October 4, 2010
Monday, 12:56pm
Goldie again announced she had laid an egg this morning – PRIOR to laying. When I walked out and asked her what was the matter, she kept squawking little mini-squawks at me as if she was answering me. It was the funniest thing.
I went out a little while ago and Ellie was in the box where Goldie had been, although she doesn’t really fit in it. I saw her moving the fake egg around and wondered if she was also sitting on Goldie’s egg, so I risked getting a peck to put my hand under her to see and pulled out Goldie’s egg. Her eggs have changed to a lighter shade of brown now, not sure why.
I pulled the chair inside the coop and sat there cradling Goldie’s perfectly shaped brown egg in my hand and waited on Ellie. Farrah, who is sort of a ditz, hopped up and tried to get into the box with Ellie, even though Ellie barely fit into it herself. I got up and gently guided Farrah into the large box across from Ellie. She stayed in there for a little while, but then hopped out and proceeded to lay down on the top of the large box next to Ellie’s small box, all the time making a little purring/clucking sound to Ellie as if lending moral support. Each time Ellie would stand to rearrange herself, Farrah would purr some more and stretch her neck to look at Ellie as if waiting for the egg to drop out. It was the strangest thing. Then Ellie stood up on the edge of the nest box and began reaching into the large box across from her and picking out wood shavings and tossing them over her right or left shoulder and even a big pile on her back. It was hysterical, it was as if she decided there were not enough wood shavings in her own box so she was going to pull them from the other box. Before it was over, she had moved to the large nest box which is where she had laid her first egg. They are all too much. Meanwhile, Hawkeye’s comb and wattles are getting bigger and redder and she has begun showing an interest in the boxes, going in and laying down for short periods of time, so I’m guessing she will lay before Farrah.
I was weeding the other day and noticed one of the watermelons that was not fully developed was on a brown vine, so I picked it and put it in the coop to break open later for the chickens. Needless to say, they couldn’t wait and the next time I went in the coop, they had pecked two neat holes through the rind and cleaned out the insides and were drinking the juice that was left. It looked like one of those fruit filled watermelons you see at parties with a handle on top.
Chanel is sleeping outside the coop again. I guess they peck at her so badly when she tries to go in that sometimes she just opts to sleep on top of the nesting boxes by herself instead. However, it’s getting cold at night and eventually she is going to need the shared warmth, so last night after dark, I went in and picked her up, amidst some muffled squawking, pushed the hens over on their perch and slid her in with minimum ruckus. Nobody looks worse for wear today. I guess we’ll see where she opts to sleep tonight.
2:15pm
I heard a loud squawking and thought, “Oh no, now what? Is something in the coop? A snake maybe?” I had already gone out and gotten Ellie’s egg which she almost laid out of the box, having switched once again back to the small box. I ran to the back door and went outside, it sounded like a strangled cat. Goldie and Ellie had already laid their eggs, Goldie had already announced her egg prior to laying it, so what was going on? There stood Ellie with Farrah, on top of the coop, squawking for all she was worth, I guess either a delayed announcement, “Hey everybody, I laid an egg too!!!” or she was announcing that Raven was now in the box getting ready to lay...lol I walked out and sure enough, Raven was huddled up in the lower right small box, her new “usual” place.
Lately, I have been peeking out the window to find Brian has ventured out to the chicken coop and is offering them some kitchen scraps, or digging up the dead grass on the floor so they can get to any bugs hiding underneath, or he is trying to pet the chickens. Farrah seems to like him which is a good thing because she’ll barely let me near her. The cutest thing was watching him lean over and check out all of the nesting boxes looking for an egg. He won’t admit it, but secretly, I think he hopes to find an egg. Each time I talk about finding an egg he makes a comment about how crazy I am over the chickens, but in his heart, I think he wants to find one too. I think next time when he will be at home during the day, I won’t collect the eggs so he can find them himself.
If Raven lays today as well, it will be our first THREE EGG DAY!..... That will be 8 eggs in four days. Brian’s Dad came over last night for chili and football and we sent him home with a half dozen of assorted colors and sizes. I gave my neighbor Bennie about 9 eggs the other day and he was bragging how many it took to make an omelet and how he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to because the shells were so hard to crack. It’s nice to see others enjoying the eggs as well.
2:50pm
Just collected Raven’s egg, still warm. Our first “three egg day” – a new milestone. Now, unless someone new lays their first egg today, we are done with gifts and surprises for the day....bummer. I feel like a kid in a new candy store. I must be going insane. Who gets this excited about their chickens laying eggs???
No comments:
Post a Comment