First Cousin

The Ladies got a special visit this weekend. Their first cousin came to visit and spent a nice afternoon pointing at most anything that happened. At the moment, The Ladies' cousin knows only two types of animals: dog and not-dog. We hope this weekend visit will add another layer to her knowledge of animalia.

This second picture shows a good close up of all the cousins.

More Eggs... More Visitors!

We had a few more visitors stop by to check up on The Ladies. This first picture shows mom and two kids checking out both the eggs and The Ladies with Mother Hen. The Ladies don't like being held any more than they ever have, but you can corner one long enough to let visitors feel the softness of feathers or see the bigness of feet. Paul was kind enough to let our visitors have an up-close interaction.

This second picture is more common of what happens when trying to chase The Ladies. They tend to hide under some sort of cover, only coming out when offered a bit of scratch. That's also the way we coax them back into the coop.

Same old...

It's been over a month since we last posted any new information about The Ladies; The Ladies have been living large and holding up their end of this whole bargain.  We're now getting three or four eggs a day!  

John and Paul lay light brown eggs that are pretty much indistinguishable.  George and Ringo lay a light blue and a light green egg, but we're not sure which one lays which. If we catch one of them in the act, we'll be sure to let you know.

The pictures and videos we could be getting now are pretty much the same ones we've already posted.  The Ladies spend most of the day hanging out in the coop and then come out to peck around the yard during the last three or four hours of daylight.  Instead of trying to chase them home, we mostly just let wander back inside when it gets dark.  They are a lot of fun to watch.

First Scramble!

Last night we finally were able to partake in all that The Ladies have given us. We invited a couple friends over to the house and scrambled a baker's dozen of eggs (but with fourteen yolks, go figure).  This first picture shows The Rooster at the stove grating some cheddar cheese into the eggs. Just a little cheese and a little black pepper and we were ready to eat. Of course, we had to have bacon and biscuits.

This second picture shows what came out of the first egg (we think from Ringo). Imagine our surprise when we found two yolks! Every other egg after that was a bit anti-climactic. The yolks are a deep yellow and we've found a higher yolk to white ratio than what we've had before.

Finally, here's the table set with the eggs served on the plates. The best part of the whole experience is that in a week we can do it all again.

One Week=One Dozen

From this first picture, you can see the product of one week. We have a baker's dozen with the one still sitting in the nest, but the picture of a full carton is just so lovely. We've held off on eating until we had a full dozen, but I think there may be some omelets on the menu tonight! We'll post an update with pictures and reviews soon.

This second picture is The Rooster's attempt to catch one of the Ladies in the actual act of laying an egg. Here's Ringo sitting on the nest she's made out of the hay in the nesting box and looking like she really wants to be left alone. I guess you can't really blame her.

The movie below was taken at the same time as the picture and easily demonstrates that The Rooster was not the only one wanting to know how things were going. Mother Hen has been wanting to get a camera that captures sound along with video, but using the one we have now means The Rooster gets to add his own soundtrack. Enjoy!

Ovum Becomes Ove!

Apparently, one of the Australorps decided to get into the egg-laying business, meaning we now have two of the Ladies earning their keep. From the picture you can see the difference in color, the brown egg coming from an Australorp (e.g. John or Paul). We don't yet know if the difference in size is a breed characteristic or just to be expected with the first couple eggs; we're thinking the latter.

Labor Day!

One down... eleven to go.

In the United States, Labor Day represents a long weekend at the end of the summer and the last chance to wear seersucker for the season. However, Labor Day has taken on a much more ovular meaning. That's right... 

We have an egg!

Mother Hen and the Rooster travelled to Louisville to watch a friend swim/bike/run the Ironman (he finished!) and when we returned, there was a nice gift waiting in the nesting box. Here's a picture of Mother Hen pointing out the new find.

With one of the Ladies earning her keep, there's no telling when the other three will join in the fun. The nesting box has fresh hay and the Ladies are now eating Layer Food. Here's one more picture of Ringo, George, and Paul relaxing in the sun.