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| Two on Friday |
On Friday morning, I woke up at 6:30 a.m., well before my alarm went off! Long time blog readers know that I tend to stay up till the wee hours of the morning and sleep in, but, apparently, having chickens is making me want to wake up early! Anyway, I went out and let the chickens out of the coop into the bigger enclosure. I checked the coop, but didn't see any eggs. But, that was fine; we had read that chickens will not always lay an egg a day, sometimes, they might lay every other day.
However, daughter and I went out to check on them and give them fresh water and food around 10:00 a.m. when daughter had a break, and we found Henny Penny sitting in the nest box! We were surprised because, earlier, neither hen wanted to go inside the enclosed part of the coop itself and quickly left it even when daughter put them inside. They seemed to prefer the open area under the coop and the small run area, which is where I found the very first egg on Wednesday. But, apparently, Henny Penny had found the nest box and was sitting there while Niwatori was walking around making some cackling noises.
Daughter went to clean the coop during her lunch break and when she came back, she called to me to come and see what she found. Not one, but TWO eggs in the nest box! We had read that chickens will usually lay only one egg per day, but not two eggs at a time. So, we are wondering if Niwatori had also laid an egg in the nest box either before or after Henny Penny did!
We were so excited to find two eggs! We offered one to gardener friend M who was here in the evening to tend to the garden and to help daughter with some further coop reinforcements, but, he thanked us and declined the offer because he had just purchased a dozen eggs earlier that day. He did say that he will accept an egg later on.
Once again, I took a picture of the two eggs with a store bought egg (size large) for comparison:
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| Friday's Eggs in Comparison with Store Bought Egg |
Our okra plants didn't do well at all, this year (it got too hot after we planted them) and only two tiny okra pods formed on them. We gave the okra pods to the chickens (after checking if they were okay for the chickens to eat) and they loved them!
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| Saturday's Eggs! |
- The hens are laying
- M's help with the garden and the chicken coop
-The joy of backyard chickens
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| Niwatori and Henny Penny |
This is all very exciting. Our neighbors behind us have chickens. They used to occasionally give us eggs, but they have expanded their family to 8 and I don't they have many extras these days. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, June; yes, we are finding it all very exciting! We hadn't expected them to lay at once and are very pleased that they are doing so. Sounds like your neighbors need all the eggs their chickens are producing. :)
DeleteIt certainly seems that Niwatori and Henny Penny are happily adjusting to their new home. Five eggs already!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. We are thrilled that they are laying already and five eggs in about as many days is nothing to sneeze at, is it? They both allowed me to pet them this morning, when I went to let them out of the inner coop and give them fresh food. :)
DeleteI love chickens, dear friend. Niwatori and Henny Penny are beautiful and look very happy 😊
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. Glad to hear you love chickens as I will probably be posting about them nearly daily! :D
DeleteChickens! I am so excited for you and to hear about journey with them. There doesn't seem to be a size difference between the store bought eggs. I bet your eggs taste much better too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, hannah jane. Yes, their eggs seem to be comparable to the grade A large eggs I tend to buy from the store. I am quite pleased with their size. So far, we've only eaten the first egg and we didn't notice a taste difference (we did a little experiment), but, that might change later on.
DeleteFresh eggs are really tasty. There is someone at husband's work who has chickens and sells some eggs. You can certainly tell the difference between them and store bought ones.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter did an experiment the other day, cooking the first egg we got from the hens and a store bought egg, separately, but, we really couldn't tell a difference in the taste! Maybe the newer eggs might taste different.
DeleteThat's fantastic! You'll be self-sufficient in no time. Xx
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great? We had two more eggs, yesterday! We've had an egg recall, recently, so, it's good to know we have a source for homegrown eggs.
DeleteYou're obviously looking after the hens brilliantly to get so many eggs straight away.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa; we are averaging just over an egg a day!
DeleteThey have settled in well. In time you might get to know which eggs come from which hen. G knows them all well enough to match them. She says that the yolk and shell shades can vary even for a single hen. Are you still getting up earlier- and if so, going to bed at a decent time? You'll save so much electricity if it sticks!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lady Ella. They seem to have settled in nicely. We are learning to tell which egg is from which hen! The brown eggs are from Henny Penny; Niwatori lays the pale tan ones.
DeleteYes, I've taken on the early morning care; my alarm is set for 8:00 a.m., but, I've woken up at 7:00 a.m., before the alarm, and tended to them. I am trying to get to bed earlier; it's a work in progress! :D