I AM EGGSTREMELY EGGCITED GUYS!

in homesteading •  8 years ago  (edited)

TODAY!!

Today is a monumental day for Farmstead Smith! We've gotten OUR FIRST EGG! It's like, a legit egg too! Not even a bitty fart egg! Ha. It's about the size of a medium egg you'd buy at the grocery store!

Finally these ladies are picking up their slack! Showing that some are done being freeloaders! I think this might mean we're real farmers now! Ha.

So, on average chickens start laying age at around 20 weeks of age. That is a long time to be feeding and caring for these turds. So much anticipation. And **TODAY** we finally have our very first egg, ever! I wish I knew who laid it! Haha. I *think* it might be from one of the Australorps... but no way to tell...

I am really hoping that it wasn't one of my Easter Eggers cause I was really really hoping that they would lay their supposed blue or green eggs, sometimes you just don't get that though, Easter Eggers are a toss up in that arena.

Of course, I had to call and text everyone I knew! I talked my grandparents and my grandma asked me "Well, are you gonna eat it, or just look at it?"

I just have one egg, Grandma! I'm gonna stare at it for a bit. Obviously. hahahaha.


This morning the chickens were making their egg song. I was excited to hear that but they have been making the egg song (squawks really... It's not pretty ha) for a couple weeks now, and one of my gals has been doing the chicken squat. So, I really wasn't expecting anything... But I went out and checked JUST in case.

I didn't find an egg then.

An hour or two later, I went out to go fill their water, and TA-FREAKING-DA! There's an egg!! An egg that isn't a fake egg! The fakes are the ones with smiley faces on... haha. I added that personal touch.

As far as I know, this is the first egg!! Like I said, they have been showing signs of lay for a couple of weeks, but after research I found that sometimes they're just preemptive... Ha. They like to get me excited and disappoint me all in the same minute. Haha. I guess it's practice.

I was betting that they would lay eggs under the coop. They spend a lot of time down there because it's pretty warm here. It would have been my luck that they lay anywhere except the nesting box. I am thankful I was wrong!

I am so happy she laid in the nesting box. This tells me that they feel safe enough in there, and I am happy to provide that security for them! Though, I may have to take a second look around their frequent hang out areas, just in case I've missed an egg. Ha

Waiting for them to start laying eggs is probably the most difficult part of raising chickens!

I, of course, had to tell my own mom (I called her momma chicken well before chickens were even in my future! hahaha) about the egg, she was happy to greet her first great grand baby egg. Bahahah

And yes, the egg has been sitting by me at the computer the whole time.

As always @farmstead here blogging from FarmsteadSmith!

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History is Made! Eggs preserved in the blockchain and memories savored in minds. NOTHING compares to your own fresh, free range eggs. I am so happy for you guys and a bit jealous! If you ever had chickens at one point, going to town to PAY for low quality sad eggs is almost sinful. Hope you guys continue and showcase how easy, rewarding and worthwhile raising your own chickens can actually be. You guys rock! and congratulations on your edible arrivals! Steemit should adapt to the eco/ homesteading /permaculture community and have little awards for that too !!! (first egg) hehe

Oh my goodness! What a wonderful comment you've left me! Thank you!

I am really excited to eat it. But I will save up at least 4 so my husband and I can eat them together! I am pretty eggcited to say the least! I had been off and on getting other people's farm eggs, but I just KNOW mine are gonna be better! We should be able to have breakfast by... Saturday, Sunday at the latest if this one doesn't start slacking again!

Hey! I think that would be so fun!! Hahah We should make them!

Congratulations! it is a milestone, soon you have more than you will know what to with. We can never produce enough, more egg orders than eggs, increasing the egg laying flock to 60 hens. Best of luck to you and your chicken endeavors!

Thanks! I am thankful they've started. I can't wait to have an overabundance so I can give away and start selling!! Eeeeeeeeeeep. Too eggcited. Wore myself out. Hahaha.

SO WONDERFUL! We just had this moment two weeks ago, and holding that egg (considering all that went into getting to the point where we could have land enough to have chickens to have eggs) was like holding the most precious, edible jewel. HIGH FIVE.

The most expensive... Hahahahaha Damn girls are SPOILED. Hahaha. Speaking of spoiled, I better go turn on their sprinkler..... :/ Hahahah

Yours get a sprinkler? That's awesome. We've only had ours for 3 weeks, so it's still a getting-to-know you game. Have you ever had a problem with your Wyandottes escaping/generally being jerks? We've got two of them, and they are...full of personality, to the chagrin of the smallest hen who gets the brunt of it.

Hahah well, go check out my previous post Crossbeak the Rooster. He is kind of a jerk. But I don't like, wanna hold my chickens or anything. I am okay with him being stand-off-ish. He has been kicked a couple times due to trying to attack the dogs for no reason. I have heard that Wyandottes are pretty asshole-y in general. Especially the hatchery birds. The female isn't so bad, because she is pretty shy, from what I can tell. I haven't even really touched her.

Yeah, they get a sprinkler, it's awful hot here, 95f here at the moment! I think those idiots might die without it... They go stand in the coop...

I don't have a problem with escapees because mine free range anyway. I did fence off my back yard and sometimes a chicken comes into it. But usually it's my Lady chicken (I have yet to share her, as her own post, soon! - She's the only one I really like - she follows me around), she is usually looking for me and I will find her on the back deck.

I don't allow my chickens to be aggressive toward each other or allow the roosters to mate in my presence. Obviously, nothing I can do if I am not out there... But, it tends to help them see me as the head honcho. Haha.

I just put a mini hot tub in for my girls. They can splash around and drink it! Gonna hit the high 30's this week. Gotta take care of our chickees.

Celsius right? I forgot where you're located! Haha. We've got 95f today, they need that cold water! Haha

95 is nasty! Yes, we are supposed to get +40C in the okanagan this weekend.

Ughhhh that's so hot. Hahaha.

This is great news. You broke you duck! English expression for finally getting a result. I love the way the chicken has painted the cute little smiley faces on the egg. That is one talented chicken.
I'm eggstremely happy for you and your new found enterprise. Keep us informed of future eggserts.
It is bad form to say that I have resteemed and upvoted this post. What's the etiquette?

Teeheehee We're eggstraordinary!

At first I was like, "I didn't mention my ducks did I?? I hope I didn't break one... oh no!" hahaha Glad you explained the meaning.

Yes, talented little buggers. ;) Those are the fake eggs. The real and the fake really don't feel so different so I had to make something on them that told me those were the fakies!

I see a lot of people do it, say that they upped, followed, and resteemed and all that. I don't generally tell people whether or not I upped or resteemed. They can figure that out for themselves, in my opinion, but it doesn't hurt to tell them either!

I guess once I get my head around all these newish terms I'll figure it out. I've only been here 8 days lol and I'm having a blast. Got to check out your whole back catalogue to catch up on the story so far.
Love the fake eggs, very clever.

Wayyyy to Go!!! It looks pretty big for an easter egger egg...wow that was hard to say LOL. We have a bunch of easter egger hens, and the ones that lay the pale pink/taupe colour, are smaller than that egg. I can't wait to see your first easter egg! Praying you get a blue or a green those are the bestest, and yes, you will NOT want to crack it either, more like frame it.

Also LOL to calling them turds! That CRACKED me up.

HAHaha hens was doing my research, Easter Eggers are supposed to lay L/XL eggs. But these are small eggies! About size medium that you'd buy from the grocery store. They're just starting laying, but I'd be happy with any size, really! Hard to say with EEs tho, since they're mutts. Haha I wonder when mine will lay. I know that can be anywhere from now to a year old! Stupid mutts. Hahaha

Are you sure your EEs aren't bantams?!

Hahah I'm thinking this is an australorp egg, to be honest!

I can't wait for the colored eggs! C'mon ladies!!

Hmm...maybe the egg just looked big in your hand then. Yes, I'm sure they are easter eggers, one lays green, two lay pink, and one lays a pink-taupe colour <3 They are small birds though that could be why I find their eggs to be small.

Fingers crossed for you to get coloured eggies!

Here are some of their eggs with our Leghorn's eggs.

I totally missed this pic the other day! What a beautiful sight! Hehe can't wait!

I can't wait for you to start having fresh, colourful eggs every day either. Just exciting as hell. We have a bunch of 3 month old's and I know the feeling, some of our older hens have stopped laying, so it will be nice to have some fresh girls laying. We still don't know who are roosters and who are hens yet, it's all a waiting game!

Oooh I mean, there's such thing as Bantam Chickens! Just a mini version of whatever "breed"! You could have bantam easter eggers! <3

Oooh awesome, I just learned something new! Thanks for teaching me some lingo, yes, they may very well be bantams :) Cool, yeah, my neighbour has an easter egger hen, and she's pretty big, all makes sense now :)

Hahah yeah!! You should share them in a post, if you haven't already! Would love to see them! <3

Will do! 2 have just hatched eggs, and the other 2 are still brooding on theirs. It's apparently a great breed to go broody! 4/4 have all been Mothers, 1/4 has been a Mom 3 times since we had her, and another is on her second time! Broody-Machines!

Hehehehe I think it's the Bantam in them! Silkies are broody freaks also! And they're a bantam breed. How exciting! Do you sell chicks?

Hey there! I just wanted to inform you that your article has been included and linked in the most recent issue of the Weekly Homesteading Newsletter! Please check it out if you have the time! Thank you and have a great day!

Yay! Thanks for letting me know, I appreciate you doing that so I don't miss the issue!

For sure, that's the main reason I post the link for authors because it is so easy to pass by with the dozens of updated articles! :)

Funny seeing this because I was just out with my chickens earlier thinking that the day is coming soon when I will be this excited for my first egg! Fun post! Upvoted and resteemed :D

Awe thanks raincountry! It is really exciting! Hahah Way more exciting than I thought it was going to be. Now I am out there at like, 11am (which is around the time they're laying, weirdos), just waiting like a creeper!! Hahaah

dang so rad! In the city I live, Long Beach, you are allowed up to 4 chickens so people have been building coops in their backyard. Been fun to watch!

Are you going to get some chickens too?? You should! They're oddly satisfying!!

Congratulations! The monster eggs are our double yoke, we have had one triple yoke. When the hens are young they will sometimes wrap two yokes and the egg is huge. Then there are the tiny pullet egg that sometimes don't have a yoke. I get 4 dozen eggs per day... I have a coop for them with nest boxes and they started laying in them right away, but they are in a large pen so they don't have many places outside to lay.

Yeah! Sometimes they work on overdrive, huh?! Haha.

4 dozen, WOW! That's amazing. I have 21 chickens, 2 are roos for sure... I am questioning a third. Haha. But, I hope to at least get enough to give away and sell!! I might have to get more chickens! :) Hahah

Awesome. Up-Voted and Followed.

Hey thanks!! <3

A comparable feeling to that of having a first grandchild and that is thrilling.

We had our first chickens for a while, free ranging, and were finding no eggs until my husband found a whole pile of them in the woods! That was a blast!

Hahahah I am so glad mine decided to lay in the coop... I don't wanna search my whole 20 acres! lmao

In case one strays...
We get a few chicks each year as they have all been taken by predators, and not one of them will use the nesting box. We have egg hunts and have found that they don't go that far from the coop. They find some private spot and use it for a while until something happens and then we start the egg hunts again.
BTW our last remaining chicken this year is now cooped up and allowed out into a small run. My heart is sore with so many taken one way or another.

Lee our lonely chicken.

Yeah, I was keeping up with your perils... Gotta make your coop Fort Knox!

We have fixed it so now it is tight and safe and we clipped her good wing while the damaged one is recuperating so now she goes out a little in the run but I think free range is not going to be possible up here in the wilds of New Hampshire.

Do they get snatched in the day time??

I have never seen it happen so we can only surmise.
Two, Lee's sisters, were just killed by two stray hunting dogs who just broke their necks and left them. They came back a little later so we know it was them.
The 3 babies were in the coop during the night but I saw a fox wandering around the edge of the property the next morning and he didn't go away until I waved my arms and growled.

Haha that is awesome! Congrats! Good job chickens and happy farmin'!

It was soooo cool! I am excited... I hope they lay tomorrow too!!

Woohoo! So glad you finally got some action!

Bahaha Yeah!! I'm eggcited for tomorrow! I hope it keeps laying, whoever it was!!

Congratulations!!!! I had the same feeling with my very first egg as well. Get crackin' :p

Bwahahaha punny! ;) I think I'll save up at least 4, so that husband and I can have them for breakfast together!! So, if this one keeps laying, we should be able to have breakfast by Saturday or Sunday. hahaha

Next step: Egg production sales to pay for feed of the chicken.

Congrats!

Thanks!! Yeah, that is the plan, I gotta cut that cost a little... Hahahaha. Man, my feed is spendy!!

Look into fodder, if you aren't already using it.

Something I've been looking into but haven't had a chance to follow through on. They do free range, but they still eat a lot of feed. Haha

Which kind do you suggest? I was trying to find Barley seed earlier in the year, but lost interest when people kept looking at me funny. rolls eyes

Which ever is cheapest for your area.

I would aim for supplement before replacing. That way you can check your chicks and eggs and see if they are getting all the nutrients they need before finding the right one.

Also, if possible, pick something that you can grow to seed, so that you might be able to grow your own fodder from scratch.

For me, it would probably more supplemental than replacement. Cause, I gotta make some things a bit easy on myself too! Hahaha. :D

Congratulations on your first egg! I know you are eggstatic! HaHa! I have never seen chickens or roosters in person...until today! I thought of you right away. It was quite an experience. :)

Oh my goodness gracious!! Haha, You've never seen chickens in real life!? WOW! That's awesome that you got to see them today!

Nice!

Right?! So eggciting!

This is soo cool! I finally got to find out why you were so eggxited!! hehe

I love eggs btw. I was called an Egg Face growing up because I could eat 4 eggs everyday.

It's so wonderful to read about your experience as a budding farmer and to share in your elation..really cool post @farmstead, keep it up! :))

Thank you!! I am so glad you stopped by!! Heeee. And you foodie you, you can share with me good egg recipes. I have 19 hens... So, soon hopefully I will be getting almost 19 eggs a day! OMG. Hahah. Gonna have to start taking down some darn good eggy recipes!

I really enjoy them also. I am glad you liked my post! :D:D:D I gotta go check you out NOW!

Hehehe boyy 19 fresh eggs a day!! That's like a happy dream to me :)) You'd have to reserve the green and blue ones for easter though =P

I will have to kick my butt to get some egg recipes up then. Man I wish I could taste an egg fresh out of a hen's ass :)) Then I could tell if it tastes different or not..why don't you let me know once you've tried your eggs (don't tell me they're still sitting on your table!)

Pft, you have very fresh eggs in Germany. I wouldn't worry about it. The eggs they sell there aren't bullshit like ours!

I do know they taste different. The ones in Germany are much closer to fresh eggs. Especially the organic free range. :D

Of course they're sitting on the table still! Saving up for breakfast for both my husband and myself! Haha

hehehe...okie this gives me a new reason to be happy to be currently living in Germany then :)

yumm someone's up for a delish breakfast in a couple hours! :))

Oh yes! There are many reasons to be happy for living in Germany. I love that country more than anything!

hehe well I can't complain too much about life here too.. :)

Congratulations! what a success! So, how many eggs are you expecting from a mother hen per month or season? Will each lay eggs everyday? Thanks for such inspiring story. I'll be checking out your blog. I see, you have answered parts of my questions already up there!

Once female chickens, hens, are old enough, they should start laying daily on average. Eggs take 24-26 hours to develop writhing their bodies. So you can hope to expect at least 5-7 eggs per week. It also depends on the breed of the chicken as some are bred to lay more reliably than others.

Chickens can lay all year round but typically stop in the winter because they require a certain amount of daylight. This can be remedied with a light in the coop to give them a couple more hours of light. They will stop laying if they go into a molt or even sometimes if they're too hot. :)

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply. I'll think about my future plan on keeping a few hens. Good luck with all your work. Cheers.

You're so welcome! Let me know if I can help out any further!

Woohoo! That's great to hear. Fresh eggs for breakfast! :)

It's really neat! Hahaha. 19 weeks old! Happy they decided to start laying. Gonna save up for at least four eggs so husband and I can enjoy together! Let's hope they continue tomorrow too!!

congrats Mrs. Smith!

Thanks muchly!! I got another egg today too! Small one!

This is why we get into homesteading; Its so refreshing to see the real excitement oozing from your post! Great job!

I ALMOST DROPPED IT TOO! Hahah I bought it into the house to show the roommate, and then brought it back outside for its photoshoot.. Almost dropped it. I would have cried! Haha

Congrats! I'm so excited for you guys! I betcha soon you will be up to your ears in eggs! haha
Can't wait to have our first eggs!
YAY!!!!

I thought I commented on this...

Anyway! I can't wait to watch your guys' progress on even getting chickens! Eeeeep!

I know! I can't wait! It feels like it's taking forever

Id say that eggstrmemly eggcellent news. Just don't get too eggotisical now!!

Eggactly! Can't let that get to my egg head. ;)

That is such an amazing feeling! Congrats! My girls are laying large ones now only after 3 weeks. It can't get better than fresh eggs every morning. Enjoy that blissful little egg and here's to many, many more!

After three weeks of starting to lay? That's not too bad! Are they laying pretty regularly?

yes, I get 1-4 eggs per day from 4 chickens.

Not bad!

So good. Congrats. Its a wonderful feeling.

It really is kind of the coolest thing!! I couldn't believe it. Hahahah.

Hello I have a problem with changelly.com (I lost a lot of money because of their site.) and I can not make myself heard ! Could you share my latest post on this topic? It would help me a lot !! Peace to you ^^

This isn't even relevant to my post and is highly considered as spam. It's not proper Steem etiquette and will get you flagged.

i too, remember our first egg....was amazing! congrats :)

Thanks for stopping by!

I am still real giddy over it!! Haha. Kinda silly. It's way more exciting finding the eggs than I thought it would be!

ha! for sure!

Eggsellent 🐣................ billytwohearts

Mmmyeeesssss Myyyessss

Now that is some eggsellent news.. sorry, I couldn't resist! You will probably have lots more now.

Eggasperating even!! I have two layers now! I hope the others get the hint!! hehe

Eggsactly!

Congratulations! We've been keeping chickens for a while now, 14 years. I wouldn't worry about getting brown eggs from your Easter Eggers. We have purchased them from several hatcheries and they have reliably laid green or blue eggs. Mostly some shade of olive green, but recently more of them are laying pretty blue eggs.

They do have green ish legs, so I hope they are greenish eggs! I am okay with any color really. But I did get them for something different to make me happy when I go to do my chores in the morning! How exciting! Haha

14 years! WOW. That's great!! These EEs are from Privett Hatchery (that's where all the local farm feed stores get their chicks).

We started off doing it because we would pen them up in the spot that would be next year's garden and give them chopped leaves to work into the soil. Our top soil was only about 2 inches deep, but the chickens can turn 20" of leaf mulch into 4" of really good soil in one season. Of course they also weed and fertilize too.

Now we keep them up by the house and they are my daughters's pets. It used to be that only the rooster had a name. (That is very sexist, now that I think back on it.) Now they all have names, but I don't know them all.

Hahaha I have Cross Beak, Asshole Rooster, and Lady. And the youngest group I call the Bitties. Hahah.

congrats! ours have started laying but they're little. may be the breed, may be maturity, don't know

Tell me, how old are they and what kind?!

Barred Rocks and Buff Orpingtons. The little Buffs are extra sweet. I want to say between 16-20 on the outside. Not all are laying yet, just a couple. Some got their wattles and combs while others not so much. They tell you at the store their age, but you have to wonder when they develop at different rates.

On average they start laying at 20 weeks. So you'll probably start getting eggs soon! I don't know much about those particular breeds, but I think they're decent layers!

I think you're right. Seems like we've had them coming up on16 weeks. Not 100% on their age at purchase. The rooster has started going after them in the last week or two. Must be pheromones.

When did you get them? I mean, were they little babies? Usually they sell them at just a few days old. :) my chickens started showing signs of lay at around 16 weeks. Look up "the chicken squat" and the "egg song". I'm still confused at this egg song business cause mine sing it and they've not laid yet that day, they just like to get me excited, I guess! Lol

Congratulations!!! It's a beautiful egg :D

Isn't it?! I was so proud!!

It would be cute if human laid eggs...well, I guess we kind of do lay eggs within ourselves. Hum..

I'd be more apt to have a kid if we laid just a tiny little egg! Haha

Lol me too

Great post! The interaction with Grandma made me laugh. See, this is exactly the type of stuff I was hoping to find here, thank you!

Congrats. It's a great feeling to get your first egg. Now the rest will follow. 🐓🐓

Congratulations on your first egg. I know the feeling of waiting. It seems like forever, then finally you go to check the box and poof. There they are. Nothing tastes as good as those first few eggs.

I am really enjoying the chickens so far, that's for sure! Much more than I thought I would! Thanks for stopping by!!

It was nice read :-)

Thanks!