It is bitter cold outside, yet some of the hens are laying. It’s early in the season, which means that sometimes some odd eggs appear in the nesting boxes. This is what showed up today:

The two pale eggs are laid by the bantam white leghorns. They’re supposed to be like that. But the one on the left? The dark brown egg with the two pointy ends? That was laid by a standard-sized hen. It should be large, like the eggs to the right. Sometimes, the first egg that a hen lays at beginning of the season is small like this. It might not even have a yolk. I’ve no doubt that the next egg by that hen will be perfect.

By the way, see how clean the eggs are? I didn’t wash them. This is how they come out of the hen. The eggs will be clean as long as there are clean nesting boxes. You might have noticed me using a kitty litter scoop to tidy up the boxes in the morning. Only two hens like to sleep (and therefore poop) in the boxes, so it’s not such a bothersome chore. If I had a hundred hens, I’d have to do other forms of animal management to keep things clean. 

I’d rather not wash the eggs. Egg shells are porous, and running hot water over the egg will push contaminants in. If you use soap or chlorine, you’ll taste it. If an egg does require washing (and I will have dirty eggs during mud season when the chicken tramp their muddy feet everywhere), I simply rinse the eggs quickly under cold water.

This is Marge:

This is Petunia:

They are both big brown hens. 

But they are easy to tell apart! All I have to do is close my eyes and listen. Marge is the noisy one. She is the most talkative hen I have ever known. In the morning, she’s the one complaining to be let out, right now! She’s the one to exclaim over tossed corn. She’s the one that watches me garden and asks, over and over, Where’s the bug? Give me the bug! 

Because Marge is so loud, when we did the photo shoot for Tillie Lays an Egg, I used Petunia for the photos. Marge was just too obnoxious.

There’s no sound on HenCam, but there are other ways to tell these two girls apart. Petunia is skinnier and taller. You could compare combs. But the easiest way is to look for who is moving her beak the most.

The temperature has reached almost 50 degrees today! (That’s 10 degrees for you Celsius users.) I decided to let the girls have an outing.

The hens in the big barn liked the mud, but refused to go on the snow. 

After a few moments scratching about, they went back into their very comfy spacious barn and took sunbaths in the shavings.

But, the girls in the HenCam barn hurried right out.

They went exploring.

And found their way to the one patch of green (over the septic system.)

As you can see, one day of 50 degree weather isn’t going to melt all of the snow that we have. But it has given the girls something of a mid-winter vacation.

I’m working on a novel. Which means I’m procrastinating by surfing the web. Of course, I am googling chickens.

I came across this page of famous paintings that have chickens in them. I particularly like the ones by Klimt and Magritte.

Enjoy!

Lory in Texas! The book will be given to her son’s elementary school library. 

Thanks to everyone who entered. I loved hearing from you. I wish that I could personally donate a book to each and every school and library out there. I also wish that I could read Tillie Lays an Egg to every child that you know. Not possible, of course. But, if you live in New England, I just might be coming to a school or bookstore near you. Keep an eye on my Appearances web page. I’ve just added an event at  the Toadstool Bookshop in Peterborough, NH, and I’m getting the final details on a signing in Westport, MA, which will be listed soon.

Meanwhile, the girls and I are enjoying this mid-winter thaw. Well, to be honest, it’s not exactly a thaw today. It’s still below freezing at 27 degrees. But it’s sunny! And, importantly for the chickens, not windy. They’re out and about and dreaming of warm dirt to dust bathe in. Right now, they’re making do with the shavings in the barn, which just isn’t the same at all. It’s like the difference between a locker room shower with a trickle of water and a bar of thin soap, and a luxurious bubble bath. 

My big dog, Lily, is so optimistic about the weather that she is insisting on curling up on her dog bed out on the porch. It’s cold out there, and she has a thin coat. But the bed is in the sun. You can see why she likes it so much. There’s a great view of the meadow across the way, and she can keep an eye on people walking, and trucks (especially those FedEx monsters,) while at the same time being near me – the porch is off of my office.