Egg-straordinarily Large

If you've been following along on our facebook page, you already know about our adventures raising baby chicks.  We got the babies in late March 2023 and have been counting down the days until they all start laying eggs.  Depending on breed, chickens will mature from baby chicks to full grown, laying hens in 18-24 weeks.  

The chicks were an addition to our existing flock of nine, our OG's (Original Girls).  Unfortunately, not everyone is still laying.  A few of the ladies have entered Henopause and are now retired. It was not uncommon to collect 3 or less eggs per day.  Another factor contributing to decreased production is heat.  And it has been HOT in our area this year.  

Our OG Easter Eggers typically alternate laying.  I know because we get one blue egg every two days and one teal egg every two days.  On the days I don't get get a teal egg, I get a blue one, and vice versa.  It's very thoughtful of them to alternate days.  (I'm joking, of course)

With the addition of the new birds, we have a good old fashioned barn-yard mix here on the Garza Gardens Homestead.   It stands to reason that every bird grows to maturity at different times.  On August 3 we got our first baby eggs, roughly 21 weeks after bringing the girls home.  Few get it right on the first try though.  So, it's not uncommon to have an assortment of shapes, sizes and oddities as the birds continue to grow.  

Over the last month we've had everything from tiny little fairy eggs to oblong eggs and even one or two with blood stains.  I always cringe thinking how bad it must have hurt the poor little girl who burst a blood vessel trying to lay breakfast.  

In the last month, we have averaged about 8 eggs per day. Today, we got our first full dozen!  But someone apparently had a ROUGH day.  One of the eggs in today's batch was double the size of a regular egg.  While I haven't weighed it to be sure, I am claiming it as a Jumbo.  This thing is HUGE and heavy!

I suspect it came from Queenie or Cinnamon as both are Golden Comets, a breed known for laying extra large brown eggs.  We cracked it open to find it was a double yolker!