We have a new Mom! Our first EGG ever!!! (But which hen?)

[Agronauts]

Please excuse my over the top enthusiasm, but here's our very first egg ever! This is so exciting! One of our hens laid it in their pen this morning sometime between 6-ish and 10:30. I already learned about **not** washing eggs, but can I lightly brush off the grass? And I should store it in an airtight container right? Not sure about refrigeration though.

Also, we have five hens and don't know which one it was. Four are about 5 1/2 to 6 months old; they are a Barred Rock, a Rhode Island Red, a Cinnamon Queen and an Amberlink. The fifth is a little younger - between 5 and 5 1/2 months and smaller. She was given to us and is an orphan from a stray dog attack and we don't know what kind she is. Anyway, of the four known breeds, is one of them more likely, based on how fast/slow they mature, to have laid this egg? A picture is attached and the egg weighs 1.6 oz. I'd like to give her an extra blueberry!

This is so exciting!
Thanks for such huge volume of helpful information here!

 

[SilverBirds]

X3 CQ or Amber.

A lot of people (including myself) don't wash eggs unless they are very dirty or they are selling them. It keeps the eggs fresher for longer. You can easily use a dry cloth to wipe away any dirt. As far as storing eggs, I keep my eggs in a carton in the fridge. Others prefer to store them on the counter. The container does not have to be airtight.

If you do wash eggs then they have to be refrigerated.

 

[Agronauts]

Another egg today! She laid it in a shallow hole I saw her digging yesterday. It was Hendrix, the Amberlink. (Yes, I named them all and don't laugh.)

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Are you going to eat it right away? It's ok to wash it if you don't plan to store the egg on the counter.

Not quite a mom, if the egg is not fertilized. its essentially like when a human menstruates, but with no uterine lining since they don't have a uterus.
So more like, she's blossoming into womanhood

 

[FunClucks]

So excited for you!!! That first pullet egg is the most darling, exciting thing ever!!!

If you get another egg tomorrow or the next day, compare the shape and size and roundness/pointiness of it. If it looks different than the one you currently have, you could have a second layer! I have 3 ISA Browns, and I can just barely tell their eggs apart, but it is often possible. The eggs will slowly get bigger over the next month, so a significant difference in size is also a way to tell if it was laid by a different hen. And of course color - some chickens have speckles, some are slightly lighter tan, etc.

I have a mixed breed flock. 7 of my flock of 17 are currently laying. Several family members who have never had chickens (or any livestock for that matter) came over, and I showed them our freshly laid eggs and started to explain to them which of my birds had laid each egg, and how I could tell, showing them how unique each egg was, and they got this really weird look on their faces. They asked, "So you can tell which egg was laid by which bird?" and I said "Of course!". Blew their minds. I am, once again, solidly in the "weird" camp. It's nice to have an online forum at least where people get excited about these things!

 

[sourland]

My guess would be that the Cinnamon Queen or Amberlink is your layer.

 

[Paradisewife]

Please excuse my over the top enthusiasm, but here's our very first egg ever! This is so exciting! One of our hens laid it in their pen this morning sometime between 6-ish and 10:30. I already learned about **not** washing eggs, but can I lightly brush off the grass? And I should store it in an airtight container right? Not sure about refrigeration though.

Also, we have five hens and don't know which one it was. Four are about 5 1/2 to 6 months old; they are a Barred Rock, a Rhode Island Red, a Cinnamon Queen and an Amberlink. The fifth is a little younger - between 5 and 5 1/2 months and smaller. She was given to us and is an orphan from a stray dog attack and we don't know what kind she is. Anyway, of the four known breeds, is one of them more likely, based on how fast/slow they mature, to have laid this egg? A picture is attached and the egg weighs 1.6 oz. I'd like to give her an extra blueberry!

This is so exciting!
Thanks for such huge volume of helpful information here!

Do any of your girls have super-red comb/wattles? A sign of being close to or at Point Of Laying (POL). You 'may' be able to ID the layer.
My 13 will be 20 wks old in 3 days. I've collected 14 eggs from 1 - an egg daily! The other 12? Nothing yet....

Congratulations!!!

 

[nuthatched]

Ditto, though, she's not really a mom, just started ovulation.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Also congratulations! I love finding that first egg. I think it's one of the best feelings of chicken keeping, maybe third best. First is bonding with the chicks. Second is watching them hatch l. I agree it's probably one of your two production hens, the amberlink or the cinnamon queen.

 

[Agronauts]

My guess would be that the Cinnamon Queen or Amberlink is your layer.

Thank you! I rather thought the Amberlink - she's quite a bit larger than the others - I don't know if that's a breed thing or if she's older than the others.