I got the call! My brother, Kelly, called me on Saturday morning to tell me he'd found me some chickens! So on Sunday Bob, Kaylee, and I went to pick out three of the six new ones he'd bought. He'd told me earlier on the phone that my niece, Erin, thought that one of the chickens might be a rooster. Well, I for sure didn't want a rooster! Or maybe I should say that my neighbors don't want a rooster. Anyway, I stayed away from that iffey one as I chose carefully which hens would go home with us. After we left, Kelly called to report that Erin's rooster had just laid an egg! Hilarious! Thanks, Erin, for allowing us to laugh WITH you!
It occurred to me as we were driving home with our precious cargo that other than seeing Kelly's chickens a couple of times and those of a friend once, the only contact I've had with chickens was when I was six. And it wasn't a positive experience. I was terrified of mostly the roosters because they chased me. It was during one of these races for my life that I tripped and fell, dropping the coke bottles I was carrying and cutting my wrist on the broken glass, resulting in a hospital visit and stitches.
Reliving that experience in my head as I listened to the (surely) harmless hens quietly clucking in the back, I realized I was a little.............well, nervous, about my new friends. But I had them now and there was no backing out. And I wasn't about to let a little apprehension keep me from my fresh eggs.
So we got them home and into their new little coop/trailor and the ladies and I are getting to know each other. It's taken them a couple of days to get used to things but I think I'm growing on them! I get into their pen to change the food and water and I've even come VERY close to petting one but...........oh, stop laughing!!!! I have to work my way into these things slowly! I figure the more they see me as the one who feeds them then they'll surely love me and come right to me. It's ridiculous, I know! But I've never once made the claim of being brave!
The hens have been spending lots of time in their nesting boxes which I didn't expect so much. My brother, the expert and my go-to guy for chicken info, assured me that they only stay there long enough to lay eggs. Well, Kelly should've reminded them of this before he handed them over to me. For whatever reason, they're there a lot which means that the boxes are getting kind of nasty. Anyway, a little boy I take to school asked me this morning if there was anything he could do for me to make a little money so I told him he could clean the nesting boxes out for me. He loved that idea so after school he showed up ready to work. The thing I didn't expect though was questions about eggs, the difference between the ones you eat and the ones that have chicks in them, and how eggs can happen without roosters! Are you kidding me?? Cody's friend, Colt, showed up about that time so now I had two 5th grade boys looking to me for answers on the sexual functioning of chickens. Good grief!
Things are looking up though because this afternoon I discovered our fist egg! Thanks, Kelly, for buying me the best chickens ever!
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| Buff (Buff Orpington), Link (Sex Link), and Rock (Barred Rock) That may be the closest I ever get to naming them. |
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| Our very first egg! Amazing! |
