I’ll admit it…I’m not a patient person! I want it and I want it now…always! The “Girls”, aka The Chickens, are now about 6 months old and they still haven’t begun to lay eggs. It could be the lack of daylight (I put a bulb in the coop that turns on at 7 a.m. and off at 8 p.m.), the cold, or they just aren’t there yet. I even have ceramic eggs in the nest boxes to give them an idea of what I’m waiting for! Sometimes it can take up to 8 months for them to begin laying so all hope is not lost…yet. My husband has begun to tell them they need to start earning their keep, however. Organic chicken feed and gourmet seeds aren’t cheap!
Chickens are characters, I’ve discovered, and they are trainable! Once a day I take mealworms to them as a protein treat. The girls have begun to associate my voice with these yummy treats. As I approach the coop they start clucking up a storm and pace back and forth waiting for me to enter the coop. Once I’m in there they dance all around my feet waiting for me to scatter the little worms for them to gobble up. I’ve begun mixing the mealworms in with fresh greens and shaved carrots so they have to work a little harder to find them.
It has become a daily ritual that my pit bull, Hazel, accompanies me to the coop. She finds the girls fascinating…and she loves to eat their poop! The Polish Chicken, Anna/Nana, storms up to Hazel (with the fencing between them) every day and fiercely pecks her on the nose when she is trying to sneak spilled scratch or other delicacies. Hazel seems stunned by this assault, but takes it in stride. . I’m not sure what she would do if she actually got into the pen with the girls. She may be so focused on gobbling up the droppings that she would completely ignore the hens. I’m not planning to test that theory, however.
So for now, I’m still waiting for my first egg. And, although it won’t actually be worth its weight in gold, it will be a prize, nonetheless!
No comments:
Post a Comment