Welsummer egg

The Welsummer laid her first egg today! It's the dark brown one.

I now have 4 chickens all using the same nesting box, which means that I need to pick up some fake eggs and try to lure them into the other 2 boxes, or I'm likely to end up with lots of cracked eggs.

Farm name

I've finally decided what to call my tiny farmlet:

Little Spaniels Farm

 

In honor of the dogs that live here, amongst my fruits, vegetables, and chickens!

Egg and chicken update

The three older hens are finally earning their keep - for three days in a row, I've found three eggs in the nesting boxes!!

Also of note is that the three egg layers will now frequently drop into the "mate me" pose if I approach quickly and lean over them. I admit that I have been taking this opportunity to enjoy petting their soft feathers. It also makes it much easier to catch them if one errant hen refuses to go into the coop with the others.

All of the hens have been getting friendlier. The Black Australorp now approaches the door before I even enter the run, and the rest of the girls follow. I think the flighty Cream Brabanter rooster had been a bad influence on them before.

RIP cream brabanter

The cream brabanter rooster spent only 20 days at the farm before a fox or coyote ate him. That's a disappointing ending to his story.

Eggs!!

My girls finally laid their first eggs today! I found this perfectly shaped, small brown egg this morning.

I checked again at bedtime and was surprised to find a second! This hen had shoved all the straw in the nest box to one side and crushed the egg onto the wood. The shell broke but surprisingly the membrane is still intact.

I'm waiting for one more egg and then it's time for an omelet!

Crochet scarf and fox cowl

I made this sea green City Neckwarmer scarf out of bulky alpaca yarn. As expected, it's soft and warm!

I adore this Fox Cowl! Can't wait to wear it all winter long.

Stay of execution

My housemate took the cream brabanter rooster to her farm property. There is one other rooster there but no hens, and they have plenty of space, so they should get along. He left yesterday. He crowed a handful of times during the drive, but otherwise the move was easy and he's settling in quickly.

Last meal with his girls.

He'll be handsome when he's full grown!

Bye bye, little guy.

The caretaker of the farm property has named him Ringo.