Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Autumn layers

Great news! My bantam Orpingtons have started laying. They just hit the 30 week mark (or 6 months of age) and I was beginning to wonder if they were ever going to start laying. The Araucanas started laying at about 24-26 weeks. True to form, the Orpingtons are slow developers but got there in the end.

So here's what a bantam Orpington egg looks like:




It's in the middle of a shop bought egg (left) and the Araucana egg on the right. Not a bad size I thought, for a bantam that is! It's slightly larger than the Araucana egg, but not as big as the store bought one.

So now I have the Araucanas and Orpingtons giving me eggs every other day. I'm happy with that!

Dave and I have been working on some large earth moving projects today. If the weather holds out we'll get another retaining wall built within the week - fingers crossed. This is a rather large project and has taken several months to get going. One wall out the front is already up, we're onto the second wall and then there will only be one more to do!

Sounds exhausting, but this is what we do out here - and don't we love it! Will report more on that project later.

2 comments:

  1. I love the look of those blue eggs! They are agreat size too. I might have to see if I can get a Orpington at the poultry show on the 7th.
    Can't wait to see what you two have been up to.... earth moving projects are always fun ;-)
    Emily

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  2. Yes the Araucanas lay a lovely blue/green egg. Took some getting used to at first. I didn't eat them straight away - but now they're used just like regular eggs.

    The orpingtons I have are bantams (about half size) as the standard ones are enormous. I visited a lady once, who had a orpington rooster which was as high as my knee-caps.

    Beautiful bird but way too big for me. :)

    I'd love to know how you go at the show, and what breeds you find. Very exciting!!

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