Eggs

   One of the many things I love about chickens is the eggs. There is nothing going like going outside, saying hello to your little flock, then opening the coop, and finding a perfect little egg the girls left for you. This was our first egg we got from our chickens. Hazel laid it in August 2010. She was five months old.

   Hazel was our best layer. She laid us six eggs a week and sometimes double yolkers for the for the first year. After that her laying has dropped off to almost none. Her eggs were a light brown, but the darkest of our chickens' eggs.

   Sunny was the second chicken to start laying. She laid her first egg in October of 2010. Her eggs were very light brown. She laid an average amount. About four to six eggs a week.

   Ceci's first egg came in November of that year. Her eggs were very small and white. Ceci only laid about three to four eggs a week. However, she was still laying that amount until her death.

   Julie was the last one of our girls to start laying eggs. She began in December. Her eggs looked a lot like Sunny's but usually a bit pointier. She was also an average layer like Sunny.

    For me they are just pets that happen to lay eggs as a bonus. So, even when the chickens stop laying eggs completely, I will still love them. 

Ceci

   Ceci was always a little different than the other chickens. She is a Silver Speckled Hamburg.
When all the chicks had yellow legs, she had gray.

When the chickens grew up and they all had yellow eyes, she had dark brown.

   And then there was the tail. We didn't really know what to make of the tail at first. No one in our family had ever seen a tail like that on a chicken...

   She was also the smartest of our chickens. She was always finding a crevice in our fencing to wander the yard. She also loved to make "secret nests". Under sticks and leaves, under bushes, and once at least six eggs under the deck. (I say "at least" because we are not sure we were able to get all the eggs out when we discovered the nest. 'Sigh'.)

   Of course she had to lay them in the very back of the deck. I had to lie on my stomach with the longest-handled shovel I could find. 

   Although she was the most shy and flighty in our flock (she has been known to perch in trees and on the roof), I still loved her and always couldn't wait to see what she would do next. 

Foxes and Goodbyes

   Last week when I came home from school (5/27), my Mom had some bad news for me.

   A fox. It had gotten into the chicken's pen. It jumped our two layers of fencing and found a hole in our hawk netting. Hazel was killed. Julie and Ceci where too far gone. (Sunny was killed last year but, that is a story for another time).
  
   They stole my heart in the four years we had together. I do not know what I will do without chickens. Luckily, the chicks will be hatching in about exactly a month. I loved those chickens more than I ever thought I would or could.

Hazel

   Hazel has always been my favorite chicken in our flock (but don't you dare tell the rest that). It has been that way since day one when she fell asleep on my lap.

   I named Hazel and she is a Red Star. When she was growing up she always had had the funniest "fluffy neck feathers" (as I called them at the time). She is the scruffy orange and white one in the pictures.

   Hazel loves food. If she was the top girl in the pecking order, the other chickens wouldn't get any treats at all.

   Hazel is always so curious.She is constantly picking at tags, zippers, buttons, nail polish... Anything out of the normal (in Hazel's mind at least)! I love Hazel so much!

Old Coop

   Back in 2010 the first set of chicks were growing up fast and they needed a home. So, we hired someone to build us a chicken coop.

The inside.

   We painted it ourselves. We kind of regret the colors now but back then it seemed like the obvious choice. I wanted my chickens to live in something that looked like a barn. If not in shape, then in color.

   It was done in two days (a big advantage to having someone built a coop for you). The chicks moved in the day it was done. They were a little confused at first...

But, chickens are not picky and they soon got settled into their new home...

Solutions

   So, on November 25, 2013 I ordered our new chicks! I ordered from My Pet Chicken. I chose this place because they could send as little as three chicks. Also they don't send "extra" chicks for warmth.

   I am getting five more chicks. One Australorp, one Easter Egger,  one Barnevelder, one Barred Rock, and one Welsummer.

   The hatch date is June 23, 2014. (Yes I know I ordered early. I just wanted to be positive I got the breeds I wanted on the date I wanted.) I chose a date this late so that I would be out of school and I could spend as much time as possible with the new fluff balls.

   However, the obstacles I discussed in my last post were still there. Here are the answers I found for them...

1. Space
We build a new coop! Or I should say my parents built a new coop. I hammered a few nails and painted a few things, but they did everything else! It is not finished yet but here are some pictures of it in construction.

                                                 
Don't worry our chickens are not as spoiled as it looks. They are only getting half of the building in the picture. The little red square in the bottom left is our old coop.

2. Pecking Order
I did some research on ways to integrate the new chickens into the old. There is not much I can do for this one but hopefully these tricks should help.

3. Roosters
We ordered sexed chicks. This is not a one hundred percent guarantee, but it should help our chances. 

   I can barely wait!                                                                       
                                                                                                                  

Obstacles

   Ever since my first set of chicks grew up, I have always fantasized about getting more. More cuteness, more fun, more eggs... but some things have always stood in the way.

1. Space
Our current coop is great. It gets the job done and it has all the basics. What it does not have, is space for more chickens.

2. Pecking Order
I am very worried about upsetting the balance in my flock. I know the pecking order does happen and must happen, but it just makes me sad. I just want them all to be friends (even if this is realistic or not).

3. Roosters
I am technically allowed to have roosters in my area. However, I do not think my neighbors would love a rooster as much as I would. Also, I am afraid of getting an aggressive roo.

   I am a rational person and have been able to keep my chick dreams down because of these reasons. But, then my Dad says something like "But remember the first chicks?". And of course I do remember and then... unexpected things happen.