There is something genuinely exciting about opening up a laying box and finding an egg for the first time. Pox was the first to start, and she likes to lay them around 1pm. The day after she started laying, she became a different hen!
Pox no longer approaches me to peck at my hands, but in hopes I’ll stroke her back. One morning, the 3 hens had made it all the way across the pasture next to our home. When Pox heard me come outside, she ran all the way back, found her way through the fence and hopped up on the white picket fence to settle down for some pets. I didn’t know that chickens could be so cute!
I believe only two of them are laying at the moment, and I’m finding 1-2 in the laying boxes per day. I’m not sure which one has joined Pox in the grownup world, I haven’t managed to catch her in the act!
The eggs are rich and the yolks are yellow-orange in color. The shells have been hard and the dogs and I have been thoroughly enjoying them! It is wonderful to have farm fresh, organic eggs produced right outside our door.
Good morning, Rachel. We have finally made the decision to get chickens and will pick up the chicks in about 6 weeks. I’m not worried about my dog, but could use some tips for training my neighbor’s dog, who spends about half her life with us. She is a darling handful and I have no doubt that she will need strong and immediate “instruction”. I’ve read articles and watched a few youtubes…lots of different methods. May I ask you to coach me a bit? How did you handle it with The Brothers?
Ps…I about died of homesickness this weekend, watching the AT&T!
Hi Mary Lee! Sorry I’ve been absent on my blog the past couple months! Both my dogs watched the chicks grow up in the house within their crate. So they eventually just got bored with them. Not sure what method that would be, but it worked well and they didn’t care much about them after awhile! They had seen chickens before, and responded well to me telling them not to chase them and once that “omgosh what are these fun things” rush wore off they stopped caring! 🙂
If you keep the fat side of the egg facing up, then it will stay fresh for longer because the air pocket in the egg is kept away from the yolk ?
I have actually heard you are supposed to rotate the egg! And I’ve learned that is a good idea if you are going to try to hard boil them, as if you keep them on one side the yolk really does end up far on the end.