Christmas Outing!

The girls enjoyed some time out of the coop today... and we had family around for the holidays to be able to enjoy them. 

Enjoying time out of the pens

We even had a chance for our family to hang out with them. 

Josiah pets Martha, who hopped up on the pen right on cue.

Ben ventures forth to pet Martha.  He was concerned she would peck.
None of the girls peck at people, unless they think you have food.

Chasing around the yard.... They don't like the dreaded white towel.

Donna, Amelia and Rosie around our fire pit.

What's a nesting box?

This view shows part of our coop.  The nesting box sticks out on the right side.

This is what it looks like when it is opened.  This was what I saw this afternoon.

Open the little door for inside ... and surprise!

Yep, three beautiful eggs there this afternoon

Why use a nesting box?  :)

Simple Update

So, after laying for about 3 weeks, we have received 55 eggs! We average 3 or 4 eggs each day. 

Since it was nice out, and not too cold, I had the girls out in there little 'play pen.'  They are so big!

Donna, Amelia, Rosie, and Martha.

4-Egg Day

Today we got eggs from all four of our hens!  Of course, Amelia, our most inquisitive bird, has to tap all of them with her beak.  I am pretty sure she checked out the one she laid ... so diligently that she cracked it!

Amelia's egg -- she is overly curious.

Aren't they beautiful!  We got our first 'medium' egg on 12/9/2012.
45 eggs retrieved to date!

Beautiful Eggs!!

The girls have been getting the hang of this egg-laying thing.
To date, they have given 4 eggs.  I am sure there is a way to tell who is laying, but right now we do not know.

In the nesting box, we have placed practice golf balls (it is what we had available).
They don't seem to care.  :)

Beautiful yellow yolks! 
All our eggs are 'small' size so far.
Under 1.75 oz.

We Have An Egg!!!

Well, I thought we might have eggs by Thanksgiving, and Patty was sure they were never going to lay... but Black Friday was not so 'black' as our chickens produced their first egg!  Hooray!!

Our first egg!!  Perfect!

Yes, that would be next to a tablespoon for comparison.

Our egg on the left - 1.5 ozs. categorizes it as small.
Large egg from the grocery store on the right for comparison.

Out in the Garden

To give their legs a stretch, and still keep them safe... we set up the portable pen in our garden over the weekend.  They loved it!  Plus it gave us the chance to update some photos... the girls are getting so big!

Rosie, our newest, is fitting right in now, and is the same size as the others (maybe even a bit bigger than Amelia):

Patty with Rosie

Cindy with Rosie... she loves being held.

Rosie

All four... As you can see, getting a bit more challenging to tell
Rosie and Amela apart.

Donna

Martha even let us hold her today.

Martha

Friends of Our Fine Feathers

I do not believe that we have shared with you some of our other critters.  All seem to get along really well with the chickens (at least the ones who interact with them).

This is Louie.  He is our indoor/outdoor cat.  The neighborhood cat
who found our laps.  He actually does not pay any attention
to the chickens.

Patty with Louie

This is Maggie (full name, Steel Magnolia).  She lives in the bunny
hutch next to the chicken coop.  She is a cross between the rabbits
breed of Chincilla and Giant Angora.  One big girl!!

When we got her, several years ago, her ears were the length
of her body.

Patty with the best dog ever, Oliver!  He is our 8-year-old
pound puppy, a Lab-Chow mix.  He only pays attention to
the chickens if we are paying attention to them rather than him.

Princess Mia! 'nuf said.
(our indoor cat - no chicken interaction)

Superstorm Sandy

The video below shows some of the wind we experienced during the daylight hours of Hurricane Sandy, October 29, 2012. Our willow trees in the back yard display the velocity well.

 Good thing the wind was coming the direction is was... the decorative artwork left on the opposite side:

And the girls are fine....

Leaving you with an image from our backyard...

Preparing for Storm

Great example of how the three older, original hens are a bit more
comfortable together.

Since we are scheduled to get three days straight of rain - thanks to Hurricane Sandy - we decided them give the birds on last chance to be out in the yard.

Ok, who knocked over the feeder?

Evidently, getting out of the coop meant it was time to groom and clean.

Highlight Martha

Martha is so lovely.  She is a beautiful bird.
She will most likely be one of our largest hens.

Enjoying being up high as well... Martha is not going to let Rosie
be the only one to hang on a perch.

 Always the queen of the yard...

(this video shows a typical interaction between the birds)

You can see her size and beauty in this photo.

Highlight Rosie

Aren't they beautiful girls?! (Rosie and Donna)
Getting so big.

Rosie continues to adjust to her new home and the other hens.  She remains low-bird in the pecking order, but she is growing in size and the others associate with her regularly.  She continues to enjoy being up high whenever she can.

Rosie is ever the high-flyer.

Rosie remains the most docile of the hens.

Winterizing

Since we had one night of predicted frost, I decided to put some plastic around the base of the coop (the run portion).  It does not go all the way around... they like being able to look out.  I also added a lamp.  It is not a heat lamp, but it is set on a timer to come on in the morning to extend the 'daylight' hours for the birds.

Our 3-year-old neighbor, Brooklyn, stand next to the coop.
You can see the plastic around the bottom, and the lamp just behind her.
(The birds are already up in the top, nestled in for the night.)