Well, thanks to rugosarosefarm the case of the mystery egg has been solved. Thanks to her investigative assistance, she quickly tracked down the guilty chicken. I am so very lucky to have such wonderful followers. Apparently, Dottie Speckles is the owner of the egg! Little did I know, that Silver Laced Wyandottes can start laying as early as 17 weeks. I am so happy for this sweet and rambunctious little henny girl.
Interestingly enough, I ran out of my 50 pound bag of grower pellets. Figuring that Fifi was 20 weeks and Dottie Speckles was 17, it would be wasteful to purchase another 50 pound bag of grower pellets. Last week, I started feeding everyone in the flock the layer pellets. I love it when things happen to coincide.
As the mystery was solved last night and Dottie Speckles did not lay an egg yesterday, I knew that there was a strong possibility that I would find an egg in the coop this morning. I was hoping that she would figure out to use the nesting box.
As I opened up the coop this morning, all of the girls exited except for Feathers. In my mind, that could only mean one thing. Broody Feathers was most likely sitting on an egg. As I opened then nesting box door, there she was not sitting in a nesting box, but straddling the front lip of the nesting box and the roost. She had squeezed her body into this tiny little space, blocking the far left nesting box with her body. As she growled, I gently lifted her up, to reveal a creamy, light brown, little egg.
I brought the egg inside. Like the Cinderella story goes, it was a perfect match. A twin egg had been laid, only this time, it had not been roughed up in the run.
I am not sure if Dottie Speckles laid the egg in the left nesting box and Feathers rolled it out of the box, or if she came close to laying it in the box and missed due to timing. Either way, I am sure that it takes a while to get the hang of knowing when the eggs are ready to be laid. I suspect it is sort of like potty training. If it is anything like my kids, the third times is a charm.
6 thoughts on “Mystery Solved”
Awe, congrats. I always thought that had to be confusing as can be for a hen when they start having all these hormones and then these round things start coming out of them. I mean, what's up w/ that?!?
She'll sort it out. She's in good hands w/ her other sisters to show her the way.
Feathers, sounds like my kind of hen. Sounds so exciting for your girls. We are very excited for the eggs to start popping up in our nest boxes.
Flock Mistress, I could not agree more. How confusing for them.
Cake Chick, I can't wait for your girls to lay either. For me, the excitement of discovering them never gets old!
Even the pros don't get it sometimes. My Betty, who's about 15 months laid in the house yesterday. About a foot from the nest box she lays in every other day. I'm happy your Dottie was a repeat layer to verify the hunch.
Thank you again Rugosarosefarm. Maybe one day I can meet your girls and vice versa.
Yummy farm fresh eggs 🙂