It looks like our pullets are finally growing up.
When I cleaned out the coop on Sunday morning, I found a thin, rubbery, broken egg on the floor. Our two mature Plymouth Rocks, Snow and Nala, don’t lay soft-shelled eggs. So that leaves the two Rhode Island Red pullets who, at 20-21 weeks of age, are just about old enough to start laying. One of the newcomers, either Hope or Nellie, apparently began the week by producing her first egg.
That probably explains why I heard a piercing squawk coming from the coop at 5:15 Sunday morning, about half an hour before we feed and water the hens. And it probably explains why Snow and Nala seemed agitated after they had breakfast, roaming around the coop as if searching for more proof that there’s now a third adult in "their" flock.
The experts say it’s not unusual for a new layer to produce overly delicate, spongy eggs at first. But just to be on the safe side, I gave the Reds a small bowl of crushed oyster shells after Liz and I moved them into their own pen for the day. Thin egg shells can be caused by a calcium deficiency, and crushed oyster shells are an excellent source of calcium for chickens.
Sure enough, the Reds made a beeline for the bowl even before I closed the door to their pen. A new chapter has begun.
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