Chickens Lay Eggs . . . Eventually

On Thursday, April 27, 2006, our chickens laid their first egg.  It was small and tinted slightly blue.  It was unceremoniously deposited on the ground in the chicken run, not in the tidy box set on the shelf.  The chicken apparently didn’t care where we thought the egg belonged.

My wife Brenda has infinitely more patience than me.  That’s not flattery, it’s just a fact.  I am not a patient man.  When she came home with 8 chicks, we had visions of free egg breakfasts evermore -- or, at least, until we subsequently had free chicken soup.

7 of the 8 grew into roosters.  One was just an exhausted hen.  I’m pretty sure that even the most patient person can’t get an egg out of a rooster.  But if it could be done via patience, Brenda would do it.  After several months of feeding and petting them, we got our first egg from them.  Based on the rooster-to-hen ratio, it is doubtlessly fertilized and unsuited to eat.

Speaking of eating,  A fox got the first rooster, and we were down to 7 chickens total.  Then, “Big Red” went for a visit to the dog kennel during the day, and then we had 6.  Since we have bird-dogs, the meat was fine.  So, technically, we still “have” Big Red, or at least the tastiest parts of him are in a ziplock bag in the freezer.  Then “Arby” decided to go for a walk in the yard.  Either a dog ate him, or he is still walking.  We’re not sure.  Either way, he’s not in the freezer; and that is a shame, because he looked juicy.  Two rooster crow incessantly.  I think we’ll deposit them in the freezer soon.  That leaves us with the one hen and two roosters.  I think we’ll need to re-stock on hens.

I’m glad I don’t have to wait for six months at the grocery store for eggs.  That’s how long the first egg took to appear in the chicken run.  I’m also glad my wife is patient.