I never thought I'd be a chicken lady.
When we first moved here a coworker who had some chickens asked us to take one of her girls.
Tulip, a pretty White Brahma, had become the lowest of the pecking order.
A free chicken and some free eggs to boot? We have a coop all ready to go - Why not?
Then I read that chickens don't like to be alone.
So in preparation for the arrival of Tulip we went a purchased 3 pullets.
Red, a Rhode Island Red, Big Mama and Broomhilda (Hilde for short) - both Barred Rocks.
Tulip arrived and was integrated pretty quickly.
Ok. We put her right into the coop with the other three not having a clue.
Tulip held her own in the initial pecking order showdown and
We let the chickens free range the back yard.
They were very happy and found lots things to eat.
The dogs were not so sure. Our dogs are Cairn Terriers.
The chickens are close to the same size!
We were lucky.
The chickens pecked at the first dog that started to sniff at them, and that was that!
Now they are buddies. They lay around in the grass together.
Who would have guessed?
Getting the first egg from the girls was a thrill.
It started slowly and soon we had a guaranteed 3 to 4 eggs a day!
Not just any eggs.
AMAZING eggs.
Vibrantly colored and rich eggs.
My daughter was almost afraid to egg them they were so orange.
We did this side by side comparison with one of the first eggs.
I was hooked. My family was too.
I can't imagine eating store purchased eggs again.
Long story short the next spring (2014) we added 3 more chickens -
Bucky, a Buckeye and Bitty and Pip, Welsummers that lay dark brown eggs.
If you lost count, that is a total of seven curious and busy chickens.
Right now I'm getting between 4 to 6 eggs a day.
That's a lot of eggs...but aren't they pretty?
Thank fully my coworkers and friends have been nice enough to take
a dozen or two off our hands occasionally.
It certainly helps to keep the fridge from being overrun with full egg cartons!
I think I'll keep our girls. Because really it is all about the eggs.