Coming into lay

This year's Gold Duckwing Welsummer pullets have just started to come into lay. It is an event I have been eagerly awaiting, as a few breeders of Gold Duckwing Welsummers have experienced disappointing egg colouring from their birds.

My 1st generation of GDW Welsummers have been exceptional, laying lovely matt terracotta plain or speckled eggs, of a very good size.

It now looks as if the second generation are going to follow suit. With the first egg weighing in at 50g and the promise of a good colour, I am more than pleased. Within a few weeks colour and size will improve.

The fact the pullet laid her first egg in the nest box is an added bonus.

Pullet Eggs

Photo: Gold Duckwing Welsummer eggs

Today the first of the two Maran pullets came into lay. Her egg a glossy version of the lightest of my Welsummer eggs. Other than the remaining maran, all of last years birds are now in lay.

The Welsummers are laying well, their eggs lovely and dark, some speckled, all matt. Almost from the start the eggs have been a good size, large enough to sell in the 'big' egg box rather than with the pullet eggs.

The Exchequer Leghorn eggs have taken a little longer to reach a good size but the birds have now started to produce larger eggs.

The little crossbred hens are also doing well, being crossed with an Indian Game cockerel their eggs are never going to be huge but they are of good shell quality and the birds themselves are extremely friendly.

Egg sales at the gate are far greater than I could have hoped for, most selling within an hour or so of going out, buying more layers is so tempting.

Photo: Top left egg 1st Maran egg, top far right Exchequer Leghorn, others Welsummer



Photo: A mix of eggs from last years hatch of pullets

Back in lay

Today the Australorp hen who has been brooding the Exchequer Leghorn chicks came back into lay. She actually produced two eggs. One first thing this morning and one this afternoon. As the run is moved each evening and the house swept out daily, the two were definitely today's.

The chicks are now 5 weeks old and fully feathered so tomorrow the hen will be returned to the Indian Game flock. Maybe she will show the others how to lay in the nest box, to save us from having to play ' hunt the egg ' every evening.

Laying away

One of the Indian Game pullets had taken to laying each day in the stable. Every morning as soon as they were let out of their house the cockerel would escort the hen to the stable, used during the winter as shelter and a place to feed hay to the sheep. He would spend a little while creating a hollow in the straw in the corner, the hen would then sit to lay while the cockerel stood guard protecting her from the hooves of the sheep.

Since Friday the stable door has been closed because the ewes have been lambing. This resulted in one poor hen wandering around the yard, clucking in a state of confusion and desperation, looking for somewhere else to lay. We guessed she had found somewhere as there were no 'extra' eggs in the nest box in the house but no matter how hard we looked we could not find her nesting site, until Saturday that is.

Whenever we go to the yard we take the dog, each time he flies out of the boot straight into the feed shed hoping to be lucky enough to catch a rodent by surprise, failing that maybe some spilt corn or ewe nuts. On Saturday I don't know who got the biggest surprise, the dog being greeted with an angry squawk and ruffle of feathers or the hen who was quietly biding her time in amongst the straw bales, only to have a wet nose poked in her face.
Luckily, although not always obedient, the dog knows a sharp NO means no, especially when livestock are involved. He stood still while the hen casually got up from the nest shook her tail feathers and wander off to join the rest of the flock.

Thriving

Barring accidents or illness there is no reason now why the young Leghorn chick shouldn't survive. At three weeks old it is developing fast, with new feathers appearing daily. It is quite settled now, familiar with it's surroundings and daily routine.

The small ark they are in is moved each day to provide fresh ground. In a couple of weeks time they will be moved into a larger run within the Layers pens. The run will give them more space, allow all the birds to become familiar with each other and most importantly will enable both mother hen and chick to build up an immunity to any 'bugs' existing in the established flock.

One of the Dorkings came back into lay over the weekend and I am grateful for her large white egg. As I am now collecting all the Welsummer eggs for incubating at the weekend, the eggs available for sale are somewhat limited both in number and colour variation.

Eggs

After weeks of trying to reduce the egg mountain by cooking, freezing, pickling, giving away, selling to friends and neighbours in fact doing any and everything you can possibly do with an egg we took the plunge at the weekend and put a sign on the garden gate *Eggs for Sale*. Admittedly sales have been slow but I am optimistic that they will improve.

Not helping the egg situation but good news all the same.... today I am fairly sure the darkest of the Indian game pullets laid her first egg. Over the past few days her comb and face have been getting redder and the cockerel has been trying to tread her, so we knew she was close to lay. The egg we found in the box was not one I recognised as the Ixworth's or Australorp's (yes you do start to recognise who lays which egg) but was fairly small and rounded.

At home over the past few days I have been collecting the odd double yolker, yesterday and today there was a broken soft shelled egg in the house. I think the offender is one the Dorkings. One has been in moult for a while now. The other about to start and coming to the end of lay and think it is her rather than the other who is producing the odd eggs.

The goose is still yet to lay, nearly a month later than previous years. I'm not sure if it is a reflection on the weather or their age. I have searched every hiding place I can think of, although every year she has laid in the house, just in case she has found herself a secret nesting spot....but nothing.