I’ll start this post off with these chicken pictures. The one directly above cracks me up. Americaunas are known for the fluffy feathers on their cheeks and I find it humorous and endearing all at the same time. I don’t know why, fuzzy chicken cheeks just make me laugh.

 Our chicken named Bear looks all sorts of serious in this one. 

I have a goal to get outside every single day, to spend time in nature, even if it’s just for a bit. The longer the better, of course, but some times of year I don’t feel like being outside for long periods of time. Lately it’s been pouring and I’ve certainly been feeling that way. It’s so good for all of us though, so nourishing to our spirits, and I feel it’s especially important for Bracken. We had a day last week where Bracken and I went outside to feed the chickens and check for eggs. There was a break in the rain and we found ourselves outside for longer than I had expected for this time of year. We fed them and gathered the eggs. We watched their antics around the yard. We found some bugs under some bark on a wooden chair Jeff made and Bracken wanted to bring all the bugs over to the chickens to eat, one by one. I forgot my to-do list for the time being, followed Bracken’s lead, and found myself completely in the moment and delighting in Bracken’s wonder. One chicken adventure led to another and we were having a great time. It brought a peace that was greatly needed by us both. 

I thought how wonderful it was this time of year to have the chickens as another good excuse to get outside. When there isn’t any gardening to be done, when the weather isn’t feeling particularly inviting, and there’s so much that needs to be done inside. Every day this time of year, when I need a little extra incentive- a kick if you will- to get out the door, those chickens bring just that. We give them care and get some fresh air to boot (not to mention eggs and entertainment.)

This is the middle nesting box, where we usually find the eggs each day. It also happens to be where the ceramic egg is. I mentioned the ceramic egg in this post. (An inexpensive egg we got from the feed store, that looks real.) We moved it from one nesting box to another to see if the chickens would lay their eggs where the ceramic egg was, and they did. It’s been in the middle nesting box for awhile and that’s where the eggs are usually laid. We would find one on occasion in another nesting box, but not much. So we decided to buy two more ceramic eggs (only $2 each), so we could have a ceramic egg for each of our three nesting boxes and encourage our girls to lay in all the nesting boxes. Certainly it would be nicer than waiting in line for that single nesting box, right? Then we checked to see if our experiment would work.

 Gathering the eggs out of the middle nesting box, as usual.

 Honey came to see what we were up to. (Yes, the lady who laid the very first egg this year.) 

(And I noticed in these pictures that there were two screws that didn’t get screwed in all the way.)

 Checking the nesting box on the right. Just a ceramic egg in there.

 Went to check the nesting box on the left and Honey was in there. 

 I hadn’t brought any container out, so carried the eggs in my sweater while we went about on our chicken adventures that day. And then the next chicken adventure happened…. we heard one of our chickens making a racket. Bracken pointed and wanted me to come see something, so I followed. One of our chickens had gotten into the greenhouse and was laying an egg in there. When she was finished we shooed her out of the greenhouse and I found something to attempt to block off the spot where she was getting in.

 Then we went into the greenhouse and found the nest she had made underneath a table of seedlings. Her egg was still warm, amidst the cedar shavings and ivy. We also found a piece of a shell. So we assumed she had laid an egg there before and an animal had enjoyed it for a snack. (Jeff later found her back in the greenhouse laying again and blocked off the area better than I had. He carefully carried her over to the nesting boxes and put her inside one. She laid her egg in there, which we were glad about. As fun as it was to find a secret nest, we want our hens to be laying in their nesting boxes.)

 The next day we checked the left nesting box and…. our ceramic egg experiment had worked! 

There were two eggs in there, right next to the ceramic one (the egg on the left.)

(Sidenote: we also changed the material we had in the nesting boxes. We’ve been experimenting to see what they like. The chickens always kick out most of the straw, doesn’t seem that comfortable anyway. We’ve used moss and leaves with moderate success. I started putting cedar shavings in there. I wasn’t sure if the smell would be too strong for them, but we didn’t have any pine shavings at the time. The cedar is good for repelling bugs, it smells wonderful (to me), and it’s nice and soft. They seem to like it and haven’t kicked all of it out of the nesting boxes, like the other materials. It’s been the favorite so far.)

 This time we came prepared with a basket and Bracken set to work gathering the eggs, which is his job he loves to do every day. (If Jeff or I see one without him, we almost always leave it for him to find.)

 (That’s a little Buddha statue in the background. It lives above the nesting boxes.)

 There were only two eggs so far that morning, but Bracken brought his basket out again, after his nap, to gather more. Most days we get six eggs and we always eat them up quickly.

Jeff showing the eggs we gathered yesterday. 
And guess what? There were eggs in each of the three nesting boxes!
Our ceramic egg experiment was a success. I think the ladies will be much happier not sharing a single box.