October 9, 2011

Thanks Wishingbee for the kick in the pants to get back here to post.  However, I can't say much is going on in the garden.  It is fall of course, and the summer heat killed all my tomatoes such that I only got a handful of each variety to use.  The good news is that our salads have been marvelous.  We've got lettuce (only Italienshier grew for me this fall, but it's good), spinach, and tomatoes.  If only I'd grown cukes this year, I'd have a perfect salad.  Oh, and I never have timed my salads right with my radishes, they've all gone to seed.  Shame, I do love a good radish.

Anyway, the girls are going strong, giving us 2-4 eggs a day, such that I gave a dozen to my folks and brother, since his chickens for some reason haven't started laying yet.  It's odd since they're the same breeds bought from the same store on the same day.  Very odd indeed.  Of course 5 days after I gave away two dozen eggs I had another dozen to use.  They're delicous but defnitely "large" variety eggs, unlike the extra large we get in the store.  Haven't had an opportunity to bake with them yet, but I'm a bit worried about a recipe calling for 1 extra large egg.  That we don't have. 

I've seen extra large eggs from so-called "Production Reds" that are a cross between production Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds.  According to my wife, they're not very cute, but who knows.  Something to consider next time.  I do like our birds though. They're cute, a bit loud, and friendly.  About the only thing they don't do is use the roost.  Oh well, no biggie.

So, I hope you all have an "EGGstremely" good weekend!

August 25, 2011

It's been five months since I got chickens, so they're five months plus a few days old.  They're definitely hens now, about as full grown as I expect them to get.  They've got combs and waddles like you'd expect from hens.  We had everything we expected, except eggs.  I've been looking daily for a while now, with no luck.  I haven't been concerned as my chickens are much bigger than my brothers (for some unknown reason). Let's just say I've been anxious.

So I guess I wasn't completely surprised, though very elated when I found this while I was putting the chickens away for the evening.

Our first egg!

As you can see by the quarter next to it, it's about 2/3 the size of a regular egg, or about the size of a bantum egg.  Not at all bad for a first attempt, if I may say so.  The shell's a bit rubbery feeling but otherwise it looks like a perfectly good egg.  Not one of those partially formed mishappen eggs you read about.  Maybe it's the fact that I switched to layer feed a few weeks ago, or maybe it's the 8 plus hours of foraging they get to do every day.  Whatever it is, I'm proud of my girls!

And here's the last picture I'll bore you with.  I love how different the egg looks as I rolled it in my palm.

Yay!