cluck, cluck, cluck...

Good Morning!

Today we woke up to snow.  My boys love the snow, but I just see lots of mud in my future.  In the mornings I have my routine of making coffee, feeding my kids and watching cartoons.  Now that we have chickens, I have to go out in the morning to get them fresh water and give them some scratch (corn and grains).  Well, today was an exciting day because I went in the hen house and to my surprise there was one egg sitting on a nest.  I couldn't believe it.  I have been waiting for two weeks for this moment.  It was still warm, so which ever one of my hens laid it, she just did it this morning.  I ran in the house and showed my boys...they were so excited too.  Finally, we are going to start getting our own farm fresh eggs.  SO COOL!

Hens are funny in that they all have personalities, just like you would find in a pet dog or cat.  Okay, they aren't as smart, but they still have a personality.  Each group of hens has what they call a pecking order, so it didn't take long to figure out which one was the leader.  Sabrina is without a doubt #1 in the pecking order.  She gets the "treats" first each time and pecks at the others who try to join in too quickly.  She is a talker.  As soon as I start walking over to them, she has to share her thoughts with me.  I still am not sure what she is trying to tell me, but I am assuming it is pretty important stuff because she has to let me know how it is while I am visiting them.  Hens for the most part are scaredy cats, for lack of a better term.  But, Sabrina is definitely not.  When I go into their house to clean it or give them new food, she stands their chatting away, never flinching no matter what I do.  So, which hen laid the first egg I do not know.  But, I can say I am so proud of my little group of chickens and look forward to finding more and more eggs every day!