Ta da!

You would think that I laid the eggs but lo and behold it was my Bella who  came through!  I was beyond excited.  It has been so satisfying to raise these chickens from tiny hatchlings to full grown laying hens.  And this is how it went...it had been quite a day!  The week prior my chickens had been bravely venturing further and further into the upper yard. I had been putting off clipping their wings because...well they're birds and I have this thought that I would be taking away the things that make them who they are.  I finally decided that their safety was more important (the upper yard is not completely fenced!). I easily picked up Bella and clipped back one side of her wing feathers, a little harder to get Raquel but eventually I succeeded.  Stanley (formerly Stella) was impossible.  He actually turned around and stood his ground while I was after him, ruffling his cape feathers out and even jumping in the air to try to kick at me.  As I look back, he must have been trying to protect Bella's space while she was looking for a place to lay her eggs.  Bella kept trying to hide in the bushes which was strange behavior for her as well.  I followed her and found that she had dug a nest in the pine needles under the mugo pine above their coop.  Right there were 4 beautiful blue eggs that she was going to sit on and as I kept watching her she started gathering leaves and more pine needles in around her.  I reached down below her and collected the treasure, ran in the house to share my discovery with the rest of the family (who have, by the way, been ready to give away or cook the birds for their lack of productivity).
It has been 5 months to the day since I picked them up from the farm store so they are right on schedule.  I couldn't believe that there were four perfectly shaped, beautifully colored hard-shelled eggs.  I wanted to preserve them.  I didn't know if I could actually eat them but that thought lasted only until breakfast.  THEN, I went back out to check on Bella and she was clucking excitedly and looking everywhere for her eggs.  I was sick in my stomach and near tears.  I wanted to put them back.  I wanted to watch them hatch but how could I hide any more little peeps from the city let alone my mother.  I would quit my job, go into chicken farming full time, sell eggs, sell chicks; the feathers could be used for fly tying, craft projects...ahhh the opportunities were endless.  As I stood there with all of this running through my head, Bella headed back under the bushes.  Again I followed her and again she layed another egg.  After this one she took off ready to gorge herself on green grass and bugs after all her hard work.  Not another thought was given to the lain eggs.  Hallelujah!  I gathered up the last one and headed for the house feeling proud of my chicken and myself.