Get Eggcited

Mathemachicken

Math was always a good subject for me in school. Why? Because there's always a definitive answer to any math problem presented. The answer to a math question can be found, and that was always attractive to me. Yet now, not so much in the farm world. I can post in my blog "I have 39 chickens" but really, I don't - and don't necessarily even know it. I do a chicken count at least once a week so you would think one would know how many chickens they have. But no, chicken math does not work like that. Hawk, minus one. Miscounted one day, plus one, an egg hatched, plus one, a horrible chicken accident happens, minus one. And this never stops. I said I had 39 chickens recently, but upon further counting, I was down one experimental chicken farm girl AND a horrible accidental chicken drowning happened in the horses water trough (I'm still not over that one, as we lost Frizzle and there was no one else like her. Still crying). I always think I can keep up with the chicken math, but I've been proven wrong over and over. It's tricky you see, as it remains the same for awhile, to lure you into thinking everything is stable. Then, BAM a loss here and another loss there. I won't drone about about the down side of the chicken world, and instead will focus on the additions and positive things going on in our chicken world.  A stable chicken population is like finding a cure for dad jokes. It just doesn't seem possible.

Eat, Pray, Lay

Quite a few months back, we acquired 8 silkies from Craigslist. Yes, one of the roosters received, we ended up giving away which left us one rooster and 6 silkie hens. Post Malone is our only rooster on the property, and his ladies are sweet, small and docile. There was one day recently we came home and one silkie hen was gone. Just gone - likely from a hawk. Disappeared altogether. So this left us with Post and 5 silkie hens. Now, the eggs they lay are being fertilized, right? Post does not "play" with the other big girl chickens on the property, only his silkie ladies. After all, those other hens are bigger than him, but despite that, there's more of them and they are bossy, so he sticks to his own tribe.
The silkie ladies are laying eggs and sitting on them. We let that happen, and would you believe, a egg hatched and a baby chicken came out. After almost 5 years of having chickens, this was our first chick born on the property (thank you, Post). So you ask, what about the other eggs they are laying on? Good question. We have two of the Dorothy's who are sitting on eggs and awaiting to see if any more hatch. Then, one day, we witnessed a dog that looks like a skunk (Maybe) did a sneaky sneak thing and went and stole one of those precious eggs from underneath a Dorothy (on the ground in their coup is where they lay and sit) and proceeded to eat it. We were shocked to say the least. Disgusted and saddened at the thought that our own little Maybe was really a monster after all. And likely had been taking the sisters and brothers of this little chick who somehow has survived, and now may be an orphan chick.
On a positive note (this blog is really starting out morbid), we moved the two mamas sitting on eggs and a chick (yes, they sit on the chick to keep it warm) into the top portion of the coop to keep them safe from the skunk dog known as Maybe (because skunks will eat your chickens and eggs AND Maybe looks similar to a skunk, bless her heart).

Two silkie mamas, Baby Rainy and random egg that got moved around
while stationed in the top part of their coop (temporarily)

This is when we put them in the top portion of the coop, realizing it's just too small for all of them and what they need. We did fence the silkies area (again, because we like to move temporary fencing) and now everyone is safe and able to commence with their activities of egg laying, sitting and possibly more hatching of the eggs they are sitting on.

Asking for a friend

So there's this "friend" who has a dog who steals and eats chicken eggs, who is trying to figure out how to save the one chick she has left, and is trying to figure out how best to handle this situation. I advised her to go to the Feed Store, and buy another small chick, to put with the small chick she already has, and raise them inside the house, together (because chickens are flock animals). Chick + Chick + inside the house = Success.
Uh, no.
I did go buy a new-to-us chick (from the Feed Store as recommended by myself, I mean, my friend) for our very one-and-only chick we have, and did indeed place them in a cage inside the house with a heat lamp - and what did they do? Cry for mama. Cry and cry and cry - and mama is here, outside in her coop. What have I done?! Now I have an extra purchased chick (Brown Leghorn breed, by the way who lays big white eggs and is actually a smaller chicken, too). But what I SHOULD have done was bring mama, chick, other mama and all the eggs inside, right?
And that's what I finally ended up doing. I put them in my shower (in my bathroom) with shavings, food and water - and one of the Barn Cams so I can watch my own real life Nova show going on in my bathroom. They settled down, after being moved around numerous times recently, and the two mamas are now sitting on TWO chicks (one theirs, one not), along with about 8 eggs that we candled (used flashlight in a dark room) to verify that there is growth in the egg (dead or alive is not something I could tell though).
**Side note: Silkies are known for taking in other chickens eggs and chicks to raise them as their own.
So now this new Leghorn chick is accepted into their world and is kept warm under the silkie mamas just like their own baby chick is. It's all very sweet, actually. Just the journey of getting to this point all seems so silly. But that's how I roll. I'll keep you posted on any further hatchings.....but I'm not thinking it's going to happen due to many circumstances that have occurred along this journey. Only time will tell now.

Why might the eggs not hatch? Because they don't always
seem to be sitting on them and move around often.
What do I know though?

Silkies back in lockdown

Look at Little Rainy eating, while the mamas lay on the
eggs and other chick, in the shower area

Rainy (silkie chick) and Flower (bigger chick) are on the left looking at
each other. Are you my sister? 

Just when the silkies had handed over their orange jumpsuits and embraced their freedom, they are fenced again due to circumstances beyond their control......Maybe. Yet, I will say one more thing about isolating these silkies is: their eggs cannot be sold with the Chicken Farm eggs due to the fact they are fertilized. And the experimental chicken farm is moving towards new ventures and opportunities, of which the silkie eggs will not be a part of. Likely, we will raise silkie chickens (not for their eggs) due to their ability to lay their clutch, go broody and sit on them with a vengeance. That's another story, and is not yet written. Plus, we are learning how to go about all that business. It's new. I've got bigger fish to fry right now.


Super Power

It goes without saying that being able to poop breakfast is a super power. And we have a group of ladies who are doing just that. So much, that we cannot keep up with all the eggs and what to do with them. Drum roll please.........so lets start this egg selling venture. First up, I need egg cartons. Lots of them.

The local feed store is supplying me with cartons,
and putting up my janky Eggs For Sale
sign in their window

Up around town

And so it begins. David was kind enough to move the refrigerator that was in the garage, outside the garage for public access.

It's really not as crocked as it looks
or is it

Ignore the Topo Chico in there, too
Actually, I put a sign up that says,
Drinks $1.00, just in case

I will use this fridge as my Egg 101 start up.

Then, David made me this (honesty) money/cash box for people to come by, drop their money off and grab their eggs - esp when we are not here. That's what happens out here. For example, when I was crossing the U.S. on foot, I came across this sort of thing often on country roads. Sheds, tents and unattended produce, along with refrigerators full of fresh eggs and garden veggies/fruits - all for sale with a box whereby you placed your money in. Usually, there were explicit instructions on what to do, how much things were and the reminder that this is all Honest Based shopping. You pay, you take. I remember thinking, "Who does that?" and I did make multiple purchases on the side of the road for peaches and other fruit, leaving my money in the box. Once, a random shed out in the middle of nowhere had homemade whoopie pies in their fridge, and you can bet I bought one of those, too. I never would have dreamed that I, too, would have one of these side road gigs one day. #lifeisgoodandweird

Money/cash box, with a light weight lock,
as someone could unscrew the screws easier

Whether this venture is short lived, moderately successful or just for fun, I love it that here on this earth, where we are merely a speck not even seen from outer space - that I can be free to do this sort of thing. The only thing stopping me now, would be a visit from the city about some sort of ordinance issue. I probably should check on that sort of thing. Moving on.....

Egg Cluckection

So what about collecting all these eggs. For cluck sake, it takes an expedition to gather all the eggs in all the places around here. Here's the locations I check daily: Belle Tower, Big Girl Coop, Kitty Climber, Hay stored in Tack Room (sometimes find a surprise egg there), and now - a new place to check:

The Cat Corner in the Tack Room is a
now-popular resort for egg layers.
Sorry, Blackie, she'll be out soon

The cat's cozy sleeping boxes (which have warmers placed in each of them) are being used by the chickens for egg laying areas. Just one more place to check for eggs! Blackie occupies the blue cubby behind him, and the chickens are using the grey one as their new BnB for eggs. This is up on a shelf, close to the ceiling in the Tack Room (barn), and is commonly occupied by the barn cats. It's now the Cat and Egg Corner, for sure.
You could maybe consider the hunt for eggs each day like Easter. I take my pink Easter egg basket with me, frocking around like a little fairy in my white lace dress, with white ribbon flowing and fake metallic grass peeking out of the basket, and go around gathering the eggs. Record scratch.......uh no, it's not like that. I've got my egg box marching around to 5 different places around the property looking for eggs and wishing they are all centralized. You've created this yourself, Cyndi. No one to blame, my dear, but you.
The extra fun part is when I find the hens laying in a brand new spot, and there's 15 eggs that have been there for who-knows how long. Then, they all follow suit. I can hear them.....'this looks good, nice find! let's lay eggs here for awhile until we see somewhere better, then we'll abandon this spot and go to another', and so on and so on and so on.

Keeping it rural

It's now time to go and make my fair share of signs, menus and remaining tweaks needed to guide people here, and move them through the process of purchasing their eggs - mainly on their own. Since we are gone a fair amount of time, I will give this Honest Policy selling of eggs a chance. I'm not convinced that my Chicken and Egg Farm will develop down this road, and may eventually need to sell the eggs only when I'm here or at a Farmer's Market. But, I've got to start somewhere, and since this is a start-up business, there will be many more changes to come. Change is what happens here all the time, and as you may remember, my business plan for this whole egg selling thing was to take it day to day. First step? Start. Next step? Who knows.

Eggciting things are happening,

Cyndi