Came home from work this afternoon and sent P out with some scraps for the chickens. He came back with this:
We had one very excited little girl, and one excited Mummy here too I must say!
The chooks were 20 weeks old yesterday, so it’s on the early side for laying, but we do have 2 cross-breeds that can apparently lay from 18 weeks onwards. The thing that really surprised me was just how big the egg was – 56 grams, which is extremely large for a first egg.
I have a bit of a confession here – when I was in uni I collected eggs from cage hens as a weekend job. So I had a fairly firm idea of what to expect from first eggs – 40 grams or so, sporadic. 56 grams rivals a fully-developed hen. One of my girls is quite an egg-laying machine!
Now it will be interesting to see how regularly she lays from this point onwards. It will be difficult to tell if I have one regular layer or a few laying sporadically. Might have to stalk them over the weekend to see if I can catch one in the act.
P is now below 80 kilos, so less than 2 kilos to go. Tonight for dinner we had:
Cajun Chicken with Chunky Salsa
From Low Carb, Low Fat by Pamela Clark
Chicken
- 4 chicken breast fillet (halves)
- 1 tsp cracked back pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped finely
- 2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp olive oil
Salsa
- 2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
- 1 small red onion, diced roughly
- 1 medium green capsicum, chopped roughly
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
Put the chicken in a bowl with the other ingredients, mix well to coat and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Make the salsa by combining the ingredients in a bowl and tossing well.
Fry the chicken in a lightly-oiled frying pan until cooked through.
Serve.
Pretty simple, huh?
500m2 in Sydney 
Go P! Isn’t getting that first egg the best feeling? Unfortunately in our household, the novelty’s run out somewhat… now the question is… who’s the lucky one that gets to eat it?
I think I’ll wait until there are a few more so everyone can share.
I do remember the novelty being well and truly worn off as a child. I hated collecting the eggs after being pecked by broody hens one too many times. I think J has a but more spunk than I did as a child though – she’d probably smack ’em right back!
An egg, an egg! Oh lovely! I remember when we had chickens, as a kid I loved them and loved collecting their eggs. I would so like to have chickens but our jobs mean we have quite a bit of time overseas and I’d hate to burden my meighbours with them… one day.
Overseas trips would throw a bit of a spanner in the works.
Congratulations, you must be very proud. Will you be naming your egg? And how will you be preparing it?
Are you teasing me? ;P
I think the first lot of eggs will be poached, served on toast. The very best way.
Congrats! That first egg is always a delight. Mine laid at 21 weeks.
Thanks 🙂 I think the second one laid her first this morning, so now I have 3 eggs and it may be all up from here!