The First Egg

This spring we decided to raise chickens. Why you might ask? I'm not sure. I really HATE eggs, never touch the things, except to add them to cake. Maybe its because we have these four beautiful acres. Maybe its because all of our neighbors have horses, cows, ponies, etc., and chickens seemed more manageable. Maybe its because when my kids visited their cousins they thought that the chickens were cool and we must have them. Or maybe its just because they come in the spring to all the local feed stores, nurseries, and other outdoor stores and they are too cute to resist.

We started with five cute little chickens. I built a hutch and Jason built a pen. The kids fed and watered them faithfully. They held them, chased them, and named them. Then the neighbor's dogs attacked. We lost two chickens. We were down to three and each child had their own. It seemed a little risky, because if we lost one chicken we would have one sad kid on our hands. So Jason fortified the fence and I promised the kids a couple more chickens. By this time early summer was upon us. Those same stores that had hundreds of little chickens were all sold out and said no more till next spring. I went to the feed store as a last ditch effort to keep my promise and keep the tears at bay. They were sold out, but the store owner knew me and my bank account well. She said her husband had a few at the house he might part with. She called him at home,he said to come to the house. She gave us the address, I loaded the kids in the van and we drove over. He had five cute little chickens. The problem was that he didn't want to split them up. They tell me this after I showed them to the kids. I came home with five more chickens.

During our trip to Europe. There was much tragedy. We lost one of the original chickens (Known as the big ones. They are Araucana and the little ones are bannies, maybe Bantams?) My mother-in-law witnessed the neighbor dogs in action. One crazy phone call for this. Next the call was that one of the little ones was killed. It happened to be the one and only rooster. We were supposed to only get hens and I don't know what we would have done with him when he got bigger, but that is no longer an issue. He was unique, very colorful, and much loved. Another crazy phone call. Now we are home. Jason had done more improvements to the pen and we now have a trap outside the area. It is a humane one that has already trapped our curious dog(third crazy phone call). So far all is well.

The most excitement came today when the kids found this egg when they went to feed and water the birds. It is the prettiest green with little brown spots. I had a hard time getting a good picture. But here it is and it is probably more than anyone ever wanted to know about our chicken tales.