Monday, August 1, 2011

A boyhood dream - Easter in July

Who needs 'Christmas in July' when you can have Easter all year round!  Thus are the joys we experience on a daily basis with Lizzy, our Cornish hen.  She is the queen of hiding her eggs.  Lizzy will sometimes lay 2 eggs at the same location but just about the time you think you have her figured out, she chooses a new hiding place....and we begin the search again.  She's creative too!  Under the snow blower.  In a corner of the wood pile.  In coop #2's nesting box (a place she's never been known to visit).  In the ivy along the neighbor's fence.  In a plastic bucket.  Under the neighbor's bush.  Then back under the snow blower again....except on the other side.  What more can an 8 year old boy ask for than to have a new Easter egg hunt almost every day?
My boys often referred to my homemade egg sandwiches as "Dad's famous egg sandwich".  I was quite proud of this family favorite dish however Lizzy slowly but steadily has stolen my thunder.  As sole supplier of the most important ingredient, the boys now ask for a "Lizzy egg sandwich".  Just doesn't have the same ring, does it?
Here is an updated photo of Lizzy (Cornish hen).

During the Easter egg hunt yesterday, my youngest son's joy suddenly bubbled over.  Inside the coop, but not in either of the nesting boxes, he found 2 brown eggs.  What a surprise!  Here they are, freshly washed.
As you can see, brown egg #1 is slightly larger than Lizzy's eggs and brown egg #2 is slightly smaller.  We really weren't expecting any of the chickens to start laying until late August or maybe even September.  The oldest of the chicks are Nugget and Bleu so those are the 2 we suspect are responsible. 
Chicken Nugget (Golden Comet).
Cordon Bleu (Mottled Cochin Bantam).  Bleu has really grown up since her last photo shoot.  I think she is easily the prettiest chicken we have.  And her feathers are velvety soft too.

It's been a while since my last blog so our flock has weaned down a bit since that time.  I gave 2 of the young chicks to a friend.  I suspected they might be roosters but she did a couple odd dangling & groping movements and decided they passed the hen test.  So the Polish mix and Americauna mix are gone.  That leaves us with the Fizzle mix and the Old English.
Aunt Jemima (Frizzle/Silkie mix).  No crowing from this one but I haven't ruled it out yet either.  She's a sassy one.....but I would be too with an afro like that!

Verna (Old English Game Bantam) continues to look like a pigeon.  In fact, she seems to have stopped growing and I'm wondering if perhaps she is older than we expected.  She is about the size of a pigeon too.  Anyone know what color eggs this breed lays?

I think M&M (Myrtle & Mildred) will be the next duo to start laying.  It's genuinely difficult to tell which is which with these twins.  Their tails are becoming more & more similar.  I've given it my best guess here.
Myrtle (Rhode Island Red)
Mildred (Rhode Island Red)

Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our hens lives.  Here is a recent photo of their favorite morning feather-preening spot.

Anyone have any good, creative egg recipes to share?