they discovered the other side

mimi hopped over our five maybe six foot fence this afternoon. i heard daddy (the rooster) cackling and squawking away loudly. at first i thought maybe she was laying an egg but when i went to look in the coop she wasn't there. i could hear her little chicken feet fussing with some leaves on the other side of the fence and there she was in our drive way! unfortunately, when one does something the other girls follow suit. yep, our girls are one of the best examples of the saying "monkey see, monkey do". kevin was not pleased and worried when i told him what happened. after some discussion we agreed that we had to clip their feathers. all of them. now they are just little hoppers. after clipping their feathers i couldn't help but wonder how in the world had mimi cleared that fence! we will never know....

eggs!

yes! kevin found two little brown eggs in the coop this afternoon! very exciting. i checked that coop this morning, as i do everyday before work, before letting everyone out for their morning roam and there were no eggs then. i'm wondering if they will be afternoon egg layers? we have four girls total, two silver laced wyandotte's (mimi and lacy), one buff orphington (duck), and one australorp (flash), do chickens that grow up together begin laying together on the same day? definitely will have to look into that. will have to go home after class tonight to take a couple of photos and to look for the other eggs (just in case...). yay!

the count down begins!

Super teeny girls at one week's young. 

well the count down actually started on the first of april but i was late posting this. i had this drafted and ready to post then i got sidetracked with who knows what now. anyway, its been quite a winter here in reno. we had nice warm sunny spring weather that lasted about a week and a half then the last snow storm came and we're supposed to get more snow this weekend.

the girls are now six months old and from my reading it's almost time for them to begin laying eggs. my co-worker, whom also owns chickens, says because this is my girls first time ever laying eggs that they may be waiting for it to be completely warm outside before their first eggs. i honestly have mixed feelings, i am patient but mostly really excited!

last weekend we raised their coop, about 12 inches off the floor, because we noticed they were not heading inside their coop for the night. hoping that the lift allows them to feel safe inside the coop and outside as well.

i'm always glad when the weekend arrives. each weekend we are able to let the girls roam the backyard all day long with no supervision (mostly because we can see them through our kitchen door). during the week they spend their time in their pen and are let out of their pen when i get home from work. although i worry they will discover our neighbors grassy backyards and leave us for a new home i discover them in their usual spots bathing in the dirt. whew!

i think it'll be chicken busy here for the next couple of weeks!