Seven Eggs in Two Days!

Day before yesterday was a red-letter day at the coop.  Four eggs!  And all in the same nest box.  That’s one hundred percent productivity and might be the first time ever than every hen has laid an egg in the same twenty-four-hour period.  Maybe that little ditty I sang them about the chicken who wouldn’t lay an egg finally produced results!

Even more surprising was to find three more eggs yesterday! These in the south nest box.  There was even one from the newest working girl.  Her eggs are a lighter color and, more telling, are still on the smallish size.  According to the online Manitoba Agriculture site, “All hens start egg production laying Pee Wee or Small eggs and gradually increase to a mature egg grade size of Medium, Large or bigger. In modern breeds, most hens are laying Large, Extra Large or Jumbo eggs by 40 weeks of age.”

Russian Orloff

I think our newest (and youngest) layer, a Russian Orloff, is about thirty-five weeks old so she has time yet to catch up (egg size-wise, that is) to her older coopmates.  Russian Orloffs are known for being cold-hardy and are said to often lay straight through the winter.  So maybe her production is now beginning in earnest.  Up until these last few days, she has only produced a few eggs and those on an irregular basis.  We have been cutting her a lot of slack because she’s young.  And because it’s so dark out these days.

Generally, laying hens require 14 to 16 hours of light a day for good egg production.  That’s why commercial farmers use artificial light to augment the shorter daylight hours in winter.  Our backyard chickens have to just muddle through.  We are happy let nature take its course.  We clap and talk (and sing!) our thanks when they surprise us with unexpected bounty.  Discovering what’s in the nest boxes is one of the delights of chicken farming!

Morning Bounty

And, about those nest boxes…  The rule of thumb among the experts is one nest box for every three to five laying hens.  We have three nest boxes and four hens.  That they choose to all lay in the same box now and again is another one of life’s little mysteries.  As I so often remark… it’s hard to second-guess chickens!