Bluebell’s eggs

All the girls have been on a slow down with egg production due to their moult and shorter daylight hours.

I have also noticed an odd thing happening with the size of Bluebell’s eggs. She has been moulting one feather at a time and is the only one not to stop laying this winter but she has slowed down. Bluebell is now laying an average of four eggs a week. The odd thing is, that when she misses a day, she usually lays a large egg the next morning. She will then lay a smaller egg the following afternoon. Every time she lays two days in a row her eggs are smaller but when she misses a day they are larger.

This does seem to make sense to me but it is a new winter thing as in the summer most of the time the eggs are the same size with just an occasional larger or smaller one. I wonder if this is common or if it is peculiar to Bluebell.

Bluebell’s eggs

The egg on the left was laid after missing a day and the egg on the right was one from her laying two days in a row

I took several photos as it’s difficult to show the difference

This pattern has been repeating with a couple of smaller eggs then a missed day then a larger egg, time and time again. I find it quite fascinating.

After my disappointment at Dotty’s neck being plucked a few days ago the good news is that there has been no further plucking, much to my relief. I hope that it was just because it was such an awful wet day and not a return to a habit. I can cope with the occasional bit of bad behaviour but would find it really upsetting if it went back to how it was in the summer.

I have no doubt that it will happen again but as long as it’s not a continuing habit I will be happy. Not that the girls will take any notice of my feelings about the matter, of course, but it would make me happy if it doesn’t occur too often. I would rather see them with feathers than have eggs and that’s saying something because we are missing the abundance at the moment, but it does make every egg very precious.

I have to say our girl’s eggs are so lovely, they are a rich orange colour and are delicious. They are a real bonus added to the pleasure and entertainment value I get from my girls, whatever size the eggs are. I think we are all looking forward to spring and hopefully an end to the rain and longer, lighter days.