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Wednesday 4 May 2011

Eggsactly what we wanted

Our Chickens have been off the lay for well over a month. I actually had to buy a dozen eggs about 10 days ago!!! I thought maybe they were sick or it was due to the heat then the cage began filling up with loose feathers... they had started to moult.

Finally over the Easter weekend Itchy began laying again. Yay fresh home grown eggs again! We write the date on the top of the eggs we collect each day and record the weight and where it was laid... I guess we're new at this so I'm not sure if we will find this information useful later on down the track but if we conclude that we 'should have' kept the data but didn't do it... well that would be no good.

The one from Friday has a little extra inscription on it...



As I wrote the date on today's egg it slipped from my hands and landed on the floor... the carpeted lounge room floor! Lucky we paid a bit extra for super thick and springy carpet underlay, the egg did a little bounce at my feet and when I picked it up it was still perfect. Lucky!!!

Only the Isa Browns have laid so far, we are still waiting on the Andalusians and the Araucanas to get going.
Andie, our big Andalusian, should be the next to start to lay - at least she is who my money is on. She has been sick with Chicken Pox... yes I know I couldn't believe it either... I thought it was just something humans got. Actually it is called 'fowl pox', so it isn't really what human get, but looks disgusting because the comb (red bit on top of head) and wattles (red bits under beak) get huge gnarled, warty growths on them. So awful to look at but luckily none of the other chooks got it. Anyway I am sure that Andie will be the next to lay now she is getting better and I am hoping for nice big white eggs - if her ear patches are anything to go by. Lucia is still small but will probably lay after Andie. I think that the two Araucanas will lay last and of the two I think Toto will lay after Vegemite.


Our other Isa Brown, pictured above, is having a big moult at the moment. Scratchy appears half plucked and looks like she wants a scarf for her little bare neck.

I've really learned a lot about chickens in the last 4 months since we got them. I really have more respect for the humble egg and the little feathered ladies that produce them.

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