Tag Archives: thegirls

finally we have definitive proof that at least one of the ameraucanas is not a rooster.

finally we have definitive proof that at least one of the americaunas is not a rooster.

all of the other girls from our new flock of backyard chickens have been laying for weeks, but no blue eggs from the ameraucanas. we were beginning to think they might be roosters ( though they were lacking other very obvious rooster traits ) or they were doing a good job of hiding or eating their eggs.

but, whoohoo, today we had a surprise in the nesting box!

they don’t taste different but for some reason having blue eggs in the fridge adds a little more fun to the cooking routine.

The Girls sense that spring has almost sprung.

The Girls sense that spring has almost sprung.

first 67°F and breezy day of the year and The Girls were all clucking loudly LET US OUT TO GET ALL THE BUGS HUUUUMAN! so i did.

we’ve really enjoyed this small flock of hens for the past two years. they are super sweet. i think we’ll probably keep them around for awhile longer even though we have new layers coming in. so they’re not going to be dinner for a local amish family just yet 🙂

352/365. a counterintuitive observation about backyard chicken flock size and the number of eggs on hand.

352/365. a counterintuitive observation about backyard chicken flock size and the number of eggs on hand.

since we downsized our flock from 8 birds to 4 and got out of the egg distribution business we have way more eggs on hand. before with a market in place, we’d sell or give most of the 56 eggs The Girls produced a week and found we were often short of eggs for our own use. now, without any regular customers – whoooweeee – 4 eggs a day can pile up fast!

in hindsight, 4 hens is the absolutely wrong size flock for us. too few eggs to make it worth the effort to set up regular customers and too many eggs for our weekly needs.

305/365. deep thoughts while checking on The Girls.

305/365. deep thoughts while checking on The Girls.

sometimes it strikes me how odd it is that we have domesticated dinosaur descendants in our backyard that turn house food scraps into delicious domesticated dinosaur descendant eggs. the very same eggs that helped them survive a mass extinction event. and that as a species they’re evolving 15 times faster than expected.

some people think chickens are not so smart. but maybe they’re just watching and waiting us out while they get fitter, faster. knowing they can survive.