Happy Egg Day!

Our pullets are a little over 24 weeks old. I had been expecting our Zebra to be the first to lay since she is: 1) the largest at 4 lbs 2) has the largest and reddest comb and wattles 3) has the biggest and puffiest butt :-)

Zebra

This photo is of her a month ago. Her wattles are much larger now. I will have to try and get a recent pic.

This morning she was pacing (which she usually does when she sees me) at the fence and door a bit more enthusiastically than usual. She was also being louder than usual (usually they are not loud at all). 

Zebra's 1st @ 44g (1.5oz)  2/19/2012

I went in to check on them and She was acting peculiar ... agitated, voraciously hungry, pacing, circling. The first thought that crossed my mind was egg time. So, I put her in the nesting box and she immediately began to nest. She also sang the "egg song" a few times but no egg. We decided to leave her be and check in on her later. I sent my daughter out to go see if they were OK and she came back in with a big glow and her hands cupping a little brown egg. Zebra had layed it right in front of the door.

Zebra now.

OK. Here is a recent pic. Notice face color is redder, wattles bigger.
 

Good job Zebra. Now just try for the box next time.

Update: Feb 24th - A photo from a few days ago.  She has layed 4 eggs in 6 days each getting a little bigger (up to 51 g).
She also has learned to deposit in the nest box.
I had to place her in there the 1st 2 times with the dummy egg. The 3rd time she hopped in herself but would jump out when I left the coop. The 4th egg was all on her own! Now she can teach the other girls how to do it.