Eggs,Anyone?

All our encouraging words to our dear hens finally paid off :) I was in the house on Weds when Zach came running in and said breathlessly,"Daddy says to come outside and bring the camera."

I had a feeling that we finally had an egg or two. We had just been talking about how it was getting to be near time for the hens to start laying.I couldn't think of what else would cause The Man of The Place to beckon me outside with my camera.

He and Brother B were standing outside the coop,and I could tell by their expressions my feeling was right.

"Go into the coop,"Rick urged.

Zach and I opened the door,and, resting in the very first nesting box,sat this little guy:

Our first egg of the season! Naturally,it was on the small side. Somewhere in between a medium sized egg and a quail egg. It was very cute. Having had chickens in the past,we know that they will get bigger with time.

Zach picked it up,rinsed it off,and put it with our store bought eggs. Yesterday we got another egg. It has been pouring out this morning,so we have not been outside yet to check if we have more. Apparently the second one was laid sometime during the afternoon,because the coop was checked late yesterday morning,and there wasn't a second egg yet.

Once the laying is in full swing,we are going to start selling them. Here in NH,nighttime is starting to fall earlier ,so we are going to have to put a solar light into the coop soon.The shortest day of the year in Dec means it is dark by 4:30 in our neck of the woods. Chickens like 8-12 hours of light to lay,so we will help them along with some fake light.

I look forward to not having to put eggs on my grocery list. Good job,girls!!!