The Rhode Island Red pullets are beginning to lay eggs!
When a pullet transitions into hen-hood, her first eggs are often irregular in some way. A hen needs some practice before she manages the stable production of standard eggs. It is common for pullets to lay shelless eggs, eggless shells, asymmetrical eggs, yolkless eggs, double-yoked eggs, and eggs with all manner of ovoid curvatures.
So far, though, our birds haven’t delivered any eggs that are too unusual. Rhode Island Red hens should lay large, light brown eggs, but the pullet eggs we are getting are small and widely varying in color.
In the image, the three eggs at the bottom are from adult hens of different breeds.
When the pullets begin to lay it presents us with a challenge. Until their eggs are big enough to mix in with the rest we receive, we have to use them at home or find something else to do with them. Sometimes the timing has worked out well and we have made egg dishes to take to Boy Scout dinners or church events. At other times, we have simply given away the eggs to friends and co-workers.
Easter is coming up and our church hosts a breakfast for the community. So, we will probably save the pullet eggs to donate to that cause.
