When we left off with our last chicken update, the ladies had just moved into their new chickshaw in early June. Since then, they’ve enjoyed pasturing with the geese, moving locations every week or so. But the really glorious advancement is that we are now getting eggs!
Can you tell I’m excited?
If you ask Bryon, he might tell you I’m a little egg obsessed. He might be right. Having taken notes on all six chicken breeds, I knew the Plymouth Barred Rock might start laying at 16 weeks. That happened to fall on June 28– my mom’s birthday and therefore easy to remember. Once that date got close, we put the nesting boxes into the chickshaw for the chickens to get used to them. Then lo and behold, on July 3, I found our very first egg in one of the milk crates. But rather than a light brown egg from the Barred Rock, there was a small white one, which could only have been laid by an overachieving Ancona. (That settled our doubts as to whether the Ancona birds might actually be roosters!)
After that, I started checking for eggs several times a day, keeping notes on important advancements:
Can you spot the eggs from July 27 and July 28?
July 11: the first light brown egg
July 14: a super soft egg collapsed on the floor of the chickshaw :(
July 19: a small blueish green egg
July 24: two brown eggs on the same day
July 27: a HUGE egg
July 28: a teeny tiny egg
My daily routine goes something like this: Wake up around 5:30. Feed KiKi the cat. Give the geese fresh water and grain, then let the chickens out of the chickshaw. Clean out the poop the chickens have been so generous in leaving. Give the chickens and geese fresh dandelions. Give food and water to the turkeys and rabbits. Water in garden as needed. After coffee, check for eggs, then do other chores. After lunch, check for eggs, then do other chores. Perhaps go back and check again, just to be safe.
I don’t remember being this preoccupied with eggs when we had our first flock of three hens in San Leandro. Though I was working a full-time office job with lots of extracurricular activities at that time. But I don’t think it’s just a matter of being home more. Maybe it’s because now we intend to sell eggs, which will help us chip away at the long list of equipment, tools, and supplies we need to buy. Maybe it’s because we are trying to be real farmers, and producing food for ourselves and others makes it more of a reality. Or maybe I just got a little quirkier the past couple years.
Not that I care about being weird. Every time I find an egg, I feel a little burst of joy and thank the ladies for their hard work. (Or I would imagine it’s hard work based on the noises coming from the chickshaw when the hens proclaim their delivery.) We especially appreciate their efforts when we consume the output, noting the marked difference in quality compared to regular grocery store eggs. If you’ve never had farm fresh eggs, do yourself a favor and find some, preferably direct from a farmer.
Merle, the ladies’ man
One other advancement is that we acquired a rooster a couple of months ago. Once some of the ladies began laying, Merle started giving them extra special attention on the regular. Since that means the eggs laid after mating will be fertilized, we hope to hatch some baby chicks in the next month or two. Bryon’s homemade incubator didn’t work with the goose egg, so we’re now on the hunt for a better option. Like, I said—a long list of things to purchase for the farm. And more chickens means more housing is needed.
So, back to work!