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Photo Gallery ~ 4 Months
Now || 2017 || 2016 || 2015 (Click thumbnails for enlargements--Scroll to the bottom for first entry on this page) June 25, 2008 - The first dozen! Today marked a milestone--the first dozen eggs. 5 of the hens are laying--all 3 Black Australorps and the 2 Rhode Island Reds. These two breeds are the most egg prolific of the flock but the rest should be making their abilities known soon. The most recent deliveries are even getting up to size (see the bottom row in the carton below). We ate the first 10 eggs in an omelet--egg #4, the torpedo, had 2 yokes! The nest eggs (fake eggs) work perfectly. Every egg laid since #3 has been in the nests. Here are 2 of the working gals and their deliverables.
June 20, 2008 - A predator and 3 more eggs. This morning a coyote terrorized the chicks for a few minutes. He (or she) couldn't figure out how to get into the fenced yard and decided to move along to easier prey. Glad we have 6 foot high fencing to protect them by day and a secure coop by night. Our first egg was 5 days ago (see below). Since then two other hens (I don't know which ones) have also begun laying their tiny eggs. Today, I'm pretty sure the same Rhodie who laid the first egg delivered her second and very long egg. The Rhodie is putting her deposits in the nest box like a good girl. The other two have laid them on the floor of the coop in the pine shavings--I can live with this, but the nests would be better! Today I added plastic fake eggs to each nest box to help them figure it out. The feed store said I should put sand in each plastic egg to give it a little weight--otherwise the hens figure out it's not real.
June 15, 2008 - First egg--18 weeks. We had to hurry up and get the nests finished because one of the Rhode Island Reds was ready to deliver our first egg. Below are pictures of her in the nest before we were finished building. Then a picture of the completed nests with a tiny brown egg in the far left nest. And finally the egg compared with grocery store eggs. The eggs will get bigger as the girls get into the swing of laying.
June 1, 2008 - Food is pleasure. The girls line up by the gate every time I go out the back door. They are waiting for a handout and I usually oblige. Today it was some apple and the core. The last picture is two chick backs--the Australorp are so beautiful in the sun.
May 25 , 2008 - Life is still good. Almost 4 months old and the girls are beginning to get little wattles and combs. No more boys in the group--just 13 beautiful girls. The black chicks (Australorps) are really a beautiful shiny green now in the sun. The girls have a favorite place to rest--in the shade looking into the forest landscape--maybe they are really jungle fowl...! The photo on the far right below shows the two Wyandottes--one Columbian and one Silver Laced. The other white bird on the right is the one remaining Light Brahma. See Weeks 7-10 above for what happened to her brother.
Here are some boudoir photos of the Columbian Wyandotte grooming herself. She is a lovely girl in any pose!
Now || 2017 || 2016 || 2015 (Click thumbnails for enlargements--Scroll to the bottom for first entry on this page) |
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