Eggs!!

Over the weekend, our hens laid their very first egg! So exciting. I'm not sure which one did it...one of the Barred Rock hens for sure because it was brown and Americaunas lay blue-ish ones. It was teeny and tiny but perfect. I'm hoping the eggs get a bit bigger or I'll need a months worth for an omelet.

 The FIRST egg!

As many of you know our two hens, Minnie and Olivia, do not live with us. Our homeowner's association prevents us from having them here with us. So, they live about a mile down the road with a generous friend of mine where chickens are kept and welcomed. My friends are on vacation and so it my responsibility to care of the girls while they're away. I welcome the chore. I love talking to them and I always squat down and stay awhile so they're used to me. Anyhoo, it's has been raining like crazy lately and there's a leak in the coop roof. When I went to check on them yesterday, I had a coop full of wet hens and no eggs. Wet hens are angry hens and who wouldn't be? If I had to slog through the mud and endure drips on my feathers, I might spite you by withholding an egg or two.

I went to the feed store and bought a gargantuan bag of wood shavings to spread around and soak up the mud. I also purchased two nesting boxes so the girls would have a nice place to lay their eggs. Buying nesting boxes is really unnecessary. They can be made from a number of scrapped or recycled materials but I panicked. I'm a first time chicken owner with angry, soggy, just started laying birds I didn't have time to make something! I paid the $15.85 and was on my way. And my reward for my panicked impulse buy? An egg. Perfect. Dry. CLEAN. Just waiting for me today when I went to feed.

 Minnie checking out the new nesting boxes

Now that Minnie and Olivia are of "laying age," the desire to have them here on my property is overwhelming. I want my girls here, with me. I want my kids to become more familiar with where their food really comes from and for them to share in the responsibility of caring for the hens. It's a hard lesson to teach when your chickens live a mile away and we aren't really involved in the day to day care. I think I might just have to break the rules. Chickens are no louder and no smellier than that yapper dog who lives in the yard behind us. Yes. I think it's time to bring the girls home. HOA be damned! Stay tuned...