New Eggs, New Fence
...
Due to behavioral cues on their part, we've been expecting our hens to resuming laying. (They've been acting as if Robb and I are Sexy Roosters, presenting their rumps for our attentions. It's all very weird.) On Saturday, Harriet spent about an hour and a half clattering around inside the nest boxes, and after some confusion and distraction, laid us a lovely full-sized egg.
Harriet is a Black Cuckoo Marans, and is supposed to produce chocolate-colored eggs. In reality, she lays pale brown eggs, with a sort of powdery coating. Forgive the rotten cameraphone picture. We had that egg for brunch, shortly after it was laid. No "real" photos were taken.
So, now half of our hens are laying.
And all of our hens are getting into trouble.
Thank goodness we have excellent neighbors, who notice escaped chickens, and will shoo them back into our yard. Once our hens figured out the weaknesses of our backyard barricade system, it was time to speed up work on a proper fence.
And what a nice fence Robb built! Solid, without being oppressive. Our houses are very close together, and it is a challenge to not make the property feel like a fortress.
We're leaving the wood unpainted for the moment, because it is so very wet. When we bought the wood, we had no real place to store it, so we left it in my car overnight. The next morning, my windows were dripping with water -- on the insides. This was some soggy lumber!
We're still trying to figure out the best way to have chickens in our back yard, and still have a lawn. Those rascals eat grass at an alarming rate, and in this part of the country, this is prime grass growing season. We've been experimenting with parking the girls on the side yard inside of the modular "chicken tractor." But we have to admit that this looks pretty trashy. There was a mad scramble on Sunday, when chic guests starting arriving at our neighbors' home, and we scurried to evict the chicken fencing.
Ah, the joys of urban life!
(Curious what's going on in other folks' gardens? Mosey on over to Daphne's weekly garden round-up to see.)
Due to behavioral cues on their part, we've been expecting our hens to resuming laying. (They've been acting as if Robb and I are Sexy Roosters, presenting their rumps for our attentions. It's all very weird.) On Saturday, Harriet spent about an hour and a half clattering around inside the nest boxes, and after some confusion and distraction, laid us a lovely full-sized egg.
Harriet is a Black Cuckoo Marans, and is supposed to produce chocolate-colored eggs. In reality, she lays pale brown eggs, with a sort of powdery coating. Forgive the rotten cameraphone picture. We had that egg for brunch, shortly after it was laid. No "real" photos were taken.
So, now half of our hens are laying.
And all of our hens are getting into trouble.
Thank goodness we have excellent neighbors, who notice escaped chickens, and will shoo them back into our yard. Once our hens figured out the weaknesses of our backyard barricade system, it was time to speed up work on a proper fence.
And what a nice fence Robb built! Solid, without being oppressive. Our houses are very close together, and it is a challenge to not make the property feel like a fortress.
We're leaving the wood unpainted for the moment, because it is so very wet. When we bought the wood, we had no real place to store it, so we left it in my car overnight. The next morning, my windows were dripping with water -- on the insides. This was some soggy lumber!
We're still trying to figure out the best way to have chickens in our back yard, and still have a lawn. Those rascals eat grass at an alarming rate, and in this part of the country, this is prime grass growing season. We've been experimenting with parking the girls on the side yard inside of the modular "chicken tractor." But we have to admit that this looks pretty trashy. There was a mad scramble on Sunday, when chic guests starting arriving at our neighbors' home, and we scurried to evict the chicken fencing.
Ah, the joys of urban life!
(Curious what's going on in other folks' gardens? Mosey on over to Daphne's weekly garden round-up to see.)
Comments
I have decided to enjoy the joys of chickens through reading other people's blogs. Thanks for sharing the experience with me.
George and Heidi sent me -- (and Thelma and Maureen and the gals). Nice to meet other folks who are owned by their flock!
Lauren Scheuer