Yippee!

It has finally happened; we have our first egg thanks to the wonderful, fantastic, super clever Miss Milligan. Now all she needs is to figure out what the nesting box is for :)

                                           Miss Milligan is checking out this strange thing.

                                                                        Yeap, I did that!

                  In case you can't find the egg, it's in the middle of the photo 

(not the orange to the left).

Ready and Waiting

I'm ready for the eggs. Now all I need are the chickens to cooperate.

Strange Happenings in the Hen House

I went to the clothesline then thought I'd just pop up and visit the chickens to say hello. And while I was there I peeked into the nesting box (I mean, you never know, our girls have to lay an egg eventually), and all of the wood shavings had been pushed to one side until the bottom of the box was showing.

I can't tell you how excited I was. I started sorting through the bunched up litter, then I thought, What if a snake has done this? Do snakes do that? So I still sorted through it, albeit carefully, and there was no egg, but I'm certain we're getting closer.

Maybe that's why Miss Milligan's been singing loudly lately. She's getting closer to being the proud mother of her first egg.

            It doesn't matter how carefully you look at it, little chook. It's still not an egg!

The Waiting Game

When will we get an egg? I'm beginning to think our chickens don't know how to lay one.

I've been saving egg cartons ever since we decided to get chickens and they are on the pantry shelf, stacked to the ceiling.

Maybe I'm being too nice to the hens. Maybe I shouldn't have said that I love them for just being them and that any eggs they decided to give us would be a bonus. Maybe I should talk tough to them. "Now listen up, chickens..."

I think I'll go and try that.

             I have found that saw dust in the nesting boxes works better than straw as it's easier to clean out.

Almost An Egg

Miss Milligan has been extremely vocal lately.

I open the back door and I hear "Bwaaaark, bwaaaark!"

I hang out the washing and I hear, "Bwaaaark, bwaaaark!" 

I go to sleep and  think I can hear "Bwaaaark, bwaaaark!"

While my father and I were shopping I became convinced that Miss Milligan had laid an egg. I was so sure of it that I think I convinced Dad too. In fact, Dad said he wasn't going to answer the phone next time it rang because he thought it would be me yelling, "I've got an egg!"

                                                     That's not an egg, it's an orange


But although I looked high and low all around the coop and garden I couldn't find an egg...but I'm certain we're getting closer.

Chicken Hints

This is what I've learned so far from keeping hens:

1. When building your coop, think like a fox and look high and low for ways they could enter.

2. Hold your hens occasionally and check them over for problems.

3. Some things are poisonous to hens, including potato, tomato leaves, rhubarb, avocado and chocolate (so you can enjoy that by yourself!). Peas and beans should be cooked first. *Please Note: this is not an extensive list and there are many more things that you should not feed your hens or let them reach through the wire from inside their garden.

4. Hens need to be able to escape to somewhere cool in the heat of the day. Ours like to get under the leaves of the bushes in their garden. They also need somewhere to shelter from the rain. Mine don't mind a few spits of rain, but if it's too heavy they will seek shelter.

5. Make sure they have a perch in their bedroom that they can perch on at night (even if they're like mine and chose not to use it). It's a personal chooky choice.

6. Be prepared to name them and enjoy their antics and different personalities.

7. Hens are wonderful little animals that give us eggs and manure and entertainment and don't ask for much in return.

8. Remember that for every chook we have in our backyard, that's one more little lady that we know has a good home and a good life.

                                                       A happy hen enjoying her life

Wait...Not the Compost Bin!

There's another step in our household now between the kitchen and the compost bins...the chickens. They're scrap mad.

                                                                  Hold the compost bin!