I've Gone Country A blog about a city girl learning a whole new world

I don’t know if I am just relating to the chickens this week or what.  When I was younger I remember that if you were up early…people would say….”you got up with the chickens”.

Well 4:00 a. m.  rolled around this morning, as I looked at my watch, I thought ohhh…nooo… this is way too early.  I think 6:00 or 6:30 is a good time to rise.

By 4:30 I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, so I might as well get up.

It is a great time of day.  There is no noise …anywhere…inside or out.  But I fixed that by pushing the coffee pot button.  Funny how something like a coffee pot can sound so loud at that time of the morning.  I enjoyed my coffee and read my morning Bible reading.  Billy got up…..”WHAT in the world are YOU doing up”?…I said I know….crazy huh?

We turned on the television to get the weather for today.  It is supposed to be one of those unstable days.  Around here a tornado can form very easy this time of year.  They had been forecasting today to be one of those days where you should be ready to take shelter.

I decided I had better go on and check the chickens, why not, I certainly was already up.

First stop on the way out was to check  in on our own pasture.  Everyone was up and moving.

I headed to our friends pasture.

When I arrived at the chicken coop…I only had 1 egg.  I was most disappointed.  As I gathered it, I felt that it was very warm….obviously someone had just laid it.  I wished that I could have seen that.

I know I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I figured it out,  I was earlier today…and I just might get a chance to witness one.

Of course this would be the one day that I did not take my camera.

Remember I told you that one chicken tends to lay one in the feeder.  Well I looked there when I gathered the first egg this morning….it was empty. Bummer.

So, I decided to wait  patiently outside the pen, surely they just hadn’t done their job this morning yet.  This thought occured to me…maybe those chickens don’t get up all that early either.  It’s possible they like to get up about 6:00 too.

I took this picture the other day…I hoped I had a picture I could show that had this particular hen in it. And I did!  She has the smallest comb and the reddest head and neck.   The Hen in the very back, next to the fence, is the one who lays her egg in the feed bin.  I watched her fly up to the top, then she just went right in the thing…I was shocked.  Oh my, I REALLY wished I had the camera.  She stayed in there for about 20 minutes….she would ease her little head up….then ease it down….then up it would come ….and down it would go…

I should have known whoever it was that was laying that egg in such an unusual place, would be the one with such a great personality!  She was a real cutie!

Meanwhile, another one of those strawberry blonde girls got busy and had one.

She had this one…I had to take the egg pics when I got home and rounded up the camera. This egg has a slight Pink /brown color …I don’t know how to describe it.

And the speckled dark Hen in that same picture had this egg.

I wondered who was laying those little light colored eggs…..now I know.

When Miss Priss decided to get out of the feed bin….I anxiously looked and yep, she had done it.

This is her egg.  It is much more golden brown than the other two.  The first egg I found this morning looked just like this one.

And while all that was taking place….I was trying my best to keep an eye on Plain Jane the duck.  I noticed she had not had her egg yet.

But of course in the midst of all the egg-citement I missed her laying hers…but there it was….all pretty and white.

I am exhausted….I don’t think it has anything to do with getting up early.  I think it has everything to do with the fact that I labored with those little hens this morning.

Next time you sit down to a plate of eggs.  Just remember that while you may have worked hard in the kitchen…there was another girl (hen) that worked hard to get it to you.

Maybe seeing an egg appear like that…isn’t that interesting to you.  I know we all have certain things that crank our tractor, but WOW….that is just a little miracle.

Pretty much an egg a day….amazing.  That little creature is so small itself, to have that happen everyday…..just amazing.

Here they are all cleaned up…including the white duck egg.  BY the way my little pamphlet said that bakers liked to use duck eggs.  They make your recipes light…WHO KNEW?!?

I combined them with some that we gathered earlier this week.  See all those colors.

Just Beautiful!