Eggs!!

The first batch of quail are eight weeks old and we began getting our first quail eggs two weeks ago. They come in lots of pattern variations, but each hen lays the same color and pattern throughout her reproductive life. We are up to 17 a day, and have eaten most of them...fried, scrambled, and deviled.

The size of the eggs we've collected thus far have ranged from two finger-tip sized "barbie doll eggs" to several of these huge, almost bantam chicken sized eggs. Ouch!

We finally got our first real chicken egg! I say finally, but the normal age of age egg laying onset is 20-26 weeks. Our girls are 18 1/2 weeks old, but in the last couple of weeks their combs and wattles have gotten bigger and redder-a sure sign of reproductive maturity. Also, Rudy has been doing his duty for a couple of weeks now. (I had read that roosters mate 30-40 times a day, and I'm here to tell you this is no exaggeration). I also say "real" egg, because two days ago I was out in the garden with the kids and noticed two were missing. This is highly unusual because they always hang together, like they are attached with an invisible teather. I searched and found Phoebe and Izzie in a brushy area standing over a sort of egg. It was missing a shell and looked a bit like a silicone implant. This is common for first eggs. You aren't supposed to put birds on layer feed or give extra calcium until point of lay, as it can hurt their developing organs before they are ready to utilize it. I've since added a bowl of crushed oyster shell for free choice feeding. Anyway, I knew Izzie was the layer because she looked positively shell shocked. I was proud of Phoebe, her BFF, for staying with her and holding her hand through this traumatic event (if chickens had hands).

No more eggs for two days. This morning Izzie did not come out of the coop at daybreak with the others. When I let the rest out for morning free range, she was sitting in the nest box. She sat for over an hour until Rudy informed me by chattering and leading me to the coop, that she was down and ready to join her pals. I opened the door to let her out and found in the nest box; a warm, perfectly formed, hard shelled egg. Woo hoo!!