After only getting an average of two eggs a week for the last month and saving them for the Sunday breakfast suddenly there has been an upswing. We now have four out of eight girls laying and the other four look ready to start any time now.
We have just had ten eggs in this last week, hurrah. I am seeing mid week omelets, scrambled eggs and boiled eggs instead of just poached eggs on Sunday.
More eggs
This is this weeks eggs minus the ones we had for Sunday breakfast. We had been managing on one egg each for Sunday breakfast but this week we had two eggs each which was a treat in itself.
I am so excited to have eggs again. Sparkle, Barley and Peaches are back to laying every other day and Topaz is laying an average of one egg a week.
Emerald is looking in the nest boxes each day and her comb is red at last (she always has the smallest and palest comb) and Honey and Amber have red combs and twirl round the nest box each morning with Amber sitting a while to try it out for size and Toffee has a red comb too but doesn’t show much interest but then she always has to be different.
Amber and Emerald are also more vocal. Amber is always vocal leading up to egg laying but Emerald is the quietest girl and hardly ever makes a sound at all so for her to be a bit vocal in the morning is quite a transformation in itself.
I just love seeing them all getting back into laying eggs. It’s not just the eggs its seeing them with lovely red combs and being more vocal and more purposeful as if this is really what they want to be doing. I have also noticed that the mid morning spinach is now being eaten much more quickly as if they know they need their greens to make those lovely orange yolks and the turfs from the allotment disappear in minutes.
I think the girls just seem happier and more animated now that they are coming back into lay. Like I said recently it seems like a touch of spring fever and it’s a lovely thing to see.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Great news, Carol: it’s lovely to see the egg tray filling up. Like you, I still have some to have yet to come back into lay – and those that do … well, 3 wyandotte broodies last night! The silkie, who’s laying really well at the moment, will no doubt follow suit soon – plenty of challenge for my sons, when we are away next week!
It is really lovely to see the eggs coming again. I feel for you with your constant broody wyandottes. At least in that respect I only seem to have Topaz likely to go broody. It’s funny that even though she is back laying again she still lays only one egg a week compared to Sparkle laying every other day. Topaz still goes and sits in the nest box on some of the days in between though, it’s as if she is never sure if she needs to lay or not. Compared to her egg total last year though she is miles ahead this year.
Well done those girls. ! I think it’s interesting that they have a rest to give them a chance to lay again . Isn’t nature wonderful !
I read somewhere that some farmers with caged birds of barn girls have artificial light to prolong their laying . It is not only cruel but unnatural .
I agree. I don’t like anything that goes against nature. Us chicken keepers, who are in it for the long term life of our lovely girls, don’t have to worry about the girls like Topaz that are not as productive as girls like Sparkle because Topaz will probably continue to lay for many years, possibly long after Sparkle slows down. It will be interesting to see how their egg laying trends develop over time. Unlike commercial chicken keepers we can look forward to seeing how our girls grow old gracefully provided they don’t develop ailments. We hope to give our girls as long and happy life as possible and all their eggs are a delightful bonus along the way.