Our first egg!

Imagine our surprise when we went out to open the chicken coop this morning and inside we found our very first egg!  Luckily B & O were done with breakfast, so I let them come with me to feed the goats and let out the chickens before heading off to school.  We fed Dallas & Dixie, opened up the chicken door, then I opened up the nest boxes to see if they had left them alone (they've been scratching all the straw out of the boxes lately).  Well, what do I see inside- in a nest box right where it's supposed to be?  An egg!  Right next to the golf balls.  "Golf balls?" Yep.  Chickens want to lay their eggs where they think they will be safe, so putting fake eggs (wooden ones you can buy at craft stores or feed stores) or even golf balls will help the chickens think others have laid eggs there, so it must be a safe spot.  Most chickens are followers- they trust other chickens and will do what they do.  If one pecks at something, the others will as well.  So, my little golf ball trick worked, and in the nest box were 2 golf balls and the very first egg.  B & O were so excited!  They each got to show the egg to their classes as I dropped them off and they were so proud!  We think it was the work of Trixie, a Barred Rock hen, since she is the oldest at 22 weeks (and the others are about 18 & 19 weeks) so we all gave her a little pat and said thank you.  Now we'll look forward to collecting eggs every day!

Here it is next to a grocery store XL egg for comparison...

Their first eggs tend to be small, and can vary a little in size as they lay more.  This one is pretty good size, though!

Here she is, Trixie, who we assume laid our first egg!

Have you met Charlie?

I just realized that I had not introduced Charlie to everyone!  How could I forget?  He was our first family addition after we moved in to this house.  He is our sweet boy, who plays a little too rough, but we all love him.  He's still a baby and still learning how to behave, but he is a wonderful addition and he would do anything to protect us.  He patrols the backyard every evening and loves to cuddle.  He just turned 1 this September and is still not sure what is a chew toy and what is mommy's shoe... but we're getting there.  ; )  We're thinking about the possibility of getting him a friend (of the canine variety) in the next few months or so...

This is Charlie when we first adopted him from the shelter, he was about 8 months old.

 

 He loves that when we're camping he gets to sleep with the girls.

 Then he tries it at home...  : )

 Here he is recently, just before his 1st birthday!