Mini eggs! Spring is here!

So I'm not so good at this blogging thing.  Whoopsies.

So much has happened since I gave up my chickies.  I've been fortunate enough to go visit them a few times now.  At first, I think Gertie was still pretty mad at me...or just really cold.  She seemed to be shivering.  She did survive the rest of winter though.

About a week after they moved out, it was still cold enough for down coats.
Good thing they have this snazzy chicken coop to keep them safe and warm!

Both of them have continued to grow, little by little.  And about a week after this visit, one of them started laying eggs!  We weren't completely sure which one, but I have a hunch it's Gertie.  I think she probably thought she was going to die in the cold, so she had to reproduce before it was too late.  

Then a little after that, the other one was laying eggs too!  So both Millie and Gertie started laying eggs around 4.5 months.  Slightly early by normal standards (usually it's 6 months).  But maybe being around all the other hens was helpful in getting them to lay early.

Here they are!  Mini eggs from my chickies :)

According to the internet (which is 100% reliable), the eggs will become bigger as the girls continue to grow. So hopefully they will have normal-sized eggs in a couple months.  But to be honest, I kind of wish they will always have mini eggs.  I think they're cute!  They would be cute little eggs to dye for Easter, they'd make adorable little hard-boiled eggs for snacks, AND most importantly, I could tell people I can hold 4 eggs in one hand.

We took 6 eggs home and made them for dinner the same night.  I was eager to see what fresh eggs were like.  And boy were they DE-LI-CIOUS.  The yolks were richer, deeper in color, and tasted decadent.  I don't know how to describe the difference in the whites, but if you could describe normal store bought egg whites as "runny" or "watery", these were not--they're not like solid, but more gelatinous?  Maybe that's the word.

I'm so proud of my girls.  And they looked so happy.  Here's a video of them in the garden.  The first two shown are my little ones.  The others are their new sisters.  They seem to travel in pairs.

Millie and Gertie become big girls

I gave up my chickens yesterday.  I don't have any pictures or video; I was too sad and too preoccupied with making sure they were okay to document it.

They are living with 6 other chickens in a very nice and spacious coop now.  My girls are so tiny in comparison to the other hens (about half their size...and half their age).  Gertie was getting picked on by the alpha hen almost immediately.  Millie and Gertie were scared and wanted to flee.  I tried to comfort them, but they're just not brave enough to stand up for themselves yet.  Gertie was so scared, I picked her up to comfort her and when I went to put her back down, she didn't want to go.  She scurried up my arm and up onto the back of my neck and didn't want to leave.  It was so sad seeing her so frightened.

I know they are going to be okay, but when they looked at me with sad little faces that said, "Why are you doing this to me?" my heart just broke.  I miss them.  I hope they take care of each other.

Once there was a Millie, and she lived with her Gertie in the bathtub.

That Quvenzhane Wallis was so freakin' adorable in Beasts of the Southern Wild. That movie was filled with some quotable little gems, including the adapted title of this post. Oh, Hushpuppy. Too cute.

Sometimes if the girls are behaving, you can pick both of them up, one under each arm, and just take them where ever they need to be. Sometimes they need to be put in a box.  

2 Chickens in a Box

More of my favorites from Beasts of the Southern Wild...

"The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right."

"Sometimes you can break something so bad, that it can't get put back together."

Snow chickies

In our attempts to acclimate Millie and Gertie to winter weather, we brought them outside in the snow for the first time.  They were quite curious.

Even as big girls, they have furry little butts.

*Nothing really happens in this video, they just walk around and peck at snow and then stare at me and peck at more snow.

Chickens are like little kids

They never want to go to bed.  When I turn the lights down they start getting all loud and fussy.  Sometimes they even try to jump out of the tub...with a success rate of about 75% now.

Millie is turning into a somewhat graceful young lady.  Charm school pays off.  j/k.  I don't teach them manners.  Funniest part is that once she's out, she doesn't even know what to do.  So she cries and I go put her back.  Silly Millie.

Grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes, grapes...

I work from home on Fridays and usually get up around 6:30 and start work at 7.  That's a little too early to wake up the chicks, so I usually give them a couple extra hours to sleep.  This past Friday, I had some nonstop calls in the morning all the way until noon.  And then I realize, "Oopsies, I forgot to wake up the chicks!"

So I gave them time to wake up, eat, and drink.  Then I put them in their diapers so they could come out in the living room and play while I worked.

I felt bad about not waking them up earlier, so I gave them a little treat.  (If you've seen Tom Green at Zanies, you might get the title of this post.)

The chickies have their coming out party!

Well, "party" may be a stretch.  We just put their diapers on and took them to the roof deck for some fresh air.  It's literally the first time since they've arrived at our home that they have been outside...in the real world!

It was a little cold and windy, but the girls are troopers.  We're actually trying to get them acclimated to the winter.  The chicken lady (yes, she exists) told us we should try to take them out for a couple hours at a time for a few weeks so the cold doesn't shock their systems.

Millie was getting blown away!

In addition to getting them ready for winter, I'm also trying to get them used to wearing diapers so we can have them around when we have company over.  They still fidget, pick, and pout, but the diaper fits are decreasing each time.

Chickie butts hit the runway dressed in Bunnie Bottom originals!
Miss Gertrude is sporting the adorably wicked little monsters ensemble,
while Miss Mildred is donning a ferociously fierce dinosaur number.