We have it marked on our calendar the very first day we came home with the 1 week old baby chicks, to mark their “birthday” but also to give us a countdown of when we can expect our first eggs from the hens.  It usually takes around 6 months before the egg-laying begins, but we’re a family of over-achievers so we’ve been on watch since month 4.

The hens out to go fluff in the dirt, scratch in the straw and peck at devour my garden. The hens LOVE to eat the lettuce, broccoli leaves, mustard green leaves and bok choy. They love it so much that I find sad bare stems at the end of the day. I used to get upset seeing those bare stems – nurturing a garden is hard work! But I’ve finally made peace with the hens’ appetite, I garden for them and for us. All I can say is that their eggs better be mighty tasty.

Before the kids head off to school, they’ll go outside and let the girls out. They are quite obedient and orderly, and will follow you in a single file line.

especially if they know you have a special treat (worms!) in your hand.

We also obsessively check the nesting boxes for any eggs. My friend, Jan gave us these wooden eggs to place in the nesting boxes to kinda give the hens a hint hint of what they’re supposed to do and where they’re supposed to do it. We have 3 nesting boxes, each with 2 wooden eggs.

So every morning, one of the boys will climb on top of the stool, lift up the top of the nesting box lid, peek in and count: box 1 with 2 wooden eggs, box 2 with 2 wooden eggs, box 3 with 2 wooden eggs.

Yesterday, box 1 check,  box 2 check, box 3……

AN EGG!!!

It’s the one on the left, the bright, peachy-pink egg.

 

We think it’s Oreo’s egg, as Scott spied her sitting in the nesting box earlier that morning.

Yes, this little Oreo, who just 5 months ago looked like this:

Awwwww….how fast she’s grown.

The egg is small, perfect, heavy. Not quite big enough for breakfast for 1, so we cooked the egg along with a store-bought organic egg. Can you tell which is which?

This morning, when we went to check on the hens and to let them out, we saw Fire Flapper sitting in the nesting box. I’ll report back if we find another egg!

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Our chicken stories