I'll never forget the day I got my first egg... and I was an adult. I came running and screaming into the house. My husband thought the dog was hit by a car or something terrible. But I held it in my hand screaming..."it's an egg!". Hubby thought I was off my rocker!

Yay, congrats on those beauties! *L* The first eggs are SO thrilling...I'll bet the girls are so proud, make sure and make a big deal out of those eggs for the girls! :)

...So was I right, the RIR laid the first egg? *L*

Velvet ~:>

I know the feeling--and I'm a "older" woman. I got 8 eggs yesterday!!

Congratulations on your first eggs!

I've been gathering eggs for well over a year and it's still exciting to go from box to box anticipating how many there will be.

And THAT is exactly the reason I am so feeling so very lost without my chickens. And Sheila, the thrill never left me. I was over the moon with them the first few weeks, then by the time I was getting 4 dozen eggs a day...I was still thrilled. It was like a kid's Christmas morning for me every single day! Just wait 'til you stand there while a cow gives you a calf...

Congratulations!

Suzie

I am so happy for you and that is a beautiful picture. S I am still waiting and am a bit jealous I think S

chicken ingenue

Thanks everyone :)

Suzie, how come you don't have chickens anymore?

Velvet, the green egg was warm and the brown egg was cold so it could be from a RIR but I have 4 of them and also 4 barred rocks, 3 buff orps and a SLW all brown egg layers so I really don't have a clue. It is quite mysterious as to who these first layers are. I have yet to hear the actual noise that they make but dh said it sounded like nothing he had heard before.

I cooked the two eggs for my son, they were small but so very perfect looking. The egg shells were very strong and broke almost perfectly in half. The americana eggshell I washed and fit it right back together on display in my kitchen!

More happy news though, I got another egg today and this one was brown and in the nesting boxes :)

joy~joy~joy~

-Sheila

I was going to say, it is like Christmas even still. I am always excited especially when we get a big haul!!

You newbies and oldies need to read the thread about the bird flu if you haven't already. There is a lot of good info on there. A lot to think about if you love your chickens and want to be able to continue to raise them. There are things that we all need to be aware of, besides the fear of them becomeing sick, we need to just be aware of what the frenzie can do.

IF you don't think they can take them away from us stop and think about the fact that so many states don't allow the sell of raw milk any more. Some won't allow you to give it away or even sell it for pet use. We all need to start paying attention to legislation right now so that we can make sure the little farmer or backyard chickens are not squeezed out of existance.

I truly hope you enjoy this for as long as you absolutely desire to keep chickens. It is a blessing and I still consider my chickens my security blanket. I am thankful everyday for them. And believe me I will fight for the right to keep them. I only hope I am truly over reacting, I hope there is no way that they will take yet more of our rights away.

Hi Sheila,
Didn't you get your Ideal chicks a few weeks after I did?
I didn't order any EE's but there were several 'males added for warmth'--- hehehe, one is a pullet and just started laying last week, too!
{{gwi:47404}}

She was soooo slow to start laying. I've already got month-old chicks from the Silkies and Frizzle Cochins in that April order.

Lisa

(Hey! I didn't know that was you over there ;)
That Silver Laced Polish is adorable, isn't she.
I can't imagine doing that every day for very many, but she's the only one I have.)

How very cool Lisa! My order from ideal arrived in May so yes your a few weeks ahead of me. Yup it's me and I didn't know it was you either! (I'll try to remember your name), you should post the big hair picture over in the gallery here, so funny.

I love your eggs, I'd love to add a white egg layer to the flock at some point just to have more variety.

-Sheila

did I read that right ya'll ordered live chickens and they came through regular mail??

Ain't it amazing :)
They put newly hatched chicks in a box and send them all over the country.
I've only bought from Murray McMurray and Ideal.
Here's a hatchery list with lots of others (I've heard good things about Cackle and Privett, too)

Lisa

Well today, I found an old black gentlemen up in the woods, that had about 50 hens and a bunch of roosters just running wild around his place. he sold me two hens and then threw a free one in for good measure. S He was so nice just laughed and laughed at everything i said. you should have seen his set up. had nests made from everything from old cupboards to boards nailed together with sheet metal over them. Some nests were nailed to trees, and they were everywhere. when he caught me up the hens. He used a long piece of metal with a home made hook on the end and caught them by the leg and pulled them upside down, through a little hole in the top of the home made box. and they were screaming!! He used pine straw for nesting. and you could hear the roosters crowing in the woods all around. He said they were mixed game chickens. thats that all he could have because they roosted in the trees to keep them from the coyotes and the fox. OH MY. When I think of how gingerly I handle my flock of three at home. I'm feeding my lettuce and tomatoes, scratch and laying mash and he fed his cracked corn.

when I brought them home to my two gigantic roosters and the hen we called baby because she seemed little, (but not compared to these three) LOL Mine are three times as big as these new ones. and they are not mixing. They are just plain wild and keep running into the fence straight on and bouncing back. I think they may either fly out or break their necks. OH MY. This is going to be a real adventure with these new ones. I hope they settle down soon. S The feller said they should mix with my flock fine. but mine are pure breeds and I think they are snobs. LOL

Ours began laying about 10 days ago (17 weeks old). We were so proud!! Couldn't figure out who was the proud mama, so we went around and congratulated each one. We blew out and saved the first egg... We thought we'd see an egg soon, since the rooster was VERY busy the two days prior. Not sure if it's coincidence, or what. Such fun!!