Today the Henny Penny's were out in the yard free ranging as usual. I check on them often throughout the day to make sure they are all there and I also bring them treats. I went outside today, and there were only 2 hens. Dixie was gone! I was so incredibly panicked. She comes running whenever I call out "Henny Penny's", but today she didn't. Only Jasmine and Daisy came. I walked around the enitre house to see if she was under a bush. Nothing. I looked in the tree line to see if I could see a splay of feathers which would indicate a predator had gotten her. No feathers. My mind was racing as I realized that we lost her to "something" and I would have to tell the girls the horrible news when they got home from school. I kept calling her name and there was still no Dixie. I opened the big door to the inside of the coop, and. . .
. . .there she was. Cooing at me as I stood and stared at her in total relief and on the verge of tears. I ran in to grab the camera because there was something very special about this. Listen here:
After I took the picture and video clip, I left her alone and put her sisters in the run. A little while later, I came back outside to see if she did indeed lay her very first egg. And. . .
Isn't it just beautiful??!!
Our precious Henny Penny's turned 28 weeks old today, and this is our very first egg. We couldn't be more overjoyed!
When I picked up the girlies from school, I told them what had happened, but I didn't tell them that she laid the egg. I told them that I didn't have time to go back and check and that they could do it when they got home. They were VERY excited to investigate.
What a wonderful first for us. We are all so happy!!
Stay tuned, because my next blog post is going to be about Disney!
That was a good size egg for her first one!!! It looked like there was another one in the other nest box/ covered a little with the straw. Congrat's! I remember how excited we were and we let our granddaughters find it also! Us chicken people are very strange!
ReplyDeleteThanks Wanda. Actually the one in the other box is a fake egg. It's been there for WEEKS! The box she laid her egg in had one in it as well, but I took it out for the photo. I was so happy that she actually went into the coop to lay that egg. I was hoping that she wouldn't randomly lay it somewhere in the yard. What a good girl! Hopefully her sisters will follow suit.
ReplyDeleteWhat a scare! Hooray and congrats!! Our first egg was frozen solid-in February-but we thought it was a priceless treasure :)
ReplyDeleteKelly, what a fun story! The drama! The suspense!! The.....EGG!
ReplyDeleteAnd the beautiful photos. Congratulations, Dixie!
wonderful video of the drama of a hen coming of age; I loved it
ReplyDeleteRebecca
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm glad ours was not frozen! Although I have heard that you can thaw out frozen eggs and eat them (as long as they are not cracked). Here's one of many links about it: http://smallfarm.about.com/od/chickens/a/What-To-Do-With-Frozen-Chicken-Eggs.htm. I'm certain we'll get our fair share of frozen eggs this winter. I know I'll be eating ours.
By the way. "Priceless Treasure". . .that is exactly how we felt about ours.❤
Elsa's mom-
ReplyDeleteThank you. It has been such an amazing journey raising these little babies, and what a joy to get that first egg. With the cost of the coop, feed, feeders, and the minimal cost of the chicks themselves, it turned out to be ONE HECK OF AN EXPENSIVE EGG!! But worth every penny.✿⍲◡⍲
Lauren-
ReplyDeleteI only hope I was able to convey all the feelings that swirled through all of us as everything played out with this very special event in our chicken adventure. I couldn't wait for you to know!! ◠‿◠
Hi Kelly...we "met" at blogstream about three or four years ago. I'm Rubble. I had always been so impressed with your photography! And WOW...I haven't seen your girls in like two years! They HAVE grown, especially your oldest daughter! WOW...she's probably taller than me! But at 5'2' that's easy for the average 10 or 11 year old to do these days (WHAT IS IN THE WATER! LOL!) So glad to find you again. I'll visit from time to time! What a cute, enchanting blog you have here! Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHi Michele!!
ReplyDeleteI remember you very well! I hopped over to see your old blog on blogstream, but see it's been deactivated. I am so happy you found me. I wish I had an email that I could contact you through. Please come visit me often. Tara has gotten tall! She is just shy of 5 feet. On my sidebar, there is a place where you can type in your email address, and I'll send you notification each time I put up a new post. Do you have a blog anywhere else? Thanks for stopping in Michele. I'm so happy you found me! ❤
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteIt's Keri, a chicken admirer from the other side of the state. You sent me a wonderfully informative email a while back which answered a lot of my questions. Thank you! I sent you a response, but haven't heard back. Either you have been really busy (us too!), or maybe it went to your junk box. Anyway, congrats on your first egg! Any more lately?
Best,
Kerimiddaugh(at)hotmail(dot)com
Hi Keri
ReplyDeleteI did get your email. And you are right that I have been so very busy. I'll be responding to it soon though. I signed up to follow your blog so I've been getting updates. I'm so glad you added that gadget. I'm getting one egg every day (sometimes every other day). Dixie is still the only one laying. I think the shorter days are delaying the other two. I don't add artificial light to lengthen their day. I'm sure that would probably make a difference if I did. I'll email you soon!