The First Egg - and how my flock reacted!

 

The first egg!

This has got to be one of the most exciting moments for a new chicken owner. I love my chickens for the sheer fact they gobble up all the insects, but what I've really been waiting for is eggs!

When I got my chicks from Tractor Supply, I calculated that sometime in October (if I was lucky) I'd start seeing eggs. The chicks I added to my flock a week later, I assumed would be closer to February (because of their breed.) 

Now that it's the end of October, I've started checking for signs of eggs. I am most nervous about my flock being free-range. What if they are laying all their eggs in my neighbor's cow pasture, and I never discover them? What if they are under the bushes under my living-room window, and they are too thick to find? 

I've been searching my property, just in case. I purchased fake eggs and planted them in the coop, to give the chickens an idea of where the eggs should go. I've even said a prayer and asked God to oversee that they didn't lay the eggs heaven knows where. And I watched and waited. 

About a week ago, I noticed that Henrietta had a bright red comb and her wattles grew. Imogene (rooster) started trying to mate her. Then Henrietta started going in the coop in the middle of the day . . . but still no eggs. Today, however, was different. 

Henrietta seemed frantic to get into my spare coop. She was making a different noise---a long, drawn-out sound. At first, I separated her from Imogene in my second coop, thinking he was trying to mate. But then they seemed stressed being separated, so I opened up the coop. When I checked a half-hour later, I found my rooster was laying in the coop with her, patiently waiting.

Imogene is in the very back. Then is Henrietta (notice her red comb and wattle indicating she's mature. Bird Person (white chicken) might be mature based on her comb's color, but Beth in front is not mature yet.

I don't know how the chickens knew, but at some point, they all gathered in and around the coop. One by one, the chickens went inside the coop (and presumably) checked out the first egg, and then exited. Finally, Imogene and Henrietta came out. 

Now I'd heard about the egg song- a song that chickens sing to celebrate an egg, but I expected my hen to start the song. Instead, the rooster started the song and celebrated for several minutes by himself. Then my ducks offered a few quacks, and then my chickens joined in the song. 

It was so glorious to watch both the chickens and ducks celebrate the arrival of the first egg. 

This is what we're missing. There's something so down-to-earth and right about having your own chickens, growing your own food, seeing life as it's meant to unfold. 

I celebrated, too. I texted friends a picture of my first egg. 

But did it really taste different? 

Oh. My. Word!

I decided to cook it with a super-market egg and do a taste test. You can see the difference here:

(Not the best picture, so I'll try again, next egg)

The free-range yolk is darker

The taste was unbelievable. I've had farm eggs before, but sometimes you can detect a not so pleasant taste or smell with them. Not Henrietta's egg. The shell was super thick and strong. It was brown and maybe speckled - hard to tell with an early egg. It tasted unbelievable. Sometimes people from other countries say our food doesn't have any taste, and it feels strange to say this, but the super-market egg had no taste in comparison.

This is a celebratory day at Mable Frances!