Saw my 2 hens lay eggs and other stuff from this morning...

I had just witnessed my 2 girls laying eggs while I was cleaning up the coop and nest boxes this morning.  Contrary to the popular belief, the shell was already hard (not soft) and wet while it was coming out of the vent (chicken's anus).  Just before the egg was about to be laid, the hen stuck her butt up and as soon as I saw a light brown tip of the egg, I placed my hand under her butt and caught the egg.  And guess what, as the egg was being laid, the hen made a soft sound almost like a silent fart.  Okay you're probably thinking I have too much time on my hands. J Just coincidence I was inside the coop cleaning the nest boxes.  These 2 hens have been sitting in the nest boxes for a while.  Too bad I didn’t have my camera (obviously).  I was busy with the chores and the gloves in my hands were covered with chicken poo.  What a joy to witness this in real life though.  It makes all the work worth it.  I was ready to complain this morning and started talking to myself “There’s gotta be a better way to make a living than this.”  But to witness 2 hens lay eggs is worth it.  I can cross that out in my bucket list.

When I took the egg immediately after it dropped in my hands, this hen didn't look too happy because I stole her egg.  She's very broody and she was looking for her egg to sit on.

 

Here's the other hen I saw lay her egg this morning.  She didn't care I took it right away.  As soon as she's done laying she went and eat.  That's the hanging feeder.  Those young hens in the background are supposed to use the nest boxes only for laying but they keep using it for sleeping.  I don't know how to stop them from doing that.

It takes about 2 hours in the morning (except if I have to take pictures and blog about it like right now) and about an hour in evening to finish all the chicken chores.  I have nailed all the steps -- from checking and replacing the feeds and water as needed, replacing soiled straw on the floor of the coop, replacing the wood shavings inside the separate 2 small rooster coops.  I prefer wood shavings in the nest boxes than straw because it is much easier to clean.  Nest boxes have to be cleaned daily to keep the eggs clean.

Below are a few random pictures of the chicken and the coop taken just this morning. 

Isn't she so adorable?  She has a lot of character and lays tinted white/greenish egg and a prolific layer.  She can be bitey if you get too close to her.

 

The nest boxes with the hens and rooster (upper right corner) hanging out. We meant to add more roosts but it will make it more difficult to go in and clean the nest boxes on a daily basis.  That one black hen on the roost is missing its tails due to the dog-attack over a month ago.  I released her from the cage today and let her mingle with the rest.



Just released the hen without tail and the other black chicken (and to my disappointment it turned out to be a rooster).  You can tell by the long tail.  These are 2 of the survivors of the dog attack over a month ago.  I still keep an eye on them because the rest of the flock picks on them.

 

Very beautiful birds and extremely timid.



The hanging feeder.

 

This is how it is hung from the ceiling.

 

View from inside the main coop.

 

Those are 2 small rooster coops.  The two roosters in the smaller coop remains caged.  I feel bad for them but everytime I free-range them, they don't come back.  Those two roosters outside the run on the left side are allowed to free-range because they come back at night.

 

Huge rooster guarding the coop.  He's allowed with the hens as he's not as vicious as the others.



I've already fed them but they still want to steal the rooster feeds.

 

Very unique colour.  Pure white tail with reddish brown body.

 



The 'twin' roosters.

Up close.



Tree pose.

I'm cuter than him.



And I can fluff my mane.



On a different note, Sweaty cat (used to be Sweety until we discovered he is male) really thinks he is a chicken.  One of the roosters, was breeding him and he did not even care – just let the rooster do it.  I had to interrupt the whole thing.  Just doesn’t look right.

This is the rooster that was mounting Sweaty cat.