The Story of Lulu - Part Two

During the winter, the girls started laying eggs.  We wondered if Lulu was well enough to lay as well.  She started to do the squat that chickens often do as their bodies are getting ready to produce eggs.  Her comb also turned a darker red which is another indication that the hen is getting ready to lay.  Her comb got quite large and my son would say that Lulu was wearing a "comb over"  ;)

Here are a couple of photos of Lulu lying in front of the fridge showing off her "comb over".
 











I made Lulu a nesting box and filled it with shredded paper.  We placed a golf ball in it to simulate an egg.  We put it in the back of the closet near Lulu's corner.  Occasionally I would set her in it so she would get the idea to go there.

One day she went there on her own and after a great deal of thought and determination she presented us with her first egg!  Yippee!  Lulu's a mom!  Now what does that make me?  - a grandma??  LOL!!  She even sang a sweet egg song.

Lulu continued to live in her corner of the kitchen until spring.  Most chickens sing their egg song when they are finished laying their egg but Lulu had to be unique.  She would sing BEFORE she laid as if to announce to everyone that she was ready to do her job and to get out the treats.  When she laid her egg, I would always pet her and praise her.  She would get treats like a scrap of bread or a peanut.  She loved her peanuts - If she heard the bag rattle, she would scramble over there before we even got the peanut shelled.

When the nice weather arrived, Lulu was as excited as the rest of us to be outside. 

We wondered what she would do about laying her egg but she had it all figured out.  When it was time to lay her egg, she would sing her song making quite a racket.  Then she would climb/hop/fly up the back steps to be let in.  She would hustle across the kitchen and hop into her nesting box to present us with a nice fresh egg.  Sometimes she would sing another song when she was finished.  After her treat, Lulu would head back outside to explore the yard and patrol for bugs.