Last week, I had prepared their nestboxes with straw and fake eggs, but thinking that we still had a few more weeks before we'd see any eggs. Our chickens are 18 weeks old now and from all the resources I've spoken to and read from, 20 weeks and older seemed to be the average chicken age to expect backyard flocks to begin laying.
It is still winter here in the mountains, but we have been experiencing warmer days and we do keep a light on in the henhouse 24/7, but only as a heat source to keep the water from freezing and to also keep the hens warm.
They say that happy chickens lay sooner and more often. Well we do feed our chickens well, they enjoy lots of fresh air and exercise, no stress from trying to evade hungry predators and they also get loads of attention and affection.
Whatever the reason, we do have our first egg....even though it is quite the little thing! hehe Isn't it cute?!!
8 comments :
Holy smokes, woman, you've been busy! I opened my google reader this morning to find 6 (six!) new posts from you!! This is a good day - I enjoy reading all your updates!
Congratulations on your first egg!! This is so exciting. Sadly, my Internet connection is acting up and it's not downloading any pictures, so, for now, I'll just have to take your word on how cute it is! :-)
Hey, me again. You asked me about high-altitude baking tips on my blog and I answered you, but I want to make sure you see my response....
I don't have any experience with this (we're only at 454' at our new house), but there seems to be a lot of info online. One site in particular has a bunch of tips for high-altitude baking: http://extension.usu.edu/htm/faq/faq_q=204
You may have already know all this stuff, but I thought it was interesting to read. Talk about a whole new set of challenges! :-)
The first egg is so eggciting. Most of my Ameracaunas lay green eggs but some lay a light tan. When the eggs get a bit larger you may even get double yolks!
The first egg is so exciting!
Oh the first egg... happy day. Ours was just a little over a month ago, and now we're getting like 13 eggs a day from 14 hens. WOW! I agree that happy animals are more productive. I tell people who're buying my eggs that they are truly free range, and it's clear that they've free-range pooped all over my back porch!
Thanks for stopping by, farmgirl, and thanks for the high altitude baking tips link, too.
sugarcreekstuff and christy, thanks for sharing my eggcitement!
dv, wow! 13 eggs a day from 14 hens! That awesome. It would be equally awesome if our 13 hens laid a dozen eggs a day! Then we could sell some and make a little money to at least pay for the chicken's feed. haha!
What a big week for you! Congrats! Some of my americaunas do lay brown eggs...
Thanks Heather. I found our second egg yesterday...on the ground. It was a gorgeous dark brown egg. Still small, but with a much harder shell. I wish I knew who was laying and when I'll start getting more than one egg every 2-4days!
I'm to excited to be patient!
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