Totally Egg-static!

When we first brought home our chicks in the beginning of December, we promised our kids they would have fresh eggs by Easter.

But as the weeks passed, and still no eggs, we began to get nervous. "How many days until Easter?" they inquired repeatedly. We could see the little wheels turning in their minds. Mason and Camille may have been eagerly anticipating a visit from a large white rabbit carrying chocolates, but they were even more excited about the prospect of our first farm-fresh egg.

What would I do if our chickens didn't deliver? I contemplated buying brown eggs at the market and slipping them into the empty nesting boxes on Easter morning. After all, parents have gone to further lengths to keep their children's innocent little hearts from being broken!

Fortunately, fate (or chicken puberty, as you may call it) stepped in just in the nick of time. A few days before Easter, as I was feeding our gals, I peeked into the nesting box... just in case.

Lo and behold, I spied our first egg. It rested, tiny and brown, right in the middle of one of our two nesting boxes. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. After a few seconds of shocked speechlessness, I screamed. Loudly.

My family came running, probably expecting the worst from the volume of my high-pitched wailing. "What's wrong? What is it?" they begged.

After lifting the children up to peer at our "delivery," we snapped a few pictures, lifted it out gently, and passed it around. The kids took turns holding it, ever so carefully, looks of awe and wonder on their faces. I was so glad I hadn't resorted to "faking" it!

Mason took a turn holding the egg first...

...followed by his sister, of course.

The brown egg looks large in their hands, but was actually quite small in comparison to these white, store-bought eggs.

After five months of chicken-rearing, coop building, and daily hen care, I'm reminded of the credit card commercials:

Baby chicks $20

Chick supplies $50

Grit and mash $100

Coop materials $400

Our first egg: PRICELESS!