More eggs

We reached the tipping point this weekend. We had more eggs than we knew what to do with. Our 10 hens laid 9 eggs on both Friday and Saturday. The Dominques and Light Brahma each laid one for 5 brown eggs. One of the Araucana didn’t lay. We don’t know who, and she’s not telling. Probably it was not the same one on both days in any case.  I gave a dozen eggs to a friend who came to visit on Saturday and delivered another dozen to  a different friend this morning. We only had 4 eggs today. Sunday is a day of rest. Just as well. We are so not ready for 9 eggs a day forever.

When I checked on the chickens yesterday, all three nesting boxes were full. I would have loved a picture, but I didn’t have my camera.  I did get a picture of Jennifer today. The girls are so cute when they put their head out of the nest box when I open the back door.

Jennifer looks out of the back of the nest box

 

Araucana eggs in the nest box

 

Last Sunday, we did a small fire. Terry had some old lumber and a couple of dead trees to get rid of. Pat and Nancy came out to help. Jane and her mom came for a little while. Jane brought cider and cider doughnuts, which were much appreciated.  The afternoon started out cold, but we shed layers as the fire got going. Certainly it was nothing compared to the fires of old when we were clearing dead trees out of the wetland. Still, it was a fun afternoon.

The start of the fire

It has to be cold if Pat puts her hood up

By this time, we had all taken off at least one layer.

The last thing we burned was the pallet that came with the post hole digger Terry bought for the tractor

Before we started the fire, Pat and Nancy helped us move the chicken fence and position a windbreak in front of the coop door. The girls didn’t know what to do at first. They seemed confused by their new space. By the time we came up from the burn, they had moved out to the border between the new and old territory.

The girls stand at the border between the old boundary and the new, edging cautiously to the green grass.

 As the week went by, they discovered the raised beds one by one. We wanted them to be able to dig in the raised bed. It’s good for the bed and good for the chickens. They have worked on the beds from east to west, beginning with the rose/petunia bed and then the sweet grass. Today they started in on the parsley. By spring, the beds should be weed-free, tilled, and fertilized, all without us doing a thing. 

Nigella scratches in the rose bed

Ina in the sweet grass.

Also, the girls like to sun themselves on the new windbreak. Chickens are so fun!

Happy chickens on the new windbreak