Saturday, February 08, 2014

one of these eggs is not like the others...

eggs 046 So, I've collected many pink-brown eggs and many green-blue eggs. In addition to these, I've found two specked brown eggs. I know Ginger, my Auracana, is laying the green-blue ones - because that's what Auracanas (Easter Eggers) do. I know Penny, my Black Astralorp, is laying the brown-pink ones because I saw her pop one out and pretty much caught it as it ejected (!). I don't know if Penny is the one laying the occasional speckled eggs or if maybe Bertha, my light Brahma, is laying them. A mystery....

9 comments:

Unknown said...

They are gorgeous, no matter what!

pam_chesbay said...

So many eggs from young hens! What color egg do Brahmas lay?

Lara said...

So happy the gals have started laying for you! Maybe Bertha is working up to laying slower than Ginger and Penny.

kathy said...

From what I can find out, Brahmas lay brown eggs, while Australorps lay a pinkish-brown. I've also read that the speckles are from eggs that pass too slow through the oviduct. Not sure it was at a site to take seriously though. It makes it sound like a chicken can lay either plain or speckled eggs depending on how they are feeling?

Today, I found an ENORMOUS brown egg in the coop. I think even bigger than a store bought extra large. A friend thought it looked like a duck (or ostrich?) egg. Bigger even than the speckled one in the photo here. I don't know who laid that. It was not in the spot where either Penny or Ginger usually leave their eggs. But then, there was a blue egg right next to it, so obviously Ginger laid that. A new spot for her.

My guess is the new giant brown was Bertha's second and the big speckled one in the picture was her first. Penny's first egg was also speckled, but none of her subsequent ones. Maybe speckling is a thing with first eggs?

So I am thinking I now have 3 laying hens. Yipee!

We finished off the last of the store bought eggs in our fridge today. Maybe we won't ever buy any more!

Unknown said...

We've had chickens for several years now. One of the best investments...Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Damerow. It is my go-to book for chicken keeping. Love the website and congrats on the new house and garden!

Marian (LondonUK) said...

Hi, how eggciting! Sorry, couldn't resist it. It must be fantastic to pop out the back door and collect your breakfast or cake ingredients.
Marian (LondonUK)

Cloud said...

I love all the color - I can't wait for the day I have chickens of my own!

Cloud said...

I love all the color - I can't wait for the day I have chickens of my own!

kathy said...

Yes Marion, it's hard to get used to. Every day the hens eat my leftover grains and veggies, rice, bagels, corn, sweet potatoes, etc, and they make nice manure for my garden AND they lay eggs. On top of all this, the eggs are pretty blue-green or pink-brown colors. And I've grown quite fond of the hens.

Anything that keeps me out of the stores is eggsciting!