I think I've decided that having the chickens lay their nests all over the yard is fun. They do it whether I like it or not anyhow and its such a fun surprise for the kids anyhow. Today a mondo nest was found under the kids playset in the playhouse part and that combined with the one from the walkway, the 5 from the coop and a few from the log cabin we have TWENTY THREE eggs! One of the eggs is so big that when put in a carton (sized for XL eggs), the carton can't close. This is one huge green egg :)

The kids were in bliss-land as they brought in their full basket, giggling and squealing for me the whole way. All this and the day isn;t out yet. There was at least one chicken in the coop while we were out there doing our collecting- so there may be a few more yet.

Our egg production had gone from a steady 5-8 daily to 2 daily last week. Then started creeping back up to around 4-5. I knew they were stashing them somewhere but the kids 'couldnt' find any more and I didn't go out looking. Today they were supposed to be out measuring the yard in 'cubits' and so of course they were distracted and started looking for egg nests instead, lol!

Sarah

We are steadily getting three a day now too... take a picture of the huge green one will you? Cyan would LOVE that! I was waiting until we went up there so Cyan could tell you that our Araconas started laying... she was SO excited and the first thing she said when we came inside with the two green/blue eggs was "We have to call Miss Sarah!!" lol... so I decided not to tell you so she could... but then my phone broke and you got sick.

Anyhoo... we have a whole dozen now (and the kids have been making scrambled eggs everyday) from our chickens just from the last four days. We got 4 this morning. Thrilled kids are fun...

The only bad part, I doubt I will be able to get rid of them now. I have to find the cash to build a better coop... and soon. The poor sweet girls were all wet again this morning. Cyan was thinking they will get colds. Do they get colds?

Very cool!

Val

Awww!!! So fun!!!

Yes Val they can get colds/respiratory diseases.

We get about a dozen eggs a day these days, down from about 18 in the spring. ;) Whew!

The poor sweet girls were all wet again this morning. Cyan was thinking they will get colds. Do they get colds?

Very cool!

Val

My girls have lots of spots in our yard to get out of the rain but they prefer to be in it. They are all out there running around in the rain, chasing each other, pecking at the ground and digging. Are there any dry spots in their coop? As long as there is somewhere they can be dry then I wouldn't worry about it. They are likely wet because they want to be. Where you have their coop is pretty well protected from the winds.

Sarah

PS- I need you to call me.

I am so fascinated by you ladies with chickens...it is very cool!! I wouldn't have any idea how to care for them if I were even allowed to have them. It is so neat to hear about the different color eggs too! Is that determined by their breed? How long do they keep?