The Egg Diaries

[theophila]

One of my girls just graduated from pullet to hen today! A somewhat small egg, with a tiny blood smear, poor girl, but I'm so proud of her!

This is Pepper, my silver-laced Wyandotte and the mama (well, not really mama) of that egg!

 

[sourland]

Well done, Pepper.

 

[ThePRfan]

OOH!We could do something called first alyers,end layerS!The laying diarieS!Lol sorry soudns stupid.But anyway congrats.

 

[theophila]

Bittersweet morning. I let the girls out to find Penny (my gold-laced Wyandotte) missing. After calling and searching for her, I found her lethargic and sleeping in the nest box. She seized and died not long after - not sure what happened, as she showed no signs of being ill yesterday. And then India (one of my two bantams - pictured with her egg) laid her first egg today - the little smudge of blood is from her efforts. The second picture includes Pepper, for comparison of size.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Bittersweet morning. I let the girls out to find Penny (my gold-laced Wyandotte) missing. After calling and searching for her, I found her lethargic and sleeping in the nest box. She seized and died not long after - not sure what happened, as she showed no signs of being ill yesterday. And then India (one of my two bantams - pictured with her egg) laid her first egg today - the little smudge of blood is from her efforts. The second picture includes Pepper, for comparison of size.

I'm so sorry about your hen, Penny. Chickens can sometimes hide illness quite well.

 

[theophila]

I had been wondering why Pepper no longer seemed to be laying. Sienna had started laying, but only intermittently, but Pepper seemed to be in good health, with a bright red comb, and her vent and behaviour showed all the signs of being in lay.

Earlier today I heard her squawking but saw that she was just being her usual (obnoxiously) loud self, fluttering down the hill in our backyard for no apparent purpose. But when I went out to check on and feed them (and pull lately-broody India out of the nest box so she'll remember to eat), Pepper was not around. I got really worried when Pepper didn't come. Especially when I saw a hawk land near the top of one of my tall pines. It had come around a few days before, but we shooed it off. After closing in the two banties (India and Sienna), I went in search of Pepper. Finally, in a corner of my patio, on the other side of the concrete brick wall from the yard, I heard some soft clucking. Some digging and separation of the leaves later, I found that Pepper had made a new little nest. I shooed her out and closed her in the run until the hawk leaves, and then crawled under. I found a LARGE clutch of eggs that she had been sitting on! Of course, now I'm covered in sticks, sap, and pollen from that weedy bush that she was nesting under!


Pepper's hidden nest and clutch of eggs.


Sienna's tiny egg.


Broody India.

Shortly after this, while I was taking this photo of India through the "window" at the side of the coop, I saw Sienna stand on the floor of the coop, examining the nest box on the far left, debate a bit, then hop in and trot around for a bit. Finally, she settled down and carefully tucked the two ceramic eggs under her body. She's so cute.

I know I should have favourites, but Sienna has to be my favourite. She's adorable with her tiny bantam size and feathered "boots," doesn't like to be picked up, but cutely follows me around everywhere and comes RUNNING or FLYING whenever I call. She's the most easygoing of the bunch. Even India is a pretty easygoing broody. When I pull her out of the box twice a day and close her out, she gets a bit grumpy, but eventually gets up and starts eating and scratching like the rest of them, drinks water, poops, and spends a good 20 minutes ranging outside before going back to her nest.

Pepper is the one that has been loud, obnoxious, stubborn, and kicks the fake eggs out of the nest boxes in an effort to find a crack to get out of the coop when I close her in.