Chicken Surprise

For those of you who KNOW about Rose and Lily, our egg laying hens, you might be wondering if they have become soup yet. Some history is needed here for those who DON'T know.

Way back when, Mr. Wonderful decided to surprise me with bringing home 2 laying hens. For the following 2 years, Rose (as in thorny, nasty, ill tempered) and Lily (as in calm, hen pecked, submissive beyond belief) have been our egg layers. Rose is well known for her aggressive badassed attitude. She is pushy and dominant. Poor Lily allowed herself to be railroaded more than once, but they worked out a system. Rose told Lily what to do, and Lily did it. Cool. They are both  'elder' ladies, and they tend to go 'broody'. Much like teenagers when they crawl into their bedrooms, lock the doors, and hunker down. Those hens would stop laying eggs, and 'hunker down' about twice a year. For us that meant, NO EGGS. So sorry, but once I got used to free range extra large eggs, that hunker down period did not go well with me.

Whatdoyoumeanyoudon'tfeellikelayingeggs???????

I can't say that I was very patient. Mr. W. started having talks with the ladies that the situation was like this. Lay eggs, OR become soup.
Yes, yes, I know. That sounds very drastic.

We got some new-baby-soon-to-be-hen chicks this summer. The breed is guaranteed NOT to go broody and to lay eggs, like, constantly. Our kind of girls. So, then the problem became what to do with Rose and Lily? I have to admit that the thought of turning them into soup or chicken fricasse did not sit well with me. After all, they had been our egg suppliers for two years, and we LOVE their eggs. Even though Mr. W. could talk tough at times and threaten the dreaded SOUP word, neither one of us really wanted to go that route.

Well, relax! A fab solution has been found. Mr. W. put an add on Craig's List for free 'mature' egg laying hens for FREE! You want 'em, come get 'em! A Lovely Lady with a farm down south of us (who apparently loves chickens even more than we do), got in touch. She wanted them! On day 1, she was able to catch and take Lily. On arrival at her new home, Lily was shunned by the other hens, BUT the rooster and she took up residence together on an isolated roost in the barn (much to the delight of the hens already there who would have nothing to do with the guy). On Day 2, Lovely Lady was able to catch Rose, and she reports that Rosey took up her aggressive ways immediately with other hens, and has found herself pecked and isolated on a roost in the corner of the barn, solo. Ah me. Call it 'chicken karma'. What you give out eventually comes back to bite you in the butt. She is now known as Rosey the Riveter!

So, no soup for us. But there is better news. Our four newbies have been growing now for five plus months. WHERE ARE THE EGGS???? Today, as I walked out and about, I saw only three. OMG. The last time one was missing, it had been taken by a hawk. OMG. One hen not here. Wait a minute! Perhaps, ....... could it be?????........ maybe........ could she maybe be...... LAYING AN EGG??????? I rushed to the indoor coop, and to my excitement and delight, there was one of those newbie hens with an EGG plopped down underneath her! YAHOOOO! The laying has begun! Now, the dumb chicken didn't know to go into the beautifully arranged nesting box we provided. NOOOOOOOOOOOO, no. She just dumped that egg as if she were taking a sh--. But, Mr. W. assures me that she will figure this out.

Simple pleasures right here in my backyard. One of our hens lays her first egg! Life does not get better than this!