Chicken visitors

In the past month we've had a bunch of neighbors calling on the chickens. I can't say the ladies are terribly gracious hosts, but they're fun to watch. Some of our visitors have been interested in getting a few chickens of their own so they're stopping by to see our set-up. Some are just curious to meet 'em.

Todd & Erin from the Local Matters Storytelling Project came by to get the skinny on the Bexley Ordinance process & to hear about how the chickens fit into our lives. That was fun. I feel like I could talk about chickens all day.

Speaking of chickens: We've also been letting them free-range a bit in the dog run which seems to take the edge off of their crankiness. They seem so happy when they're just scratching around. I could learn a thing or two.

From cloaca to plate in less than 10 yards

We finally cooked up our eggs. Joan has been a champ--giving up an offering each of the last three mornings. Her eggs are about 2/3 the size of what you'd get in a grocery store, so we waited until we got a few, and then scrambled them up for "eggs in the basket".

Jessica blew out the eggs, so we have three eggshells for our scrapbook.

Jessica thinks I look like a PSA for eating a healthy breakfast. I think that she is enjoying her eggs a whole lot more than I am!

OMG! An egg!

This morning we got our first egg & it's beautiful! And tiny! And perfect. Clearly we have highly intelligent chickens.  Andrew suspects this is Joan's because she was clucking with pride this morning.

We're legal

On Friday Amy Jennings, the Animal Control Officer of Bexley, stopped by to do the 'coop inspection' and sign the permit paper work. 
The inspection took 1 minute. She's just checking to see that the coop exists, that the chickens are living in humane conditions & counting them, as far as I know. The permit is our name, address, phone number, number of chickens, and a signature. That's it. Very simple. Columbus could learn a thing or two.

The lights are back on at Chicken Manor

Andrew figured out the extension cord situation in time for another cold, cold night. As an added bonus the extra light just might coax an egg out of these ladies.

Trouble in the coop

The freezing temperatures prompted us to hang a bulb in the coop over night. The ladies seem to like that, except then we blew out the extension cord. So now the electric water bowl is out of commission.
The snapshot is through the screen on the window 'cause it's too cold to go outside in pjs.

Lost their appetite?

The ladies seem to have lost their appetite. They've been eating about 1/5th of what had become their piggy norm. They're still all over the scraps we give them, but barely touch their food. What gives? Any chicken-folk out there that can set our minds at ease? Or do we have anorexic hens!?