My First Egg!

I have had an absolutely wretched day---but after I got home sick from work at 8:30 pm, I went to put the pullets to bed. Thought I'd check the nest box where I had put some ping pong balls as a subtle hint. First walked into a branch and put a gash in my head to match the one I had just put in my toe--but there is was! Small, uneven light tan but definitely not a ping pong ball. I suspect it is the RIR--she is the one that has been going in and out regularly. It is a pullet egg, about 1/3 the size of a large--but it is mine, all mine--and it only cost several hundred dollars!

I guess it is time to get serious about costs. At this point it is a rich woman's hobby--which I am not. But I have my own egg! And all the pullets are crouching when I pet them--so there should be more eventually.

Life is good!

Congratulations! How exciting it is when you get that first egg! Its always such a surprise too! I remember when my first batch started laying. Who knows how long those eggs were in the nest boxes before my neice discovered them! How old are your hens?

aren't they about 19 weeks?

super congrats to you!!! sorry you still aren't well, asthma and fires still?

Rockette was sitting today, maybe i will have an egg soon too!!! not my first, but hers, and believe me, it is eggsiting EVERY TIME you raise a puillet and she lays her first egg!!!

makes you wann throw a party. but alas, all our $ is tied up in chick feed LOL

tf

gratz on you 1st egg. More to follow

Yippeeee! Are you doing a happy dance? I bet you couldn't believe it when you saw it, huh? For sure a mood lifter ~congrats!

Christy

i got my first egg friday and another sunday. the were both small.i haven't gotten one since sunday. will they start laying again?

yes, they don't make one very day at first. once they are neareer full size they will lay more often...

GOT A FIRST EGG FROM ROCKY YESTERDAY!!! errr, i mean ROCKETTE!!! about the same size as the OEG eggs. i will get a picture later.

we should be hearing form lots of folks with their first eggs right about now...

take care of your lungs Catscan...
tf

Congratulations Catscan! May there be dozens in your future!

Now you wrote

yes, just reach down and touch them in the middle of the back, if they "assume the position", as catscan calls it, you will soon see eggs....

tf

I'll have to try that. Should be easy since if I sit in their yard they're all in my lap fighting for space!

MollyD

Yes, tf, they are 19 weeks--so startng early. Another reason to think it is the RIR. Especially if Rockette is laying now.

Thanks for all your well wishes! DH asked how many eggs per year per bird and I quoted Damerow at 20 dozen per year for the first year, then 18 dozen per year for the second, but they would be larger after the first molt. He was impressed! I keep trying to get him (he is an agricultural biologist for the county and has at times been responsible for checking with vendor compliance at the markets) to find out what I need for selling at the farmer's market. Maybe now he will:0).

Not doing too well health-wise. Dr. finally prescribed antibiotics. I ended up with infections in my lungs and sinuses. I would really rather cough myself to death than try to function with a sinus infection. Yuck.

Sorry for the gender mix up with Rockette, tf, but blame it on the avian vet!

There was a great deal of clucking in the hen house this morning and the RIR kept sticking her head in the box compartment. So maybe another surprise this afternoon. I think Marans are suppose to be later to mature--but Brie is crouching like the rest. No roos to bother them at the moment. I'm thinking of blowing out my first egg and keeping it as a relic. Maybe bronze it?

Congrats!
The lady I got my first three from kept her first eggs on the windowsill. Eventually they just dried out and seemed hollow. I am not sure why that happens versus rotting, but you might look into it to save yourself the blow holes.
Can't wait for mine to start giving a little something back:)

yes, bronze it!

hey cat, no worries, i figure i ill use a buckeye roo with the delwares for the sex link crosses... i am just sorry you lost a pullet you could have placed, or kept, and the cost of shipping, but then again Pecky may not have fared so well without company, still has a pink comb with tiny speck of frostbite...

Catscan........did you get another egg this afternoon, or is she just thinking about it? I have no idea how it works in CA, in MO to sell eggs at a farmers market or a restaurant even is an egg license. We fill out a form and pay $5 for a year. There is a limit on the amount of eggs we can sell under this license, but the # is in the thousands so we are not too worried about it. I hope your infection clears up soon, sinus infections are just awful! Like you said, YUK!

Christy

Well, ladybugs, none in the nest box--they could be laying them in the long grass of the chicken yard--there are so many round oranges and figs there that they might get confused. It is clear that they are creating little depressions in the straw in the nest box, though. So I am figuring another one in there in a day or two.

The law in CA is confusing. You don't need a license if you are selling off your own property and/or selling less than 5000 crates per year or something. Mostly at the farmer's markets you just have to prove that you are the original producer and that you grew everything you sell. I hate talking to the officials---mostly they don't know or tell you about very onerous laws that don't apply to your situation but set you off in a totally wrong direction. I think I have time to find out though! One little egg---not a lot of pressure.

The sinus things really stinks! I started on antibiotics this morning and since then my temp has shot up. I guess it takes 24 hours for the meds to kick in. I haven't had a sinus infection in almost 20 years--this one snuck up on me. I'm sure I'll be better soon. And I may not go to work tomorrow! Everyone there kept telling me I looked so awful, no one will doubt my reason for staying home--even on a holiday weekend.!

Hope you feel better soon Catscan.

MollyD

Thanks, MollyD!

LOL Catscan.......I hope none of your girls tried to go broody on an orange or cluck of figs....that would be too funny! I certainly can see where they might be a little confused by it all. It would be funny to see the conversation they end up having once they all start laying eggs and figure out what's what!
Yeah, it's not uncommon for a pullet to lay every other day or so at first. One of the little Americana pullets we got at an auction last month layed her eggs about 3 days ago. Teeny Tiny little green/blue egg. No more since though, but I'm not too worried about it. I have thought of blowing it out too, it is soo neat.

I wonder how you are supposed to prove that everything you have to sell was raised/produced by you? Sounds like a piece of paper and a bit of the honor system, am I right? I know what you mean about officials. I think they tell you everything you don't need to know just so they don't have to tell you they don't know the answer to your question. Maybe trying to save themselves from looking dumb.........wonder if they know the cat is out of the bag anyway? lol

I wonder if the combination of the fires and asthma wam bammed your system and that is why you got a sinus infection for the 1st time in so long. Hope you are feeling better soon! : )

Christy

Oooooo ladybugs, never thought of them brooding the oranges!

Mystery of the Ping Pong Balls. Went to check the nest box this morning and two of the ping pong balls were missing. Finally found them moved into another section of the coop. Strange. So I started looking around and yes! The second egg--laid in the bottom compartment (not supposed to be a nest box--but obviously the chickens don't know that). Sadly it had such a thin shell (think hard cellophane) it had broken open. Light tan and larger than the first. About a medium-sized store bought egg. So someone is doing their job. Still think it is the RIR.

Called in sick this morning--felt wretched all night, but now that I am up--I think the meds have kicked in. I am having a happy chicken day! All day, full time chicken wrangling. Happy! Happy! Happy!

This message was edited Jul 3, 2008 11:43 PM

yep, sounds liek the meds kicked in allright...

Happy, happy, happy for you Catscan! lol Glad to say you are no longer a bit 'loopy' from the fever! : )

Congrats on the second egg. Better keep an eye on those girls though......you might end up with teeny tiny itty bitty oranges running around all over the place! LOL

Christy

Ladybug, wouldn't that be called "cumquats"? I think they are orange and egg shaped.

GG
♦^_^♦

I have kumquats too! Right next to the coop--but they are so tiny I don't think they will hatch:0)

Catscan, we occasionally get an egg that has a soft shell. No reason for it, I think the hen's calcium producer just takes a vacation that day. They get enough calcium so that you almost have to take a sledge hammer to break them. But, still, it happens.

GG

LOL......kumquats! Too funny! I agree with Granny about the eggs........we get one every now and then too.

Christy

My hens just started laying this week too! I'd bought them as chicks Feb 22nd, and finally had my first egg July 1st! It's funny how they do the 'squat' when you go to pet them. I was so excited I called both my parents to share the news. This is my first time owning chickens. I have 4 Welsummers, 3 Barred Rock, a New Hampshire, and a Buff Orphington. The Welsummers sure are the noisiest! The Barred Rock are the sweetest, and the other two are inseparable, like fraternal twins.

teddilizamo, Congratulations! I received mine as chicks on Feb 20th and got my first egg on July 1st as well! I have a Welsummer, a RIR, a Delaware, a Marans and a Buff Orpington. My Welsummers were not too noisy--although the roo who went to tf apparently started talking quite a bit. Do you know which of your chickens are laying? I haven't figured it out for sure, but I think it is the RIR. All mine are crouching down So far only two eggs--how many have yours laid?

Mine haven't started laying yet, they were hatched early April. But....Mr. Macho (the young BA roo) is not going to make it till adulthood!! He decided to try my DH today, and we are not going to stand for that. We had one aggressive rooster year before last and never intend to have another.

Re soft shelled eggs. We also get a "hiccup" occasionally. That is an egg that is the size of a robin's egg or just a little larger. Not a bantam egg as we have no bantams. Just tiny. Got another "ooh-ah" egg today. This one is about 3 inches long, and it isn't a duck. We don't have ducks either. Besides, ducks don't lay brown chicken eggs!!

GG

Granny--you should start a museum of "egg oddities"! I'd pay to see!

Well, I'm gonna eat that huge egg in the morning for breakfast. But I did blow the "hiccups" and have 3 of them. I was thinking about making an Easter Egg tree with them, but don't have enough yet.

GG

Rockette laid another egg! still palishg in color. i owuld have taken a pic to show how much bigger it is than the first, but i ate the first LOL...

got four pullet eggs today! but only one.... i saw it int he hen haven and moved it to a nesting box. the other three were in a floor nest with large eggs. when i went to gather eggs only the pullet eggs were gone..... RATS AGAIN!!! DH found a small duck egg trapped half inside a rat hole behind the goat barn...

so back to gathering eggs four times a day, so glad i have enough hens to gather from!

rats can't get into the penthouses or hen havens LOL...

my bantams from Feb shoudl start laying soon, when they can decide who the roos are!

funny, when one barred rock was laying today, i was up at "Neverland" picking apricots, and it sounded like she had a serious case of the hiccups for 20 minutes!

my silkie alyed her first egg i waited till there were three and i put them in the incubator and they all were fertile they are due to hatch not this wedensday but next

yippee!!!

wtg Lucky, we want pictures. Mine and tam's will hatch out this coming Wednesday.

Third pullet egg! This one next to ping pong ball in the nest box--a little bigger than the first with a nice hard shell and even tan. 3 pullet eggs in 5 days. At this rate I will have enough for an omelet in 10 more days!

LOL, yea but the very best omelet. Happy eating in 10 days.

so mine will hatch a week after yours and tamaras i have to many incubators going now and its winter i will hve to keep themm in the hatchery for longer now

We purchased ours from Ideal. I am getting surprise special, and I think tam is getting the crested I got last week.

i have never ordered chicks before i wonder wat it would be like i dont think they have any hatcheries in australia though .

now i have got some home work they should have i will have a look

be careful about some hatcheries. there should be health laws in place where they are inspected for disease... another option is to search around, operhaps over the net, for other breeders. and then when you get chicks from them, keep them separate for thirty days just in case. the place L2G2 and i are getting htem from, althought they have hatching "facilities", are actually a breeding farm in Texas... not a hatcery. and they are regularly inspected by our state govt and have done well with cleanliness, health, vitality, lack of disease... etc.

beautiful woods you have there!
tf