Shortbus Racing

So, chicken update!  My ladies were hatched on March 1, and I bought them around May 10.  This past Sunday, on July 19, one of them started laying - I noticed a single little egg nestled in the grass under the coop.  Thus alerted, I checked inside, and found a second one in a little nest of pine shavings!  So that puts them at around 20 weeks which the internet does confirm is right around when they should start.  I’m not sure if it’s one or two of them laying at this point - the eggs are tan, which would indicate Abigail (the Delaware) but Darlene was very interesting in rearranging the nest and sitting in it contentedly looking as broody as possible.  There were a second and third eggs on Mon/Tues.  An egg a day, while possible, seems a high output for a brand new layer? But what would I know.  I won’t really be able to tell for certain until I come home and find 2 eggs at once, that are definitely different colors, but I expect Darlene’s to be noticably darker brown.  Peggy Sue, a very silly bird, isn’t laying yet but no surprise there.  She’s sort of slow in general!  Much smaller than the other two (though that could be entirely breed-related) but she definitely doesn’t get her fair share of treats due to being shy and/or flighty all the time.

Apparently chickens don’t really have a set laying time.  Could be early in the morning, or midmorning, or afternoon!  Generally not at night. Monday they were making a huge fuss around 7am - this is possibly the OMG I JUST LAID AN EGG I FUCKING RUUUUUULE song?  I understand they do this.  They are unbelievably loud!!  I thought as long as I had no roosters that noise ordinance violations would be no big deal, but it turns out they are embarrasingly squawky.  No complaints yet, but … I’ll bribe neighbors with eggs once I have a supply chain going.

Speaking of neighbors - on Friday there was an escape plot!  The 2 brave ones squeezed out a hole in the fence into the front yard while Peggy Sue cried.  I got a knock on the door (fortunately it was my day off) and a lady I did not recognize told me they had escaped and that she knew they were mine because she had seen them in my yard. I was like !!!! Oh my!  They were in the front yard browsing on the, apparently, greener grass.  A friend helped me herd them into a corner, where attempts to catch them were ultimatley futile, but eventually they went back through their hole.

They are a ton of fun to talk to and interact with.  Very noisy and demanding!  They love getting treats - corn has proven to be a very special and awesome one.  I got a new 3GS recently, and realizing I hadn’t taken any video with it, I shot a quick clip of them nomming on some corm on the cob.  It was as easy as a thought to upload it to youtube after that

So that’s life on the farm.  Coming home is a trip, there are generally either chickens or aspen looking out through the viewing window in the fence when my car pulls up.  All I have to do is say Chiiiickeeeennnns!!! and they come running (funniest sight ever) and clamoring for treats.  They love vegetable scraps from cooking, and any and all fruits including pineapple this morning.  Tomatoes are a huge favorite.  Aspen prances around with the excitement and they flutter and scatter and regroup.  It’s hilarious!