The Precious

Day 285 of 365

Arwen has been laying eggs for a few weeks, but I had yet to figure out which egg she was laying–until today.

If you don’t remember Arwen, she was the baby chick who, this summer, would run under the fence into the big chicken yard and steal watermelon. I had never seen anything like it. I have seen smart chickens, but I haven’t seen such cool-headed, smart chickens, except for maybe Poe.

And that is who Arwen reminds me of–Poe. Poe was not only smart, she had this coolness about her. She was wicked curious about everything and had a way of making her needs and wants known without ever seeming demanding. My other super-smart hens, like Broody Hen, Ruby, and Juliet, can be really bossy. You’re just like, “ok, ok, whatever you need.” Poe was patient. You could tell she just really liked you, and if you could throw in some grapes, well, all the better.

In my time with Poe, I only saw her really down twice. Once was when she was dying, and the other time was after she had been mated for the first time. We had an aggressive rooster at that time. When I saw what happened, I could see Poe was devastated. She lay on the steps by the coop the whole rest of the afternoon, her body in a heap. I’m not gonna lie, seeing Poe like that made me have deep, deep, deep questions about everything I thought I knew–and everything “we” think “we” know–about chickens and animals in general. But I digress…

Arwen is like Poe, and like Poe, she really likes Ron. She hangs around Ron while he is working. Ron said today that she even hangs out with him while he chops wood. The loud bang of the ax keeps a lot of chickens away, but Arwen is curious–and not afraid. Ron said, this evening, she was out there with him all by herself for at least an hour, so he went and got a bowl of scratch just for her. He said she was there eating it forever. This made my heart happy. Arwen is special.

Earlier today, I saw Arwen in one of the nest boxes. I was so excited because I have only seen her in the nest boxes two other times, and she moved both times. I have been so anxious to know what egg she lays. I very respectfully reached under her to remove the other eggs, so I could know which one was hers. Then, I had a second thought that she might move if there were no eggs there, so I went back and very respectfully put one egg back. I made a note of what the egg looked like, so I could still know which one was Arwen’s.

As I left the coop, I saw Arwen checking out the egg, and she seemed satisfied. I was hopeful.

Sure enough, I went out there just a little bit later and found two eggs in the nest box! Arwen’s egg could have looked like anything. She is a true barnyard mix. She is part Easter Egger and part Welsummer though generations of mixes. Her egg could be olive, light olive, dark brown, light brown, and anything in between. I am so pleased to share that this beautiful medium brown egg with a million speckles in the photograph is Arwen’s egg. It’s so beautiful to me.

Arwen is the last baby Rooster will ever have. She is the daughter of Cora and the great granddaughter of Poe. How wonderful that, after such a quest to continue her line two years ago, I maybe have another Poe.

Arwen is the precious for all the reasons.