Dandelion hasn’t seemed herself for the last few days. She was spending time sitting with her head hunched down into her ruffles. I was worried that there was something wrong with her.
This afternoon while Rusty was in the nest box laying her egg I was very surprised to see Dandelion by the ramps of the nest boxes. I have never seen her go to the patio, without persuasion, apart from at bedtime. She then left the nest boxes and went into the shelter followed by her trusty sidekick, Cinnamon. I have never seen these two go in there either.
I started to think that she must be getting ready to lay an egg. I had thought Cinnamon would be the first of the three amigos because her comb is the most red but I noticed that Dandelion’s face and comb were a deeper pink than before. I guessed that her blond colouring compared to Cinnamon’s brunette colouring could be why her comb and face are a lighter shade.
I decided to get my camera and take a photo to demonstrate this. Just as I snapped the first photo she laid her egg, in the run, right in front of my eyes. A tiny, warm, damp, egg. She immediately perked up and looked back to normal. So that was what her problem was. There was no blood on her egg and it is even tinier than Freckles egg.
Maybe she was stressed because she didn’t know where to lay her egg. I think it took her by surprise when it arrived because she hadn’t even sat down. I know they have to stand up to actually lay their egg but they usually sit first.
I didn’t realise when I clicked this photo that that expression on her face was the concentration of laying her egg. It wasn’t until she stepped forward that I saw the egg.
As she stepped away from her egg her eyes brightened up instantly.
I took this photo to show the egg’s size with the fifty pence piece to compare it with. This was so unexpected. Today we had three little girl’s eggs. Well done Dandelion.
I don’t usually like frizzle feathers but I think Dandelion is so pretty.
I happened to catch Penny my Wyandotte bantam laying her egg last week – looked and sounded as hard work as you’d imagine! Glad I don’t have to do that every other day!
It’s funny because I wasn’t sure about frizzle feathers at first but then this time round I decided I would like all the different feather types and Dandelion has really grown on me. My husband said the other day that he still wasn’t sure about her looks, that she looks a bit odd at times, but I have found that I have grown to like her frizzle feathers. She looks better now her head feathers are in although they could still be a bit more fluffy yet. She is quite different.
I also think that the egg laying sometimes looks like hard work although with Dandelion it seemed to happen without her realising it. Sometimes it seems much more work than other times.
Well done Dandelion!! I’m on my third broody this season!! :-0
xx
Oh dear! I have been lucky so far. I keep expecting Freckles to go broody because she is such a good layer and loves to gather all the other girl’s eggs under her while laying her egg. Each time she trots back out, happily, afterwards and I breath a sigh of relief and think, so far so good. I am hoping to escape broodiness but you never know!
SQUEEEEEE!!!! I love first eggs. They never get old. And it’s darling. Reminds me of quail eggs. Soooo tiny.
I never fail to be excited by first eggs too. It also reminds me of a quails egg. I wonder what size Cinnamon’s eggs will be as she is the tiniest girl.
A lovely little egg, Well done Danilion.
It is so sweet, good on dandelion.
Small, but perfectly formed.:)
It was and it has now been eaten and was lovely. Once cooked it looked pretty much the same as the other serama eggs.