Egg laying

This is another example of being able to tell my girls eggs apart. I know Sophie is always surprised how well this works for me but I am guessing that her girls’ eggs are very similar.

I am not saying that there won’t be occasions, if I haven’t seen a girl in the nest box and if it is the more similar shaped eggs that I won’t be certain and sometimes it is a process of elimination, but most of the time it’s easy to tell.

Today both Shadow and Spangle wanted to lay at the same time and in the same next box. Familiar story! They were both in and out and being very vocal about it taking turns to shout.

I decided to put Shadow in one nest box and Spangle in the one next to it. To my surprise they accepted this and both settled down in their nest boxes. I decided to get my camera and take a photo of each girl in her nest box.

Some of the photos were a bit blurred so I decided to go back and take a few more photos. I just happened to catch Spangle laying her egg.

Shadow in the nest box
Spangle in the next nest box
Shadow a few minutes later
And Spangle now in the laying position
And then just laid and the egg still wet
Spangle and Shadow’s eggs

Spangle’s egg is the torpedo shaped egg on the left and Shadow’s is the small round egg on the right.

You can see how different they are. Although Smoke lays a round egg her eggs are quite large for serama eggs and she isn’t yet laying after her recent broody spell. Salmon’s eggs are round but bigger than Shadow’s. Shadow’s eggs are the smallest of all the eggs. Sugar’s few eggs have been oval and also bigger. Spangle’s eggs are always this long and narrow shape.

There may be a few times when I can’t be sure but most of the time it is easy to tell. I love how different all the eggs are. It is rather a fun thing.

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4 Responses to Egg laying

  1. marion says:

    You know your girls well.

  2. David says:

    I love how you’ve captured the egg before it is fully dry: I often have one with shavings stuck to it during the drying time. I’ve never noticed it other than with my dark marans’ eggs, but there are often marks from the end of the beak, where the hen has pulled the egg beneath her before it’s properly dry.

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