Hawk's first egg!

Hawk laid her first egg today and we were so surprised to see how big it is! In this photo, the light brown egg is from Doily, the darker brown egg is from Minerva and the giant white one is from Hawk. Remi and I went to check on the hens after school and dance class on this crazy rainy day because they were making such loud clucking noises. I think it was Hawk singing her "I laid an egg" song because her egg was hot when we got in.





















Here is the temporary rain cover on the coop today. The wind was blowing in the rain, so now the girls can stay dry.

Two Egg Layers, So Far...

"Minerva"














There are now two Holly Oak Hens laying eggs! The first hen, named Minerva, has been laying for 10 days now and has given us a total of 7 eggs. She's the friendliest of the flock and really enjoys being held. Minerva is one of our two Barred Rock chickens and overall, her coloring is lighter than the other Barred Rock (who doesn't have a name yet).


"Doily"

















Doily, who gets her name as tribute to her breed (a Silver-Laced Wyndotte) layed her first egg yesterday. And like Minerva, she chose to lay her egg in the homemade nest under the rolls of spare chicken wire in the side yard, rather than in the nicely constructed nesting boxes. Doily is our showiest hen who, until recently, we suspected might be a rooster. We know for certain she is a hen because Remi and watched the egg actually "plop" out yesterday!

















You can see in the picture that there is a remarkable difference in these two brown eggs. Doily's egg is lighter in color than Minerva's. And Minerva's egg is a little fatter than Doily's.





















Here is the nest that Minerva made, after cracking two eggs in the nesting box because she scratched out all the straw and wood shavings from the box. She found the perfect spot in the side yard under the leftover chicken wire. Doily must've paid attention because she explored the coop's nesting box, but chose to lay in Minerva's nest.

First egg and check out my rooster...

Here is our first egg! The nesting boxes got installed last weekend (thanks Dad!) and we set out plastic Easter eggs in the boxes to give the hens a clue as to what to do in there. The boys have been checking for eggs each day, yet we were shocked to find the little brown egg this afternoon. The egg is really small. In the pictures below, you can see Remi and Coby holding it in comparison to a store bought "large" chicken egg.





















Remi holding the first egg (left) and a store bought egg.




















Coby's showing the egg comparison.

















My mother made this rooster out of bottle caps (and twigs for the feet). It is awesome. No, she did not drink all that beer! Coby helped design the color scheme to match our Silver Laced Wyandotte named "Doily".














Here are the big hens at about 19 weeks old. Which one layed that egg?

Pecking Order

The birds have developed a pecking order now. The chicken at the top is one of the Buff Orpingtons (golden hen). Oddly, the chicken at the bottom is the other Buff Orpington. The way we can tell them apart is that the top bird has a thicker neck than the bottom bird. The lowest bird steps back and defers to let the top birds get their food first. Poor thing!



















The prime spot on the roosting bar is the left, where you'll find the top dog... I mean, the top bird! Every night, the top bird is in this spot. And a couple night ago, Coby and I watched her harass the Silver-Laced Wyandotte who was in her spot... until she got it.














A blog post to come is how to get a chicken permit in Palo Alto...

Broadening Diet

Remi is feeding the chickens some "scratch" (cracked corn and wheat).














The birds are enjoying their salad. Coby thought it was really funny to see their green avocado beaks!

Each day, the chickens spend most of their time free-ranging around the back yard. They really enjoy it, but now we cannot walk around barefoot out there anymore for fear of stepping in chicken poop.

I have increased the variety of foods the chickens get because one hen got pecked on its head and foot by another (or others?) and it actually bled. Giving them leafy greens that take a long time to eat helps reduce boredom and is also healthy.

These chickens are about half-way to egg-laying maturity! They are either 9 or 10 weeks old now and should start laying eggs around 20 weeks.

Free (Range) at last!

The girls have gone outside for two afternoons now and they sure enjoy it! They peck in the ground for bugs and at leaves to eat. They stay together as a group and if one gets separated, she makes a big fuss as she flies back to the rest of the flock. So far, they are rather easy to round-up back into the coop. But now that they know they can get out of the coop, every time someone enters, they want to escape-- especially the Buff Orpingtons (golden ones). Can you find all 6 in this photo? One is pretty hidden, but they are all there.


And below, I'm talking on the phone while holding both Barred Rocks (Coby took the photo).

Goodnight, girls.

I went in to take a picture of all the girls sleeping. It is funny how some face "out" of the coop and some face "in." The preferred spot really seems to be that corner.




















Livia (neighbor) loves to visit the chickens!