Rain rain go away!

This week marked our 12th egg from the chickens. We have now collected over a dozen wonderful eggs and the hens just keep laying more. We are up to 2-3 eggs a day.

This morning I was outside doing the weekend coop clean and getting the hens fresh food and water when it started raining. The hens were scrambling to get out of the run and into the hen house. Meanwhile, I am in the hen house scrubbing and cleaning. Tara came over and pecked me and the brush. Willow started whining at me to get out. It was a frantic dash to finish cleaning out the coop as I was getting more and more soaked by the rain. I hope the chickens know how much I like them ... but I think they are just annoyed at me for keeping them out of their warm enclosure as it was raining.

Breakfast

Our total egg collection count is now up to 3. Yesterday evening I went out to the herb garden to grab some things for dinner and Tara was in the process of laying an egg. Willow and Tara are ahead of the curve in our mini flock. I gave Tara some sage and basil as a reward for her yummy present. She loves sage and pecked at my hand trying to get more.

Our first egg breakfast. A lightly buttered slice of bread, one egg cooked over medium with the yolk cracked (oozey goodness!), and a cup of coffee. The yolk was very orange and it tasted wonderful! It wasn't much food once it was shared between 2 people but it was still very tasty.

So far we have only eaten one of the eggs. The very first egg was shared as part of a teeny tiny breakfast on Sunday morning. For scale reasons I included the fork in the photo.

A witness for egg #2

In the mornings, as we give the hens their food and water, they hint rather strongly that they want to go out into the yard. Willow literally pushes up against us to go outside. Nudging her back into the coop is a morning ritual. We let them out in the afternoons/evenings but never in the morning. The chickens disagree with our executive decision and every day they stage a mini-protest and ask to go out. Sorry ladies, but you have to wait until we get home from work and can watch over as you forage. Rules are important (though they can and do get broken on weekends when we are home). Also, if they seriously want to protest I need to see some better signs or at least an awesome drum circle. Have they not learned anything from living in Wisconsin?

This morning I was greeted by 3 out of our 4 hens as I gave them food. When I poured a new pile of grit it was still only 3 hens. After I had taken the water dish out, cleaned it, added fresh water, walked back to the coop, AND put it into the run there were still only 3 hens. Then I heard it: a squawking, a clucking, a flapping of wings, and one loud final squawk. After the ruckus Willow came wandering down the ramp into the run. I opened up the nest box and found a freshly laid still warm egg waiting for me. At least now I know why she wasn't pushing to get outside this morning... she is the first of our hens to start laying eggs!

A first....

I was finishing the coop cleaning tonight and when I opened the nest box lid I got a wonderful surprise: our first egg!!!

Our very first egg from our backyard hens. It is small, fits neatly into my palm, and is a very pale brown. (pre-rinse)

A close up of the egg once it was washed/rinsed. It is a gorgeous brown color with small brown spots all over the shell.

Hug a chicken

We were cleaning out the chicken coop today and let the chickens out to wander the backyard. Willow was being especially friendly so she got picked up and hugged. Have you hugged a chicken today?

Willow is now friendly enough that she can be easily handled. Here she is being held up at chest height with no resistance or complaint.

Tara (black and white) and Henrietta (black and orange) wandering around the backyard.