Mmmmm Zucchini!

Chickens LOVE zucchini!

One Hen is Being a Trickster

We must have a hen that didn't lay last year starting to lay this year. Either that, or we just have a very lazy hen!
Actually, according to mypetchicken.com:
Tiny, yolkless eggs are sometimes known as witch eggs or fairy eggs. Occasionally a hen will lay a fairy egg when something has disturbed her reproductive cycle. Sometimes a hen will lay a fairy egg or two just as she comes into laying, before her reproductive system has gotten into gear. They are sometimes lighter or darker than her regular eggs because they may spend more or less time in the "egg painting" area of her system, the shell gland. It is normally nothing to be concerned about. It simply means she didn't release a yolk before her body started producing an egg to enclose it. 

Giant Dawg, Chicken Whisperer

The Hens Got Their Coop Sign Hung Today

This is a craft grade bread board I bought from Michael's crafts. I painted a chicken on the front, eggs in the grass on the top with acrylic paints and used my Cuttlebug to cut out the letters and decoupaged them onto the board.  After a coat of exterior sealant made for wood, it was good to go!  So now the girls have their own sign above the egg hatch door of the chicken coop.

All Your Eggs in One Basket

My friend Christina got me this egg collecting basket for Christmas.  I love it as it is cute, looks good siting in the kitchen and serves a purpose!

Poor Hen!

Wowza! Wonder how many yolks are in this one? I don't think it's going to fit in the carton...

Eggs from our Chickens!

The chickens are starting to produce!  We got one first egg yesterday that Jason found in the pen.  Today there were two actually in the nesting box where they belong.  Looks like we'll have eggs out the wazoo here soon!

Lois Lane vs Chickens Stare Down

Lois Lane has been very interested in the chickens and they are curious about her as well.  She's getting good at keeping them off of the front porch though.

Chicken Training for Lois Lane

Jason started working with Lois today to train her to not chase or hurt the chickens.  She did really well for her first trip out.

The Chicken Coop

In mid-March we bought 10 two week old red pullet chicks so that we can soon have fresh, free-range, organic eggs and know the chickens they came from are very well taken care of and healthy.  We kept them in the garage for a few weeks, but once they started to try to fly we knew we had to get their chicken coop built quick!  A couple of weeks ago my dad came over to help Jason build the chickens a nice home.  We already had a 10 x 10 dog pen for their run area and built the coop on the outside of the pen to give the chickens the most running space we could.  ( All of this is also enclosed within a quarter acre 4 board horse fenced area with wire mesh - aka The Dog Yard. ) We based our plans from this coop and it turned out quite nicely!  I still need to paint it, but these photos will give a good idea of how it was built and how it turned out.  They seem to love it!  We open their hatch every morning and put them back up every evening around sun-down.  They pretty much put themselves back in the coop when we walk into the pen in the evenings, but sometimes we do have to capture a straggler or two.  I can't wait for farm fresh eggs!  Just a couple more months...