Cuckoo Bluebar egg laying

[Lunarpuppy]

hi peeps...

So I have a Cuckoo Bluebar and she just started laying. I was wondering if what she’s doing is typical. Last week she acted confused (in and out of the coop, sitting around puffed up, talking a lot), then overnight she laid two “eggs”— one was a blob of yolk and some shell-ish material, the other was a soft-shelled pale grey egg which she promptly stepped on upon seeing me at the door. A few days later she laid a tiny egg (greenish grey) and yesterday she laid another soft-shelled tiny egg with perfect interior (yolk and white).

My questions are:

Isn’t she supposed to have light blue eggs— and will 5hey change as she becomes more “regular”?

How long do you think it will take her to lay a normal-sized egg— with the days getting shorter, I’m thinking she may just stop until Spring?

So.... I sort of know what the answers might be... but I’m in a wasteland here in NJ and there’s no one to talk to about these chickens. Sometimes I just want to have some “chicken talk”. Know what I mean?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I was wondering if what she’s doing is typical.

The internal egg making factory is pretty complicated with a lot of parts. Then you have the software part that often needs to work out some bugs when they start. It's not unusual for it to take a while for a pullet just starting to lay to get everything working right. Give her at least a couple of weeks before you start worrying. To me it's amazing how many actually get it right from the start.

Isn’t she supposed to have light blue eggs— and will 5hey change as she becomes more “regular”?

I had never heard of a Cuckoo Bluebar. They are not a breed, evidently it's a cross that MyPetChicken is marketing. I don't know what they are crossing to get these. Reading their write-up it sounds like it may be a four-way hybrid cross, not a two-way. But that is just speculation. The parent stock may not be that pure. They have some weasel-words in that write-up about egg shell color so some may lay green green.

The basic egg shell color does not change, that is set by genetics. The base color in yours is blue. They manufacture that "dye" by recycling dead red blood cells so that blue will always be there. But the greenish gray comes from brown pigments that are generally laid on top of the base blue shell. Typically as you get deeper in the laying cycle these lighten up some so the actual tint can change.

How long do you think it will take her to lay a normal-sized egg— with the days getting shorter, I’m thinking she may just stop until Spring?

When pullets start laying the first eggs are typically really small. The pullets are typically not full-sized yet and will continue to grow for a while. The small eggs are nature's way to protect them from consistently laying really large eggs with that small body. It's not that unusual for a pullet to lay a really huge egg, a double yolker. That's part of getting the bugs worked out of their internal egg factory. This generally does not bother them as a one-off but consistently laying larger eggs does pose some risks. And you might occasionally see what we call a fart egg, a really tiny egg.

The egg she is laying in about a month should be noticeably larger than the egg you see at first. The eggs will continue to grow in size the longer she lays, but that growth gets slower the longer she goes. Then after the molt the eggs will be larger again when she starts laying. I'm not sure what you mean by normal sized egg but you should be fairly happy in a couple of months.

Some pullets that start laying in the fall continue laying all through winter and the next year until they molt in the fall. Some cut back in how many they lay in severe weather but continue. Some may stop until spring. I don't know what yours will do, there is no standard.

Good luck!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Last week she acted confused

All things you ask about are very typical of new layers and should work themselves out fairly quickly, presuming proper feed and calcium are available.

What kind of comb is your lady sporting? Taken from MPC site...

"On average, 15/16 pullets will lay blue eggs when they mature. Because these are first generation crosses (F1), statistically, 1 out of 16 birds will have a single comb and will not lay blue eggs. Please also keep in mind that your blue eggs may be anywhere from pale blue hued to a more intense, aqua blue. There is no chicken to our knowledge that lays sky-blue eggs!"

Congrats on your new layer!

 

[Lunarpuppy]

I was wondering if what she’s doing is typical.

The internal egg making factory is pretty complicated with a lot of parts. Then you have the software part that often needs to work out some bugs when they start. It's not unusual for it to take a while for a pullet just starting to lay to get everything working right. Give her at least a couple of weeks before you start worrying. To me it's amazing how many actually get it right from the start.

Isn’t she supposed to have light blue eggs— and will 5hey change as she becomes more “regular”?

I had never heard of a Cuckoo Bluebar. They are not a breed, evidently it's a cross that MyPetChicken is marketing. I don't know what they are crossing to get these. Reading their write-up it sounds like it may be a four-way hybrid cross, not a two-way. But that is just speculation. The parent stock may not be that pure. They have some weasel-words in that write-up about egg shell color so some may lay green green.

The basic egg shell color does not change, that is set by genetics. The base color in yours is blue. They manufacture that "dye" by recycling dead red blood cells so that blue will always be there. But the greenish gray comes from brown pigments that are generally laid on top of the base blue shell. Typically as you get deeper in the laying cycle these lighten up some so the actual tint can change.

How long do you think it will take her to lay a normal-sized egg— with the days getting shorter, I’m thinking she may just stop until Spring?

When pullets start laying the first eggs are typically really small. The pullets are typically not full-sized yet and will continue to grow for a while. The small eggs are nature's way to protect them from consistently laying really large eggs with that small body. It's not that unusual for a pullet to lay a really huge egg, a double yolker. That's part of getting the bugs worked out of their internal egg factory. This generally does not bother them as a one-off but consistently laying larger eggs does pose some risks. And you might occasionally see what we call a fart egg, a really tiny egg.

The egg she is laying in about a month should be noticeably larger than the egg you see at first. The eggs will continue to grow in size the longer she lays, but that growth gets slower the longer she goes. Then after the molt the eggs will be larger again when she starts laying. I'm not sure what you mean by normal sized egg but you should be fairly happy in a couple of months.

Some pullets that start laying in the fall continue laying all through winter and the next year until they molt in the fall. Some cut back in how many they lay in severe weather but continue. Some may stop until spring. I don't know what yours will do, there is no standard.

Good luck!

Thanks for the thorough and amazing answers. Ha ha ha— by “normal”, I mean “not tiny”— my expectations aren’t that high

And yes— this chicken is not a breed— I got her because I though she was so cool looking and the description said that they are pretty friendly and mellow, which is true.

 

[Lunarpuppy]

All things you ask about are very typical of new layers and should work themselves out fairly quickly, presuming proper feed and calcium are available.

What kind of comb is your lady sporting? Taken from MPC site...

"On average, 15/16 pullets will lay blue eggs when they mature. Because these are first generation crosses (F1), statistically, 1 out of 16 birds will have a single comb and will not lay blue eggs. Please also keep in mind that your blue eggs may be anywhere from pale blue hued to a more intense, aqua blue. There is no chicken to our knowledge that lays sky-blue eggs!"

Congrats on your new layer!

Thanks for the MPC quote— I probably read that 5 times in the past and completely spaced it out. Like- totally forgot... so her comb is... as pictured. I said, “Inga, look at me straight on so I can post a picture of you on BYC.” I showed her the picture and she got all vain and screamed, “Delete it!! Delete it!!” And I was all like, “Tough shit, girl. You’re a chicken. I’m posting it.” Then she told me that I deserve puny eggs and that she’s going to will herself to lay small eggs forever.

I didn’t know keeping chickens was going to be this way.