Lulu lays one egg every 25 hours. That is her job. When she is not working she eats continuously while strutting around the yard. She especially loves to nibble on our telephone connection and the plants on our front porch. In a way she has helped me simplify my life-I no longer talk on the phone and I don't have to water the dead plants anymore. In fact, I don't even use my front door anymore as I don't care to look at the plant carnage or step in the chicken schtuff on my welcome mat. If we only had a cow I would no longer need to navigate the dairy section of the grocery store as I now have my farm fresh eggs delivered right to my fridge.
My son started raising chickens last year. He competed in the 4-H Stockshow for the first time and walked away with the Jr. Showmanship Award! He built the chicken coop from the ground up (along with a little help from Dad) and is very diligent about researching all things chicken. He truly loves his chickens. So much so that he refused to let Lulu "go." Here's the story: When the chickens were but young, growing teenchickers, it was very obvious that little Lulu was no longer little. Little Lulu was LARGE LULU. She was three times the size of the other teenchickers. She was so obese that her skinny, yellow chicken legs simply could not support her weight (that, or else she was paralyzed--in fact, I kept thinking that maybe she had gotten stung by a poisonous spider???).
Lulu could not walk. We had to place her feeder and water directly underneath her beak so that she would be able to eat and drink (I know...talk about aiding and abetting). The poor bird would sit (and this is no lie) on her haunches with her legs stretched out in front of her (Lulu is black and her legs are yellow---just picture it--hilarious is it not?) But I felt so sorry for her. I knew that something was wrong and I didn't want her to be suffering. But my son insisted that we give her "just one more day." This went on for over a week and then my son began telling us that he was beginning to see improvement. Before we knew it Lulu was running! And now Lulu is our prized egg layer! Lulu is sustaining us!
We have just started to fill our second egg carton and have enjoyed her beautifully tanned eggs. The whites are clear and the yolks are a stunning sunshine yellow. The only side effect I've experienced so far is the overwhelming desire to sit on my haunches with my legs stretched out before me...now if I could just get someone to feed me...
My son started raising chickens last year. He competed in the 4-H Stockshow for the first time and walked away with the Jr. Showmanship Award! He built the chicken coop from the ground up (along with a little help from Dad) and is very diligent about researching all things chicken. He truly loves his chickens. So much so that he refused to let Lulu "go." Here's the story: When the chickens were but young, growing teenchickers, it was very obvious that little Lulu was no longer little. Little Lulu was LARGE LULU. She was three times the size of the other teenchickers. She was so obese that her skinny, yellow chicken legs simply could not support her weight (that, or else she was paralyzed--in fact, I kept thinking that maybe she had gotten stung by a poisonous spider???).
Lulu could not walk. We had to place her feeder and water directly underneath her beak so that she would be able to eat and drink (I know...talk about aiding and abetting). The poor bird would sit (and this is no lie) on her haunches with her legs stretched out in front of her (Lulu is black and her legs are yellow---just picture it--hilarious is it not?) But I felt so sorry for her. I knew that something was wrong and I didn't want her to be suffering. But my son insisted that we give her "just one more day." This went on for over a week and then my son began telling us that he was beginning to see improvement. Before we knew it Lulu was running! And now Lulu is our prized egg layer! Lulu is sustaining us!
We have just started to fill our second egg carton and have enjoyed her beautifully tanned eggs. The whites are clear and the yolks are a stunning sunshine yellow. The only side effect I've experienced so far is the overwhelming desire to sit on my haunches with my legs stretched out before me...now if I could just get someone to feed me...
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