Excitement in Chicken Land

Holy smokes... we've had our chickens since April, watching them grow from tiny little fluff balls living in our closet to tiny chickens moving into the chicken coop to sizeable pullets roaming around in our garden.  Today they became laying hens!

We've been waiting for the past 6 weeks for an egg to appear, and I'd just about given up hope, thinking they wouldn't lay until next spring... but today, I went out in the drizzling mist to let them out of the coop, give them their morning snack, and fill their bowl inside the coop with grain and mash.  When I opened the side door, wowza... there sat a beautiful egg in the corner, large and brown and just waiting for me to reach in and grab it.  Oh my gosh...was I ever excited!  So was John, who, after admiring it, cooked it for his breakfast.

This evening, we went out to the garden, as we usually do, to let the chickens out to stretch their legs and peck around, carrying our glasses of wine and the dinner I'd fixed for the girls.  John had been gone for most of the day, making damascus steel with his knife-making buddy, and he'd brought home some guacamole and chips from our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We took that with us, and we had to shoo away the chickens who thought they were entitled to a share.  After a while, I saw Lucy go into the coop, but she didn't come back out.  I poked my head in, and she was laying in the corner in a little burrowed out area, so I knew what was happening.  I was beside myself with excitement and curiosity!  I kept peeking in through the stained glass window, trying not to disturb her.  Alice, however, wasn't worried about disturbing Lucy, and she marched up the ramp and went into the coop.  We have never heard such a ruckus from our chickens.  Lucy got up fom her nest in the corner and barked at Alice, who promptly hurried out and scrambled down the ramp.  A little bit later, Lucy came out, and John and I looked in the side door, and there was a brand new egg.  It was still warm to the touch.  I'd been wondering how long the entire event took... about 30 minutes, give or take.  So Lucy came out into the yard, wandered around a bit as if to say, "Okay, I've laid my egg... now where's my supper?"  I got the hint and gave them their snack of persimmons, shredded potato, mushrooms, pizza crust, and corn and mash. 

What a day... one to mark on the calender!  This was a first for me, and I'm quite excited about it.  I'll be having that egg for breakfast tomorrow.

Until next time, enjoy what you have, sing a little song, and let the good times roll!