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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

On Chickens and Eggs and Spring and Such!

Well, things seem to have calmed down in the henhouse to some extent.  But I will say that the "old girls" are giving the "new girls" a run for their money.  For the most part, they are living amicably and not upsetting our neighbors very much.  Now remember, we are urban homesteaders and our house is right up close to our neighbors on either side.  So when I heard those hens yelling their heads off at 5:45 am Monday morning, it was not at all awesome!

But again, for the most part they are getting along.  I heard the screaming this morning (much after 5:45, thank goodness) and ran out to find the two older girls pecking and harassing one of the new girls trying to settle in to lay an egg.  Well bless her heart if she didn't lay the daintiest egg I ever saw.  Not surprising for such a youngster, but very much appreciated!  And darned if she didn't come out of the henhouse to loudly proclaim her achievement!!!  Big Steve witnessed and recounted it - just wish I had my camera for that dear moment!!!


Can you see the dear tiny thing there, amongst the other more grown up hen eggs?  Well, it's not as tiny as it looks.  To give some perspective, this is how our older girls' eggs stack up in an extra large egg carton:

That's right, they're even too big for an "extra large" carton.  So that dear "tiny" egg in our estimation is probably a grade medium at least.

Chickens are so easy and cheap to keep (once your dear husband builds you a sweet coop).  And they're real characters!  They have very docile personalities (at least our Red Star hens do) and they're friendly and amusing and great for comic relief.  And bottom line - they provide a ton of really healthy, organic protein and all kinds of other nutrients to pay for their feed.  I don't know why everyone doesn't keep a small backyard flock of chickens!!!

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