Fresh Eggs

Building the chicken coop.
We've been told our chickens are really spoiled!

We did end up eating two roosters.

Our very first egg!

"Can I have some privacy, please?"

Our egg container never goes empty.
Just about six months to the day, we got our first eggs. Ryan was working in the backyard and the hens started making these noises - like they were in labor. He went to check it out and we had our first batch of freshly laid eggs! And the cool thing was that they laid them in the boxes Ryan built for them. How in the world does a chicken know to fly up into a box to lay an egg??? Weird! Most of our eggs are pinkish to brownish in color, sometimes with speckles, and one lays sky blue eggs - way cool! We've had a few double-yolks, which are much bigger eggs than single-yolks. It is so nice to never be out of eggs, to not have to buy them anymore, and a fresh omelet or scrambled egg sure tastes good in the morning. Chaye has a little basket and everyday she goes into the coop to collect the eggs - six eggs a day if they all cooperate. A couple weeks ago Chaye ruffled up the one rooster we have left and he came after her. Ryan was on the coop roof putting the rest of the shingles on and had to jump down to save her. Now she's afraid to collect eggs, but she'll get over it at some point. The hens all lay their eggs in one corner on the coop floor and use the boxes to sleep at night. We highly recommend "growing" your own fresh eggs!

All six hens take turns laying their daily egg in this corner.

We forgot to collect for a few days - 18 eggs today!

Sweet & Sour, Anyone?

I think chicks are, by far, the fastest-growing pets! I took off the cover to their crate the other day, just to check in on them, and they were practically flying. We've only had them three weeks. This is Ryan's favorite, "Chicken Hawk"---her eggs will be speckled like her. I just bought $7.00 worth of eggs again this morning..... can't wait until they're FREE and right there in my backyard!!!

Old McPender Had a Farm... E-I-E-I-O

Last week Ryan brought home 10 little friends to join our pet family of 5 cats, 1 turtle and 1 goldfish.
They are cute and cuddly, (except their feet are really ugly!) and really loud when they are hungry.

In six months they will start laying eggs, which is why we have them. Fresh eggs are the best! In six weeks they would be ready to eat. Ryan mentioned this to the kids and they were all so disgusted by the thought, they all adamantly proclaimed they will be fasting that day. The funny thing is that this conversation took place as we were sitting at the dinner table eating.... you guessed it, chicken! ("But it's different, Dad, this came from the store!") Tate was so upset by the thought, that Ryan has dismissed the idea.


They are in a big crate in the garage with a heat lamp for now. We have to build a chicken coop in the backyard within the next few weeks for when they are big enough to withstand the elements. They are so fun to watch! They literally bask in the heat of the lamp. They will run over to the light and stand in front of it and "sun" themselves, front and back, then run back over to the food. When they drink they dip their heads down to the water, then tilt their heads back (like gargling) so the water can run down. When they sleep they all cuddle up together like one big ball of fur in a corner. It's hard to name them because 5 are black and 4 are orange and they all look alike. We have one speckled one that stands out from the others, thus he has been named "Speck".

We have a tractor, now we have chickens... E-I-E-I-O.....