Eggs.......................when????????

All of the books/websites say 18-24 weeks. So, we should be having eggs any day now. I can't wait!

I am going to be such a proud mama.

I check their egg boxes eagerly every morning but no green, blue, brown, or pink goodies have been left for me yet.

The Ladies latest trick:

Somehow they have figured out how to fly up to roost on top of the fence of their run. I took some funny pictures of them up there last night I will have to post. Instead of putting themselves to bed in their cozy coop which I work so hard to keep well fluffed, well hay-ed, well pine shave-ed, well stocked w/ crumbles, dried corn, water, and whatever else their little bird heart's desire.......they decide to perch on a 1.5 inch wide metal bar that is 6 feet up in the air.

The funny thing is that if they just flew down the opposite side of the fence they could escape but they haven't seemed to figure that out......yet. These are dumb, yet crafty creatures.

So, if dark-thirty passes and I haven't remembered to go out and close the ladies in their coop I go out and see them all lined up in a row on the fence like pigeons on a telephone wire. Cute, but annoying. I was picking them each up individually and carrying them to the coop....but there were feathers flying and lots of frantic wing flapping and squawking so my latest technique has been to push them off of the fence from the other side with a broom. (How country is that?) These birds can hold on tight! Sometimes I have to push REALLY hard.

So, I have to confess that last night I was a really bad chicken mistress and I FORGOT to put the ladies to bed. I put myself to bed and at about 11:30pm I started awake and realized that the girls were outside....easy prey for raccoons, possums, the neighbors' big fat cat. So, off I trot to the coop in my green striped nightgown and orange crocs. There they were....all lined up in a row on the fence. Sitting ducks. However, this time they were all asleep. Chickens are really deep sleepers. That's part of the reason that they need to be put in a coop at night because they are completely defenseless when sleeping.....a raccoon could come to get them and they would never wake up in time to run away. So, I picked each lady up off of the fence and carried her to the coop.....they were so sweet and didn't even put up a fuss! It was like carrying a little sleeping baby to her crib. Some of them woke up but they just looked at me with their little beady bird eyes without even making a cluck.

All of the ladies made it to bed safely.

All is well.