Jon found Red nestled in the compost bin on some soft grass clippings.

Red Nestled In

All the other chickens were across the yard near the coop and Red was having some alone time. We tried to wait patiently and checked back later and this is what we found.

 

Prettiest Little Egg We’ve Ever Seen!

We had thought one of the other girls may be close, but Red surprised us. She just may be our favorite now.  The egg was a light brown and was somewhat small. Smaller eggs are common and expected when a hen first starts laying.

 

You can see compared to the large brown free range eggs we have been buying that the color is a pale brown and the egg is smaller.

The next morning Jon and I had to split our first egg. The shell was nice and strong when Jon cracked it. It was stronger than a standard store bought white egg from caged chickens, but not quite as thick and hard as these brown free range eggs we have been buying. Those things are so thick I dropped one on the counter one time and it bounced a couple of times and it did not bust! I think for her first egg Red did a mighty fine job!

The yolk had a dark yellow/orange color which let’s us know our gals are eating healthy.

We scrambled it up all by itself. We just had to taste it without being mixed with any ole store bought eggs! LOL It was only a bite or two for each of us, but we proudly ate it. We really could not tell a difference in the flavor of the egg, but know from the richer color of the yolk that it is definitely more nutritious.

The following day we did not get an egg. She is just beginning so we were disappointed, but not surprised. Then Sunday Jon checked the chickens as soon as we got back from church. We do not let them free range in the yard when we are not home. Jon found an egg in the chicken run. We thought surely Red would find the nesting boxes since they were not free ranging. When Jon checked the nesting box one of the commercial blacks (Twiddle Dee or Dumb) jumped out real quick. There in the box was another egg! Saweet!

Our theory is that maybe Red layed in the chicken run because one of the Twiddles was in the nesting box. We are assuming the egg in the run was from Red as it was a little darker brown and ever so slightly bigger this time. The egg in the nesting box was a small one almost identical to Red’s first one.

We had one of the boys check for eggs mid morning and he found one egg in the nesting box! This is so exciting! Hopefully the others will start laying shortly. We are so proud of our gals.