Our first Egg

We have nice new hens (three Australorps as of last Tuesday) and today we got our first egg. It's quite small but apparently that's normal for a first egg.

Oh, and I have a newfound respect for birds and their ability to make nests out of straw.

View all photos taken: Monday, 1st September 2008, This photo: 2:00pm

Comments

  • suburbanvoodoo said:
    Can I please have 1/4 of an omelette? :-)
  • heidi_K said:
    Congratulation!
    So when do you invite for egg and bacon?
  • Andou Ryuu said:
    I thought you climbed a tree to take that shot - then I read the description :-)
    Are the hen's life spans determined by their egg laying ability? From a culinary viewpoint, it would seem the eggs came before the chicken?
  • David de Groot said:
    hehehe I don't think this would even make 1/4 of an omelette.
    Hmmm, you bring the bacon and in about a week we should have enough eggs ;-)
  • David de Groot said:
    hehehe Well I'm hoping they'll keep laying for a few years yet. We got rid of the roosters ;-)
  • s.westhead (Simon) said:
    Were they all roosters?
  • David de Groot said:
    Yep all three of them - silly birds, quite pecky too. Now we have three nice guaranteed hens in a shiny black with iridescent green and red.
  • The Central Scrutiniser said:
    aaahh - nice. what a fine egg. rae has a chook photo today too. and i spent most of today working on chooky issues....
  • David de Groot said:
    First day of Spring see - must be a chooky thing ;-)
  • stonedistrict said:
    Congrats. You must be a proud dad ;-))
  • picsbymac said:
    We got rid of the roosters ;-)
    Which part of the food set should I be looking at for those shots? ; )
    Are you planning to let any of the eggs hatch?
  • David de Groot said:
    Oh no no no... this one is definitely FOOD :)
    Ah see they've gone to live out a peaceful existence on a farm (well that's the story the 6yo was told). More accurately, the local produce supplier returned them to the chicken farm who in turn (I presume) had a healthy roast or three...
  • -Gadabout- said:
    A speckled egg - what a treat :)
  • David de Groot said:
    No eggs today though - something (I suspect a possum) has been digging into the coup and stealing the chook food. Poor things must be terrified when it happens. I've set up anti-critter measures Mk III tonight (as Mk I and Mk II didn't work).
  • -Gadabout- said:
    lol, hopefully MkIII keeps them out - possums are pretty good at finding their way around tho !!!
  • David de Groot said:
    So far so good - although I think it's wised up to trying while the lights are on upstairs...
  • -Gadabout- said:
    Or maybe it's using that time with the light on to figure a way around MKIII :P Man they're sneaky...and they eat just about everything !
  • David de Groot said:
    Mum seems to thing it'll be a bandicoot. Anyway, Mk III worked but he just moved further up the coup and tried there. Cheeky little bugger.
  • -Gadabout- said:
    A bandicoot - excellent :D Any pics?
  • David de Groot said:
    No pics yet - didn't have the camera ready (just the spotlight).
  • RaeA said:
    nice start David .. who got to eat the first one :)
  • David de Groot said:
    It ended up in a batch of scones :)
    We got another today!
    Alas, laying has been slow due to the bandicoot scaring the poor chooks, but with the rain last night, no bandicoot visit and thus we have an egg.
  • (fez) said:
    We've got an old coop in our backyard that we've been thinking of patching up a bit and getting some chickens. Perhaps that will be a summer project for me.
    I've heard eggs laid at home taste better than store-bought eggs.
  • David de Groot said:
    Indeed they do :)
    Well we've just completed Anti-Bandicoot measures Mk IV. The coup now has a half wood, half wire floor, all nicely sealed at the edges. The bandicoot will probably dig around for a couple of nights, but I'm hoping he gives up when he realises it's pointless.
  • -Gadabout- said:
    lol, extreme measures! Hopefully Anti-Bandicoot measures Mk IV will deter them from stealing any more eggs!!!
    I've only ever seen a bandicoot once and that was last month! I was gob-smacked and didn't even try getting a shot of it despite having my camera in hand - I literally couldn't believe my eyes - it waddled right through the middle of a flock of finches and they weren't in the slightest bit interested! Which is what made me think that I had imagined it ! Plus I didn't know what it was and if I should be scared! My first thought was that it was a giant rat, which made me want to scream ! I managed to suppress that rxn tho :)
  • David de Groot said:
    Here's hoping, although I expect it to dig around for a couple of days trying to get in. Hopefully it'll get the idea after that.
    It's pretty cool to see a real live bandicoot though :)
  • looby88 said:
    poor roosters....... own home laid eggs are the bestest though
  • David de Groot said:
    Ah well they were militant rooster so they had to go (not to mention their unwillingness to lay eggs for some reason) ;-)
  • Jack High said:
    Well done. My old girl has gone off the lay for some reason (probably just age). That would make a great Easter greeting card.
  • David de Groot said:
    Well we have three hens, but only one is laying at the moment (seemingly, as it's basically 1 egg per 1.5 days on average).