Quail egg size-new layer

[RobPS]

Yesterday my first set of 8 quail produced the first egg! Today, I got home from work and found a second, so one of these girls has started her daily ritual--or maybe I have two layers?

The difference in egg size is remarkable. The first one was tiny! Second was huge--especially long-and longer than the quail eggs that I've purchased to eat.

Have a look and tell me what you think! As a reference, that's a store bought "large" chicken egg in the pic.

 

[RobPS]

I find it interesting that your quail eggs (Deanx) are kind of ivory colored with brown spots. Mine are much darker in color--more like coffe-with-cream colored, with darker brown spots. Yours are more of the color I expected.

 

[Binki]

This just in--that big egg was, indeed, a double yolk!!

Haha nice!! Remember the shape and don't incubate them if you ever were to try - it's symmetrical, no big end/pointy end.

My eggs range from the cream/light blue with pretty little speckles/spots on dark brown or some of my hens do the whole dipped in caramel/coffee effect eggs much more splotchy with it being a warm light brown with varying shades of brown splotches, I think some look like they overlap and create different shades from those two shades lol. It's a cool effect.

 

[Binki]

Hehe grats!!! How old are they? If they're new layers the first ones can look strange xD

I have a tiny egg (called a fart egg or fairy egg - seriously) and a huge honker, I should get around to taking pictures to share, it's nuts haha

That long one might be a double yolker? I've heard to not incubate those shaped like that because they can have double yolks

 

[Deanx]

My A&M Texas just started laying 5days ago, the first eggs are small then got large then got back to being small size, up until now they are small size egg like the first one... and I have 6hens and 2roo.

 

[Deanx]

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[Deanx]

 

[RobPS]

My quail are approximately 6 weeks old. I believe that only one of them has started laying eggs because I'm getting one per day for the past three days now, so maybe I have more than one bird laying and they are rather sporadic, but I suspect that one of the birds is just a little ahead of the others and has started the daily 1-egg routine. Yesterday's egg (the third) was more of a normal size, so I'm predicting that when I get home from work today there will be another, and it'll be a more normal size too.

I'm so curious to see if the super-long egg is a double yoke! We'll probably crack them over the weekend and have a small bowl of scrambled eggs. All of my quail are female, and so none of these should be fertile. My goal is to learn about these birds, and have a supply of eggs, since we love quail eggs and I've read that their cholesterol profile is healthier than chicken eggs.

Which brings me to my next question... I took delivery of these birds last weekend on Saturday from a breeder. I didn't think to ask if they were mixed in with any male birds while under her care. I suppose it's possible that they were, in which case I don't know about fertility.

These are young birds so I would expect that even if they were in with a male or two, and even if some hanky panky ensued

, that these birds would be too young to become fertile? But... I really have no idea, as this is my first experience raising birds of any kind. Is it possible that one of these early eggs is fertile? The birds were in my care since Saturday, and the first egg appeared on Wednesday.

 

[Deanx]

Quails, do lay egg one per day. I get 6 eggs in one day so I kinda figured I had 6hens, and they are fertile eggs. I hatched these Quails tho... These are my first raising quails. They are pretty easy to take care off... I raise chickens and button quails too. My buttons started laying eggs 5days ago as well... I'm having them nest on those eggs. Speaking of eggs... your quail eggs looks interesting, I love the color they're more like speckled olive color. You should get a roo for your hens, and you are right about the quail eggs being healthier than chicken eggs, but if you are raising your own chickens and feeding them organically cholesterol on them eggs would be healthy too.

 

[Deanx]

Also, your question about your quail if they had mated before being sent to you. I am not so sure about the eggs being fertile if they had mated and if they were the first laid eggs... I will find out soon enough as soon as my eggs hatched. I am also curious about that fact... So I'm doing a little experiment myself. I incubated the first laid eggs, the quails mated several times before laying their first eggs so I would like to know too if infact they are fertile. I will let you know in two weeks.