Saturday, August 18, 2007
An egg in the hand is worth a dozen in the carton!
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Today Lucy, our nearly 5-mo old Rhode Island Red (see the pictures of her with our grandson from Wordless Wednesday), laid her first egg. I knew something was going on when she didn't meet me at the front of the pen and quarrel to be let out. She was sitting in a corner of the sheltered portion. I went over to see what she was doing and saw that she had dug out a small depression in the dirt. She'd been letting us pet her the past few days and I thought I knew what that was about although I really wasn't expecting her to start laying before mid-September. The books and websites said it would happen when a hen is about 5-1/2 months old. The ground is fairly hard where she was setting (and I don't want her in the habit of laying eggs on the ground) so I got out a plastic bin I used for indoor seed starting and filled it with pine bedding. I placed it near where she had been. She almost immediately climbed in and began arranging the bedding to suit her. I watched in fascination for a while and then went to get my daughter and grandson. We sat watching and then decided to go in the house for breakfast. When I looked out the kitchen window Lucy was leaving the box and heading to where the rest of the chickens were eating. I walked back out to find this:   Of course I called for Heather and then carried Hunter out to see. It was a great time to talk about how God made Lucy so she could make eggs for us. I love real life teachable moments. The egg is about 2 inches long and I can tell from the feel that the shell isn't as hard as the cage-free eggs I buy at the market. But it is a perfect specimen. I am amazed at the beauty of God's creation.  After all the work of the morning, Lucy's back to acting like herself. I guess building the full-blown chicken house will have to take priority next week instead of next month.  >>>For those receiving this blog through email, follow this link to see the pictures: Morning Glory Farm(http://www.homesteadblogger.com/morninggloryfarm)
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Saturday, August 18, 2007 - Untitled Comment
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Posted by Saturday, August 18, 2007 - Untitled Comment
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Saturday, August 18, 2007 - That's so cool
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Posted by Monday, August 20, 2007 - Untitled Comment
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