Thursday 17 February 2011

Clever little hen


Our brand new hens have been with us for exactly a week. They were bought as point of lay pullets - and so that turned out to be.

They have themselves well and truly organised in their new coop - currently inside a building because the weather has been so fowl (geddit?!). They all now roost on the perch (which seems obvious but not all chickens know about perches. Some insist on roosting on the floor. Silly birds.)

Over the past couple of days it's been clear that one of them was about to lay her first egg. She'd been making the hay in the next box into a nice, comfy bowl-shaped nest, the strands of hay neatly arranged into the shape of the underside of a hen.

Then this morning, an egg. Small, but perfectly formed. (It's the one on the left, the one on the right is from one of mum's Bluebells.) It's obviously a trainer egg and this time there haven't been any soft-shelled or misshapen practice eggs first.

Clever little hen.

It reminds me of this little ditty by the very prolific 'Anonymous':

The codfish lays ten thousand eggs, the homely hen lays one.
The codfish never cackles to tell you what she's done.
And so we scorn the codfish, while the humble hen we prize.
Which only goes to show you that it pays to advertise.

6 comments:

  1. Gosh, my ignorance about hens knows no bounds, but your new girls are obviously not egg-bound. I didn't realise they had to practise first! Well done to yours anyway!

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  2. Your post made me miss the hens I used to keep :(
    Good job the poem cheered me up :)

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  3. Love that poem! I must copy it! Eldest daughter is embarking on the chicken phase of life having just ordered an Eggloo and 3 hens for March delivery. (I offered to build her a coop but she is into design as well as chickens and was intrigued by Eggloo). Incidentally,
    if you pm me I'll send you a back copy of the Spectator. It's not to everyone's taste and I guess it's primarily a metropolitan publication but there are good reviews, articles competitions.

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  4. Hello Mags. I love the trainer eggs you get at the beginning of laying - well, obviously I mean the hens not you m'dear! x

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  5. Great to see evidence that that new hen is settling in.

    I just cannot imagine how much better breakfast (or any meal, really) might be with truly fresh eggs available.

    Please do posts lots of updates. xo

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  6. Well done, all round. From eggs to poetry.

    Now all you need to do with your hens, Mags, is keep egging them one. Yes, the yoke will be on you (unless your careful).

    P.S.: I've known that poem for years, and still love it.

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I am sorry to have to add word verification thing again but I keep getting spammed.