Hello friends!! Gosh, it's been a while since I rapped at you, but the fall has been a busy time for me and the fam. My sister got married in September (woot!) and that kept me from blogging for a while. But don't get the wrong idea! I was not neglecting my chicken duties. I was still taking pictures and being as insane as ever, knowing I would eventually get back to posting. SOOOOOO the last time I blogged it was regarding the chickens actually laying eggs. It was thrilling, I'm telling you. Since then we've had, er, some issues. The chickens, as you know, are basically feral. They sleep in a tree, won't go near the coop except for food and water, and generally live outdoors 24/7. They are great foragers and were loving the arrangement, and I was too because I never had to clean poop except off the porch area. Downside: we couldn't find any of their eggs. They were laying them in a secret place that was so effectively secret we couldn't find one single laying spot out of five!! Until one day, I got lucky. I caught sight of something out of place in my herb garden one day as I was hauling a giant Amazon box full of diapers in from the front porch. See anything strange in this photo?
It's Sunshine!! And she was laying EGGS! GAH!
She was so cute sitting there in her little mulch nest, just clucking and cooing and laying away. I wanted to lay down on my basil plant and use Sunshine as a pillow.
A while later, after she was done, she got up and left and we found this cache of eggs. It was SO exciting. Sooo...
My sister and I did this for a while. My neighbors saw us and now think I'm even more insane than they did before, when they'd see me meandering around the yard in my bathrobe with a chicken tucked under one arm and a loopy look of contentment on my face. But I didn't care!! I was in egg heaven. Heaven, I say!!
Things went downhill after that. Sunshine picked a different spot to lay. I think she was mad that we took her eggs (ridiculous) and we didn't have luck finding any of the other four hens' laying spots. Our yard is about an acre, and one quarter of it is forested with scrubby trees and brush. I figured they were laying somewhere in there. So I locked them up in the coop to try to get them used to laying in there instead.
But I felt too guilty making them miss out on what was left of the summer so I let them out after one day. They were giving me the pathetic chicken eyes. I'm a sucker for a pathetic chicken. So out they went into the wilderness again to forage, and I was once again left with five chickens and zero eggs on a daily basis.
One day recently I got determined to find their eggs if I had to comb every inch of our property. I put on my outdoorsy attire (shorts, t-shirt, and rubber ankle boots. very practical. Ok I'm not outdoorsy!) and headed into the deep, dark, bramble filled, scary forest with my oldest girl to assist me (she wore a dress).
This is what we were up against. Daunting? Definitely. Haunted? Maybe. Filled with eggs? Apparently NOT.
At one point, when we were getting pretty tired, bedraggled, and thirsty we caught sight of the house and almost gave up. "There are popsicles in there!," I thought to myself. "And water! And beers! And wafers which are 'nilla flavored!" But Evelyn and I trudged onward (for a few more minutes).
And in the end, this is what we had to show for it. ONE dirty brown egg of unknown age and origin. It was in the dirt near the house, and had rolled into a crevice.
I also had dirty, scratched up legs to show for it. It's the first time, but not likely the last time, I cursed the chickens in my mind. But I love them still!!
Vivian was there too, but she hung back and blew bubbles the whole time. I'm not going to lie. I was frustrated. BUT I knew that once the cold fall weather arrived they'd be pecking at the bit (see what I did there?) to get into the winter coop and cozy down in the dry hay and have their meals brought to them like the Queen Mother herself. And that is exactly what happened. They are now in the coop and they are happy and I am happy and getting eggs every day. Everyone wins!!
Until next time, chickadees.
XOXO (cluck)
CL (chicken lady)
