Jocelyn Curry

Cinnamon, my lithe and shy Welsummer hen, has come of age and after a long and fretful labor has laid her first and second eggs. Bess, her big sister, started laying at the end of November, and has skipped only two days since then, not counting one little preemie egg that showed up one morning. Bess has been anxious about Cinnamon, and the two of them have been trotting up and down to the nest box often during the past week.

Known for their deep, warm brown eggs, Welsummers are "moderate layers," predictably laying at least 3 eggs per week. Cinnamon's first egg is on the right. The speckles are raised, and the deep color was not yet deposited evenly until her second egg, on the left, was laid yesterday. Note that the second one is larger; as with anything, first-time eggs are not usually expertly crafted!