Our laying hens are on their autumn break now; just sitting back, taking it easy and watching their new feathers grow. That’s tough for our egg customers, I hope the flock finish their winter coats soon,
We have a crew of earnest young pullets taking up some of the slack, their eggs are smaller but just as tasty as the grown hens’.
The oh-so-lovely Wyandottes have begun to lay too, like gangbusters so far, three eggs from three pullets most days. It’s easy to tell the gold-laced gals are laying and the blue-laced gals are not, the goldies’ combs are a brilliant glowing red, while the blues’ are still a soft pink.
Hatched April 1, the gold-laced produced their first eggs within days of their six-month birthday, all three starting the same week, like clockwork. The two blue-laced are a few weeks younger, and from a different breeder. Hopefully they will start soon and be as good at laying as their older flockmates.
Now we wait, and give the group some time to mature. This laying cycle will last till August or September. When they are a few months older and their eggs size up, I will try some test hatches. With three lines in the pen, the chicks should be strong.
Although I suppose I better not count my chickens before they hatch.