]

A breakthrough today.

We had been getting 3 eggs/day VERY consistently for the past several weeks (maybe 1 exception). Of the 5 hens I thought 4 were laying and trading off days as we got some variation in darker and lighter eggs presumably from the 2 different breeds.

Today I was proven wrong when a pullet egg showed up giving us 4 eggs for the first time that is obviously from one of the Wellsummers as its Sooooo much darker than the others. That would mean the 3 PBRs have been doing all the work so far and the Wellsummers are just now (1 at least) getting into the swing of things.

I give a lot of credit for the consistency as they have obviously been on a very tight and consistent ~24 hour cycle. Their eggs have gotten a little larger but seem consistently around 1.75oz - so about a commercial "medium" size. The cycle seems odd from what I have read; missing maybe a day each over the course of nearly 40 days and always laying around the same time of day. I'm glad to have it, but expected more inconsistency. Hopefully this means they are happy and well cared for ??

 

[michiganlarry]

I have comets and wellies. The comets starting laying almost 5 weeks before the wellies. Wellies hatched on May 1st and are jus starting to lay. Both kinds of hens laid very small eggs to start. The comet hens are laying some that look almost like goose eggs now. Wellie eggs are still pretty small and some are really dark brown others are lighter with brown speckles. They all taste great!

 

[UK Chicken rancher]

I have a mix of Barred Rocks, Australorps, and EE's that are just over 5 mo. and either I've had several BR's laying the same exact color and size of egg from the start about a week and a half ago or I've got a very good one laying! Then there was the second one we started getting about the same size but lighter color and it is hit and miss. Then there has been a big medium brown egg with dark little spots all over it the last few days that I am guessing may be one of the Australorps?
So seems like there may not be a "normal" even per breed, each hen is built differently on how they start out I think.

 

[chicksinCO]

All this info is so great as my first egg came on Sunday, very small probably only 1/2 oz. Now today the second around 1 oz . I am pretty sure it is from one of my RIR's as they have more developed combs and wattles than the BR's and definitely more red color. Though I do have a couple BR's that are starting to get the comb thing going on. All are 18 1/2 weeks old. My Buff seems to be way behind in the developmental stages.
Interestingly Whomever is laying has layed in the same nesting box both times but has scratched out all the straw and nesting material both times I found the egg on the wooden bottem of the box with no nesting material left inside the box. I have 8 hens so am extremely anxious but patiently waiting for a few more eggs to show up. also routinely checking the corners of the coop