The thoughts of our chickens...

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Icemaiden

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A conversation that I might have overheard between my young PoL pullets yesterday...

Tigger (the cream legbar hybrid): "I don't know what Mum put into our layers' pellets yesterday, but I don't half feel constipated today. I feel really weird."

Eleanor (the partridge leghorn): "Well the rest of us are fine. Just push harder..."

Tigger disappears into the coop for a while. Then, after an almighty heave: "Thank goodness for that. I've never had such a rock hard poo in my life. That's the last time I try that grit that Mum gives us... It's made my poo go light blue. Just look at that!!!"

Eleanor nips into the coop to have a look. "Eughhh. That's disgusting. What the heck is that?"



Early this morning I went up to poo pick & feed the flocks and was delighted to find (with no artificial light and on 1st December) Tigger's first beautiful pale blue egg! 44g and perfectly formed. She's the first of my pullets to come into lay- I know they've been squatting for a week or two but didn't dare expect any eggs before February... What a lovely surprise after a trying few weeks.
 
Congratulations to Tigger.

Of course she can now go "oh quit moaning, pushing out one of these odd things is easy peasy, and the human is so pleased with you when it happens" when her sisters start laying
 
bigyetiman said:
Congratulations to Tigger.

Of course she can now go "oh quit moaning, pushing out one of these odd things is easy peasy, and the human is so pleased with you when it happens" when her sisters start laying
Click to expand...
Ne'er a truer word was spoken... This morning I found three small but perfectly formed eggs!
Now there's a bit of a puzzle...

In September I bought four point of lay pullets - three hybrids (cream legbar, speckledy and a partridge leghorn) and a pure breed black copper French Marans, together with a Pita Pinta Asturiana who was closer to being a grower- the breeder had only just switched her onto layers' pellets.

For the last couple of weeks, the three hybrids have been squatting increasingly regularly. The Marans only started squatting a few days ago. The Pita Pinta still has tiny wattles and a tiny comb; I wouldn't expect her to start squatting for at least a couple of months yet - she's still quite small compared to the others who've had something of a growth spurt recently especially in the comb department!

Of the eggs that I found this morning, one was pale blue (from Tigger, the cream legbar hybrid, who's now worked out what the nest boxes are for). One was a regular brown colour (from Sweep, the Speckledy, perhaps?) and the other was the kind of pale pink that I used to get from my Light Sussex hens. So who's laid the pink egg? I'm expecting pink eggs from Sue, the Pita Pinta, in the spring, but she's definately not in lay yet... Surely Eleanor, the partridge leghorn hybrid, should lay white shelled eggs? And the French copper Marans should lay chocolate brown eggs?

Any ideas folks? It's a lovely "problem" to have at the beginning of December...
 
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They are just messing with your mind.

Perhaps Sue has laid an egg. I have had hens that don't look anywhere near laying pop one out, then another egg doesn't appear for ages, then off they go full throttle.
Not sure about colour variations in the partridge leghorns.

Still whatever the outcome you and the hens are having fun
 
bigyetiman said:
They are just messing with your mind.

Perhaps Sue has laid an egg. I have had hens that don't look anywhere near laying pop one out, then another egg doesn't appear for ages, then off they go full throttle.
Not sure about colour variations in the partridge leghorns.

Still whatever the outcome you and the hens are having fun
Click to expand...
The mystery egg was magnolia yesterday, so perhaps some people might describe it as cream? There are some references online to partridge leghorn hybrids laying cream eggs...

I'm just hoping that they aren't the speckledy's eggs. If they are, then the Marans is laying "supermarket brown " eggs. That would be disappointing tbh. I'd rather it's the leghorn who's laying tinted eggs...
 
I got the answer last Sunday, when I found a lovely milk chocolate coloured egg in the coop, rounder in shape than the other brown ones & 8g heavier. So now four of my five pullets are in lay & they're averaging 3 eggs per day between them. Tigger the cream legbar hybrid has both next boxes all to herself though, as none of the others have figured out what they're for yet. 🥴
 
That's good news, hopefully the others will work out what a nest box is for before long. Hopefully Tigger will give some helpful advice, bout how much more comfortable a laying box is, and you can chat to the hen next door whilst laying.

All mine have instinctively used the nest box
 
Yesterday when I went to do the poo picking, Sweep (the Speckledy) was snuggled in the coop on top of 3 eggs. I picked them up & popped them into the nest box & she moved in there to sit on them.

This morning I was delighted to find a Speckledy egg in the nest box with Tigger's egg. Now I could do with Sooty & Eleanor learning to use the other nestbox!!
 
Oh, and it seems that the magnolia colour eggs are from Eleanor, the partridge leghorn. I was wondering, when I got her, what made her a hybrid when my previous leghorns were pure breeds. Clearly she's part leghorn & part something that lays pink eggs! Any idea what the combination could be?
 
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