Pixie's first egg

Pixie, a Peruvian basket chicken, laid her first egg yesterday! It's a beauty, perfectly shaped, with a strong shell. It's small, but not as tiny as she is.

Marans egg and Pixie's first egg

This Marans pullet is a couple months younger than Pixie.

She is entirely black, with a purple sheen in the sunlight. She has muffs that give her face a fancy look. Her comb is a small rose comb. She has a strong personality and is often first to step up if a threat presents itself.

Pixie enjoys scratching in the oak leaf litter.

She struggled to join the flock, hatched in an incubator with her three brothers. They had to move to a farm in Vermont and she was devastated at losing their companionship. Her small size confused the other girls and her anxiety about her brothers interfered with a smooth transition into the flock.

Eventually, everyone got over all obstacles and she is now fully accepted. She enjoys roaming the yard and scratching for bugs. She loves it so much, that when I tempt the other girls back into the pen with an ear of fresh corn, she'd just as soon stay out, scratching.

Her unusual appearance and difficult life path have endeared her to me. Although I spent time holding her every day when she was a chick, she became suspicious of me after the mysterious disappearance of her brothers. She keeps her distance.

She is quite proud of her eggs. She laid a second one today, as perfect as the first. I haven't eaten one yet.