I am so excited to have the first egg of the year today. The disappointing thing is that I didn’t see any of the girls in the nest box.
I think this egg is Freckles first egg. The egg is tiny and is creamy beige in colour. I haven’t seen the little girls go in the nest boxes but I have seen them going to the grit and they are eight and a half months old now. I have been checking the nest boxes every day just in case.
Barley followed by Peaches are usually the first girls to lay and that is usually half way through February with Speckles starting at the end of February. These three girls also lay pure white eggs and the biggest eggs of the older bantam flock. Emerald lays a beige egg but doesn’t start laying until March. Game girls have a shorter season.
I am assuming that it would be Freckles as she looks more mature than Rusty and silky feathered seramas are known to mature a little later plus Freckles comb and wattles are really red.
The amazing thing is that she knew where to lay it. I always wonder how they know the first time. I shall be keeping a very close eye on the girls over the next few days to see if I can catch her laying.
A tiny egg in the nest box
The tiny egg compared to a medium sized shop bought egg
The two eggs in my egg stand
I have examined past photos of the girls eggs on this egg stand and they were bigger and whiter than this egg. I think it must be Freckles but I can’t wait to catch her in the act to be absolutely certain.
Freckles and Rusty
Freckles comb and especially her wattles are very red in colour. I can’t wait for the next egg now. I was beginning to think these little girls were never going to start laying. Hurrah!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I was amazed when my araucana bantam started laying and went to the right place straight away. Clever girls.
They are such clever girls.
Fantastic news! Hope you have another, in time for Sunday breakfast! Looking at the girls on your recent post about dust bathing, Freckles certainly looks the most like laying and I notice that serama eggs are now being advertised on ebay, so they are a breed that comes into lay early in the season. As you rightly say, you well recognise the eggs from your girls from last year. Is there a slight blood mark on the pointy end in the first photo? Good that the egg was in the nest box – in fairness, the majority of mine have laid in the proper place from the outset, with only a few dropping eggs in the run. Enjoy: the others will follow in due course. 🙂
I too wondered if there would be another in time for Sunday breakfast. My husband asked if that was a blood mark (and I turned the egg to the cleanest side to photograph) but I think it is just from mucky feet. Apparently seramas moult all year round ( a few feathers at a time) and lay all year round. They are both losing odd feathers so that bit’s true. As it’s their first winter the other part remains to be seen. It would be great if that turned out to be true.
I am just looking forward to more eggs and am just so pleased with this first one. They should have good coloured yolks too because the little girls love to take spinach from my fingers every day and therefore consume more spinach than the bigger girls. There will be more photos to follow (cracked egg) and that is the picked clean spinach stalks on the photo of the two of them, an easy way to get close up photos.
Well done Freckles or Rusty!!!
I was astounded that mine found the nest boxes too because they STILL don’t put themselves to bed! :-0
Yes, I had my first serama egg on Halloween and they have continued since. All five of them laid on Xmas day! They’re all a little older than yours though Carol.
xx
I am amazed that yours don’t put themselves to bed because my two are so good at it, going to their own perch, despite the bigger girls being a pain to them at times.
All five on Christmas Day, that was amazing. I am so looking forward to more eggs from them. I am so proud!
Oh just to add as well Carol – I’ve already had two go broody!! :-0
xx
Nooooo! All my research said that seramas don’t go broody. I really hope mine don’t as I had enough of that with Butterscotch. I guess only time will tell xx
Yea, her egg is darling.
I was on a business trip all week and came home to a broody hen. Sigh…
Oh dear! I really hope not to have any more broody hens.
Glad to hear you have had your first egg, hope there will be many more to come.
I can’t wait for more. No sign of any laying today as yet though.
They weren’t too bad, I just had to take them out of the nest box a couple of times at nights and put them on their perch, they’d snap out of it within a few days but obviously you don’t get any eggs for a while.
I think they are a broody breed Carol but I will PM you a tip that Bec gave me for breaking their broodiness in the good weather xx
It’s not too bad if it’s only a few days. Butterscotch used to stay broody for two weeks then wouldn’t lay for two weeks afterwards then would be back in lay for two weeks and then started all over again as regular as clockwork so it really was a bit of a pain and has put me off of the thought of broody girls. It led to her getting her head feathers pulled while she was broody which was why I re homed her. I have visited her since and she has her head feathers back.