finally!

maggie finally laid an egg.

monday afternoon, i heard a ruckus in the coop
and went to check on the girls.

i was not prepared for what i found.

not only had maggie laid her first egg...

but it was HUGE!

all the girls have laid smaller eggs for the first few days

and then they have just gradually gotten bigger

and are now medium to large/xl eggs.

maggie's was twice the size of any of the largest eggs

that the other girls had laid.

i think she felt she needed to step it up since she was last...

and did she ever.

i took pictures, and they just don't do the size justice.

but maybe you can get an idea.

i held the largest brown egg we had 

(which is the size of an average store bought large)

and then put maggie's next to it...

i guess maybe we can forgive the poor girl for being late...

i would have waited too.

here's another shot with all of the eggs...

you can spy maggie's toward the back, on the right...

you know...the one that looks like a brown goose egg.

so...all of our girls are laying now...

just in time for the days to get shorter 

& eggs to become less frequent.

i honestly think i'll go without eggs 

before i'll buy them from the store again though.

we're all very spoiled now.

hope you are having a happy wednesday, wherever you are.

xox.

***edited to add...
not only was it her first egg...
not only was her first egg huge...
it was our first double yolker!!!

flock

whilst looking through photos the other day, 

i realized i didn't have any really recent pix of the girls.

especially not since they all got red combs & wattles.

well, the easter eggers don't have wattles, they have beards!

top row is henry...maggie...ruby

the middle pic is the first semi decent picture

where i managed to actually catch all of them in frame.

bottom row is ethel...etta...fred.

fred still has a tiny comb which isn't very red...

but she lays awesome eggs.

my EEs have been faithful layers since they started.

(one pale-ish blue green...one pale minty to sage green & one dark olive)

i'd always heard that they were rather unpredictable.

& our EEs started laying early (i'd heard they tend to be procrastinators)

our 2 reds & our barred rock (ruby, henry & maggie) however...

haven't laid one egg between 'em.

& they're generally the early layers...

(according to my chicken knowledgeable friends & backyardchickens.com forums)

so, who knows.

if all of that is true...it just fits right in with the rest of our animals 

that have weird traits and behaviors.

there's a surprise. (smell that sarcasm?)

have a lovely weekend...

xox.

chickens are funny

proof.

(top to bottom...ethel, maggie & henry)

they lined up for little chicken pats & scratches.

it's crazy...

usually they just push each other out of the way.

they were quite the civilized little ladies on this occasion.

ethel & etta are laying eggs like champs.

just went out to check for said eggs and found fred in one of the boxes.

maybe she's going to lay sooner than i thought as well.

hope you're having a fabulous wednesday.

xox.

maggie

after posting a 'just etta' post...i felt the need to include everyone else.
(i think i'll write about one chicken each day)

so...this is maggie.

maggie is a barred plymouth rock.

she's almost 11 weeks old.

maggie is the boss. 

undeniably.

and if you question it, (& you're a chicken) she'll let you know.

she's pretty sweet...if you're not feathered.

she was almost solid black as a baby and for some reason,

she reminded me of a magpie. so we named her maggie.
and oddly enough, she LOVES shiny things...
particularly my wedding band.
i took almost 50 pictures of maggie yesterday 

and finally got one that wasn't blurry.

she is in constant motion.

it's hard work being the boss of everyone, apparently.

have a lovely wednesday!

xox.

the girls

i am so very smitten with these feathered girls.

our easter eggers turned 14 weeks old last tuesday...
our original girls turned 10 weeks old yesterday.

top row is etta & then a group shot with everyone

middle row is ruby, maggie & henry

bottom row is ethel & winifred

i always knew i wanted chickens & i always knew i'd enjoy them...

i had absolutely no idea how much i would love & adore them.

♥