There are two happiest days in a poultry keeper's year: the first is the day the first chicks hatch, and the second is the day the pullets lay their first eggs.
As mentioned above, these are this year's young birds and the eggs I am expecting from them:
* Araucana and Marans crosses: dark green eggs;
* Brahma and Marans cross: dark brown eggs;
* one more cross (the grey one) and the Marans rooster: dark beige eggs
* Sussex: light brown and cream eggs;
* Araucanas: pale blue eggs
* Marans: very dark brown eggs
The first clutch:
First of all, at exactly 5 months old, both Sussex started to lay. At first, every couple of days, small eggs weighing 34 to 44 g, but after a week they were laying regularly, cream eggs of about 47 g.
Second, ten days or so after the Sussex, the Brahma cross (dark brown, 47 g) and the grey cross (dark beige, 37 g) started to lay.
Three weeks after the Sussex, the first two dark green eggs appeared (42 g).
What was funny was that one pullet had been going to sit on the nest regularly for several days and after a while came off it with a great deal of cackling, as layers do. But there was no egg in the nest at all. And when she finally did lay, it happened outside in the middle of the lawn. There is nothing new in the first egg being laid straight from the perch or into some random sheltered corner. They learn to use the nest from the others' example, and a dummy egg in the nest box is a good hint as well. In time each hen develops her own favourite nest box, where they will go and sit even several at once, on top of one another. That is also a good way to work out which hen managed an egg when the colour is similar. I tell all my birds apart by their looks, and at the moment the eggs as well. Later on, when there are five of them laying dark green eggs, I certainly will not be able to tell those apart.
The laying time of the Marans and Araucanas comes in October. I will certainly add a new picture and a little more here then.
Egg sizes from the Tallegg website:
S: up to 53 g
M: 53 to 63 g
L: 63 to 73 g
XL: 73 g and over.
It makes me wonder by what means eggs of size L, and especially XL, are achieved. Reading the descriptions of various breeds, ordinary eggs still come out at size M. Even my Brahmas, one of the largest breeds, laid eggs of no more than 63 g even in their third year.
Eggs keep for 3 to 5 weeks in the fridge. One day in a warm room is said to shorten an egg's life as much as a week in the fridge does. I collect the eggs from the nest 2 or 3 times a day.
Pictures of the 4 and 5 month old young ladies:
