News!! We have Eggs!!

The First Eggs found November 5th (if I am reading my emails right!) Whomever found them, please post your thoughts!!

News from Peggy and Jeanne:

Today the girls went all out and produced 10 eggs. One of them was really huge, so we looked around for a duck, but none had slipped in. Matt and Wendy came over on friday and did the remodelling on the inside of the coop, moving roosts and nestboxes around and securing the door better. The girls were under foot and rather vocal about the disturbance, but they settled in well when night came, now spreading themselves out evenly on both roosts, with a few still sleeping (and pooping) in the nest boxes. We are mostly getting very clean eggs, but we wash them anyway, and you will probably want to do it again at home just to be sure. When you come to get eggs, take them from the top carton in the frig first, although nothing in there is more than a few days old.

There was no response to the idea of a potluck Sunday, so there is none scheduled. Frank has almost finished digging the trench for the wiring, though he says it still needs to be deeper and some roots removed.

Pete has been very busy, so my guess is that we are now eating fertilized eggs. I guess they are supposed to be helthier in some way. So far he has behaved himself with his human caregivers, but some of the hens are finding his attentions tedious. They all seem to still be in good spirits however. No eggs from the Araconas yet.

Currently only 3 families are eating the eggs, so we have about one and a half dozen in reserve at any one time. when we get to the point where we have too many eggs, we talked about having a list of friends of the co-op who would be able to purchase the extras. suggested price is $2.50. There are three people on this list so far. Does anyone else want to add someone? We would put the money in a caan and use it for food. What do you all think?

The coop needs to be cleaned at least once a week, maybe more once we get to winter weather and they are inside mostly. We will also probably need to stock more straw for winter. Frank and Jenny brought up a bale the other day, so we have one and a half right now. We have food for probably another two weeks, maybe less. Scratch should last about 3 more weeks. They really love that stuff. We have enough grit for a year. Matt and Wendy bought the last food, so please sign up if you want to be next. $25 gets us two bags of food, enough for about a month. We have also been feeding the girls lots of bread which is coming from the food pantry and would otherwise be thrown out. And with the great weather they are getting lots of bugs as they free range in the afternoon when we are home. The shells on the eggs are nice and hard.

If you haven't cleaned the coop recently, please let us know when you might want to come to do it. We don't mind giving up the privilege now and then. Jeanne is having some breathing issues these days, so I get to do it fairly often myself. Don't mind sharing at all. The girls find it fascinating and will keep you company. Wendy & Matt, and Frank & Jenny just finished caring for the kids for nine days while we were away and they got to find the first eggs. Keep coming to get your eggs. We don't have to be here. Empty cartons all over the place now to pack them in. Just sign the log on the counter, if you collect eggs or if you take them for consumption, so we can keep track of how the girls are doing.

Peggy, for Pete and the girls