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.