Two hens a laying!

Cissy's first egg on the left, Bella's 31st on the right.

Chickens don't like cold and wet, and since it might get a bit colder again tonight, I wanted to make sure the coop was clean and dry. After emptying the poo tray in the compost I put some fresh bedding in the nest and went in for a cup of tea. What I didn't realise was that I had left the coop door shut. When I looked outside I saw both of the chickens by the dustbath, realised my blunder and went out to open the coop door. I had a quick look in the run and spotted something in the dustbath. It was a little brown egg!

I had already collected Bella's egg in the morning and poor Cissy must have been desperate to try to get in the nest, then given up and settled for the second best option. I can't believe both of my little chooks are laying. There will definitely be some egg boxes going in the Christmas hampers now!

And just when my mother was beginning to suspect that we might have been sold a cockerel!

Textbook chickens?

There were plenty of signs of Bella coming into lay, which made her a textbook chicken. Cissy, on the other hand, seemed completely clueless to this whole egg laying malarky.

In the last week or two, however, we've started to see some changes in our little hen. First her wattles and comb got a bit bigger (I would say their combs and wattles are the same size now, although Cissy's are still a bit paler). Then, I finally managed to catch her attention and get her to come when called (rattling the corn jar does the trick), which she never had the confidence to do before, unless Bella did it first. For a few days she has been getting more comfortable with me, letting me give her a quick stroke as she goes past and today she even crouched for me.

I was sure Cissy wouldn't lay her first egg until next year, but we might get a Christmas surprise after all!

Our first egg!

I noticed that Bella had been in the nest for quite some time this morning, but then totally forgot about it, as I was way too busy playing with my new toy, making some fruit leathers. Later on, I went to take the chooks some afternoon treats and decided to check the nest. I found a nice surprise, our first small but perfectly formed egg!

I thought Bella's eggs would be a bit lighter in colour (and would expect Cissy to lay darker speckled eggs), but this must be Bella's. I've been noticing all the tell-tale signs and more importantly, what to me must be clear proof is the bald patch that has suddenly appeared on her head. I've decided that the baldness must be egg related and there are two possible explanations. Either this egg laying business is really stressful and makes your head feathers literally fall off or the slightly more immature Blondie has been pecking Bella when she's been crouching, hard at work as if to say 'What are you doing lying there, come and play with me outside!'. I would put my money on the latter as Cissy is known to have a sharp beak and she's not afraid to use it!

Well done Bella!

Crouching Bella

I went to give the girls their afternoon snack and as I was putting the bowl in the run, Bella crouched and stayed down so that I could stroke her back. She's done this twice now and it's a very good sign (along with the before mentioned reddening head gear) that she might lay her first egg soon. I could see that she wasn't sure what was happening, she just found herself instinctively crouching and couldn't help but stay down until I pulled my hand away.

I think Cissy is slowly maturing as well, I'm sure her tiny comb and wattles look a little bit pinker every day. Still, I wouldn't expect an egg any time soon, as it seems these things can take a bit of time. Quite frankly, I'm not really bothered if the chooks are a bit younger than I originally thought or if it takes them a bit longer to lay. I'm just enjoying having them and happy to finally experience all these things first hand.

The girls will have an early night tonight. I will be following the advice of some more experienced chicken keepers and locking them in the coop a bit earlier, well before the fireworks start. That way the chooks will be sleeping and totally unaware of what's going on, I hope. I might still worry a bit.

Testing the nest

I think Bella might be getting close to laying. Her face is getting redder (and not just because she's splattered tomato on her beak) and she's got some wattles (small ones, but wattles nevertheless). The comb doesn't seem to be growing or getting any redder, but she does like going in the coop and testing the nest every now and again, only to be followed and kicked out by Cissy who hasn't got the faintest idea what's going on.

Whatever happens, I doubt this pale lady will beat Bella to it!