Posted by Suzanne McMinn on September 16, 2008 @ 1:05 am
Daily Farmhouse Journal
Just sayin’.
Nothin’ but golf balls.
Somebody’s slackin’.
“Prepare to die.”
STOP THAT!!! I DIDN’T MEAN YOU!!
P.S. On a related note, read Merilyn’s story in the forum about incubating chicken eggs in a frying pan!
Posted by Suzanne McMinn on September 16, 2008 @ 1:05 am
7:51
am
I’m sure you’ll get some eggs soon!
Its fall so they should be ready to start the layin and roosting and all that jazz.
8:00
am
THERE IS AN OLD SAYING: A WATCHED POT NEVER BOILS.
LEAVE THOSE HENS ALONE…… THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. WE ARE SO “HUMAN” ARN’T WE?????????????????
8:12
am
Seriously, you need to hold a lottery contest. Let people guess when the first egg is going to appear. You could give away one of those Farmstand Egg Cookbooks as a prize! I’m anxiously awaiting the appearance of the first egg. It’s funny how living in the country changes your view on what’s exciting!!
- Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife
8:28
am
[quote]Seriously, you need to hold a lottery contest. Let people guess when the first egg is going to appear. You could give away one of those Farmstand Egg Cookbooks as a prize! I’m anxiously awaiting the appearance of the first egg. It’s funny how living in the country changes your view on what’s exciting!!
- Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife[/quote]
Great idea!
8:35
am
I think your “Prepare to Die” statement definitely got their attention from the photos. You should be seeing some eggs real soon I would think.
8:45
am
They sure are taking there good old time, aren’t they? Maybe they are jealous of all the attention the goats are getting and are holding out on you! LOL!
8:53
am
I feel your pain…I have 6 chickens..I am JUST NOW getting 2 eggs a day(if I’m lucky)…2 eggs? what are they waiting on a written invitation?…If so I’ll write it already?…I want eggs!!!
9:00
am
We started chickens last year and first started getting eggs in late October. Of course, they were escaping from their yard all too often, and we found nests of chicken eggs throughout our property the next spring. So we assumed that they actually started in September. It is pretty exciting to see that first egg in the nest!
9:04
am
I would sooo enter the From “Golf Balls to Egg Yolks” watch contest! how fun!!! what is their exact age????
the FORUM …I am addicted!!! that thing is a blast! ….second to this blog of course!!!
Tresh in OK
9:12
am
Have you tried giving them soft dog food?? An old farmer told me that up in WI, and its worked every time for me. I only needed to get my girls to start laying..once started, they didn’t stop.
Also, we’ll be having less light soon, you might want to put a night light in the coop for them. 
9:12
am
May the chickens are holding the eggs to use as amunition in case Spartacus gets outta hand.
9:22
am
I think the mushrooms on the log in the daily farm photo might be turkey tails. Don’t know the scientific name.
9:30
am
those are shelf fungi on that tree. can’t tell the species from the picture.
didn’t one of your buddies get her chickens to lay by reading from a cookbook to the hens in the coop?
huggs,
margiesbooboo
9:50
am
Anyday now, sometime soon, you will be surprised! Blessings.
9:54
am
I have a friend who started feeding her chickens table scraps and they started laying eggs right away!
10:02
am
OMG, the things I never knew: golf balls in hen nests, dog food, table scraps! I picture a kitchen full of chickens running around, begging for leftovers….”me! me! me!”
And I love your photo of fungi; I saw some beautiful orange fungi growing like that from a stump on Cumberland Island, back in my hiking days.
10:05
am
They may not be productive but they are pretty to look at.
10:38
am
Our two oldest pullets began laying about three weeks ago and just not are putting out large ‘regular-sized’ eggs. Well, except for a small grossly mis-shapen one that was laid during the worst of Hurrican Ike the other day. It’s amazing what some stress can do. (That was one weird looking egg!)
10:40
am
Hrm. About when would it be time to expect eggs? Maybe they’re not fully mature yet? Or maybe they’re just lazy?
Any duck eggs yet?
10:50
am
Pinch a Penny! Sombody’s slackin’! LOL
Is the golf ball to inspire the hens?
Traci Best
11:04
am
Yes, the golf ball is to supposedly show them the right place to lay their eggs!
No duck eggs yet, either….
Oh and they are 4 1/2 months old, so it could be anytime between now and six months? I guess! This is my first time to have chickens! I’m eager for the eggs!!
I don’t have any canned dog food right now, but we have been feeding them table scraps, mostly bread, and a lot of apple peelings and some apple core/pulp type stuff left over from making apple butter. I’ve given them watermelon, all kinds of stuff. They get very excited when I bring them scraps!
11:20
am
Suzanne I know the feeling. I have been waiting impatiently for weeks for that first egg. Wellllll I got my first one (actually 2) last Friday. I tripped as I was leaving the chicken pen and dropped both.
But that is ok because I had 3 the very next day. 
11:25
am
My hens started laying at about 5 months, so it could be any time now..Good luck.
11:28
am
Those chickies need to get to work earning their keep!
11:32
am
Better tell those chickens, they are going to be fried chicken dinner, if they don’t start laying those eggs. LOL
12:23
pm
The eggs will come! It was just weeks ago that I posted on the forum about my hens not laying yet. Well, they started laying and now I’m getting 7 gorgeous eggs a day! (the 8th
hen is still holding out) Those eggs add up fast! Been doing lots of baking, freezing cookie dough, having eggs for breakfast, and feeding scrambled eggs to the dogs. Patience….yours will come soon!
12:33
pm
Margie
12:34
pm
maybe a talk with the rooster would help!
12:52
pm
Regarding your daily farm photo, Margie is right. That is shelf, or bracket, fungus on the tree. Laura mentions turkey tails which is one type of shelf fungus. There are many varieties.
1:26
pm
Talk about trying your patiences! Maybe you could make a secret alliance with Spartacus to get your chickens to start laying eggs.
2:16
pm
Sorry you still aren’t getting eggs. Are you feeding them laying mash?
2:33
pm
None of mine have ever laid before six months. You have roosters, right? I’ve noticed that if I have hens and roosters of the same age, the hens typically start laying around the same time the roosters figure out crowing. Not the pathetic little squeeky, adolescent attempts they do at first, but real, fully mature crows. Not that egg laying has anything to do with crowing, but the sexual maturity level is more obvious with the rooster crows if you have hens of the same age.
3:39
pm
A favorite family memory that we still laugh about was years ago when we were raising young hens. I was excitedly waiting and watching every day for the first egg. When I finally found it in the nest I was SO happy and went running, exclaiming to the hubby and kids “LOOK LOOK, we got an egg!” The kids nearly died laughing because my son had placed a store bought egg for me to find. I had to wait a good while longer before I found the real first egg. Fun times.
Smiles, Barbara
4:08
pm
They will lay when they are ready. I would say in another month or 6 weeks.
4:10
pm
I’m guessing you ‘ll get some any day now. Mine have been laying for a few weeks now and I have so many eggs I don’t know what to do with them all.
4:12
pm
Ooh, good luck with the chickens laying eggs. Hopefully soon!
4:30
pm
when we had chickens I always saw more eggs when we gave them some fresh greens such as lettuce,cabbage,celery leaves or maybe just some fresh grass from the lawn.
Eggs will be coming soon, Suzanne !
5:30
pm
Patience. Eggs come to those who wait…
5:42
pm
Time to read chicken cookbooks to those hens that haven’t gotten on the job yet. Or maybe bring in a ringer that already is laying eggs, so that they know what they’re missing.
8:23
pm
I was watching a travel show today - this guy travels all over to taste WEIRD dishes. Today, he went to Taiwan, I believe it was. They had a WHITE silky banty chicken - very pretty, but the skin is black and the meat dark. When cooked they said it was deliscious, in a sweet cinnamon sauce. THEN, they ate ROOSTER testicles soup - white testicles and then black ones. They didn’t seem AS crazy over those = they said it was like biting into a buttery jello, with a thin skin membrane. I’ll take thier word for it, because I would not try that. LOL
10:29
pm
Donna - ewwwwwww lol.
I can’t wait to see an egg - I hope they don’t make you wait for the Easter Bunny.
11:40
pm
Chili powder.
No, really! We give our ladies chili powder in with their grain or crumbles when they start to slack off.
Try it, and I bet