Another Red Letter Day on the Homestead

We had another red-letter day on the Small House Homestead yesterday.

After 8 months of hard work, building a coop and a covered chicken run and healthy organic feed, we got out first egg yesterday! Horray!

This tiny Phoenix Egg in Gene’s hands is our first homegrown one.

You may recall that we rescued a momma hen and her five babies last September. One baby chick, JoJo, was seriously injured when her leg and foot were paralyzed and, unfortunately, she did not make it. Rest in peace JoJo.

Freckles the Phoenix with silver in his ruff and iridescent green feathers.

I don’t know for sure who laid it but it was one of our four girls, one who is a white Cochin and three black ones that seem to be more Phoenix than Cochin though I suspect they are a Cochin/Phoenix mix. And to confuse things even more, their momma was a white Cochin too.

The girls pose in their covered run.

No matter the origin this tiny egg is brown and as sweet as can be. This will likely end up in an egg, kale, mushroom and cheese omelette. Yum!

Sunbathing on the bales of straw on a 60 degree early spring day.

When you start out with tiny baby chicks like this, you are laying the ground work for eggs in 7 to 12 months (depending on the breed). It takes a lot of   nurturing, feeding and generally caring for these chicks turned chickens for a long time before you are actually rewarded with an egg.

Portraits of the girls late last fall.

Sometime its hard to be patient and to remember that through all this hard work of building a chicken coop and outdoor chicken run and time and energy to feed organic, will pay off in the end.  In the process we must overcome lack of confidence, injuries and sometimes mites or fleas, bumblefoot disease and more.

One thing I have discovered is that if one spends enough time with their chickens they will tell us where they need to go and how to get there.

Chicken keeping is not a process of instant gratification but instead one of setting a goal and then slowly working hard over the long run towards the finish line.

Kind of like the process of homesteading itself!

Small House Homestead, chicken keeper, Donna