new eggs - a few questions.

[Rosendula]

Two of my hens haven't started laying yet, but on Friday my RIR laid a perfect little egg. Then on Saturday she laid a perfect full-sized egg. Sunday was apparently her day of rest

Today, she stayed in the coop for ages and when I peeped through the door (to make sure she was in there and not in a neighbours garden), she was all comfy-looking in the nest box. When eventually she came out, there was no egg in the nest box, but there were two in the sleeping quarters. One was near the pop-hole and was broken, the other further in and had a soft shell. Both eggs were a lighter colour than the previous perfect eggs, so I'm now a bit confused.

I know that new layers can lay soft eggs, but do the shells change colour?
Can the same hen have laid 2 eggs, or do you think one of the others has popped on out while I wasn't looking?

Also, the not-broken soft-shelled egg had surface cracks on the pointy end, so I cracked it into a bowl to put in the fridge. Most of the white was very watery and I'm wondering if it's edible?

[JulieSherris]

Rosey - sometimes the first eggs are best discarded - it only takes them a couple of days to get into the swing of things & the first couple of attempts might not be perfect.

Our very first egg was pecked - almost as if the hen had attacked it, not knowing what it was!! They will stop that though, but just keep an eye out.

Now then... VERY fresh eggs can be quite watery - kept in the fridge, fresh eggs keep for well up to 4 weeks & if you're planning on having fried/poached/boiled eggs, it's better to use the older eggs. Hard boiled fresh eggs can be quite difficult to peel as well!
As for the colour of the eggs, well.... our white maran lays very very dark eggs, our black maran lays eggs that are darker one end than the other..... one brown hen lays almost round brown eggs, the other one lays brown eggs with a pink-ish sheen... so once you get to know who's laid what, you'll know the different colours, and occasionally the colours change a little, on the whole, they lay the same colour.

Welcome to the world of eggs

Actually, at some of our village fairs & bird shows (of which they are plentiful through the summer) they have the birds on show & are judged... and then you get the egg geeks who show their eggs as well!! I kid you not....

[red]

its unlikely she would have laid two eggs in one day, and even more that they are different colours.

sometimes, if the shell is not put on properly, you can get a paler egg than you normally would.

re soft eggs, i use them, so long as they were not sitting in poo etc. if an egg is pecked or broken, if the inside skin is still intact, i use them, i use them that day, for cakes etc.

[Annpan]

My old timers (a year old) still get a bit confused about when to lay....

One laid while sitting on the perch for a few weeks (silly girl) we had lots of cracked eggs.

One walked across the grass towards her food just as the were let out one morning and an egg just popped out (which was more odd cause I was looking RIGHT at her vent when it happened.... I can't remember why but it was quite a sight)

Chances are you'll have one difficult beggar that decides to lay in a pile of poop, or in the run instead of the nest box... it happens.

They'll work it out, give them a few days...

and of course you have 2 laying hens now.... so be prepared for having more eggs than you know what to do with.

[red]

i picked up 14 today.... i'm really hoping someone else will come to the door to buy eggs.. problem is with nice weather we are mostly not there to answer it....

[Rosendula]

Well we've eaten them The big one with the hard shell was a double-yolker! It's the first I've seen since I was a child, so I gave it to my nearly-18YO son who's never seen one before Richard had the small one plus a shop-bought one to compare, and I had the soft-shelled one and a shop-bought one. Our yolks were much deeper orange, and the whites stayed in a blob rather than pancaking outwards. Well, their whites did. Mine didn't have a white. The really watery bit just disappeared so I was left with a fried yolk, but a very nice home-grown fried yolk it was. And I managed to stop myself mentioning that the eggs are made out of slugs and woodlice while my son was eating his

Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your valuable experience peeps

[thesunflowergal]

Does anyone know why the egg sizes change so much? Yesterday one of ours layed a 2oz egg, and today its massive and just over 3oz.

[Rosendula]

Does anyone know why the egg sizes change so much? Yesterday one of ours layed a 2oz egg, and today its massive and just over 3oz.

I'm hardly in a position to answer your question from an experience point of view, but I have read that new layers lay smaller eggs and they become more normal-sized with practice. I've also read that new layers are more likely to lay double-yolked eggs, these being bigger than single-yolkers. I've just received 2 small but perfectly formed eggs from my little ladies. (I've been desperate to tell everyone, but I fear I might be getting boring on Facebook )

[Annpan]

Not at all Rosey

I guess eggs differ in size due to diet, sleep, sunlight hours and of course how long the lady has been making eggs.

[red]

they tend to lay a few odd one at the beginning or when they come back into lay, sometimes double yolkers etc, then settle down to regular size.. with the occasional oddity.

The eggs you buy in shop have been graded for size and anything out of the ordinary in shape etc, removed and using in the catering industry.. so perhaps we are used to seeing all even eggs.