We live on some acreage next to a wooded area. We let the chickens run free when we are at home, otherwise are in a large run connected to the coop when we are not. We have 3 out of the 8 girls just start laying 2 weeks ago and for the most part in the nesting boxes. I have seen some of the girls come out of the woods knowing that they are probably laying back there somewhere even with efforts of keeping them locked up in the run for days to train them to use the nesting boxes. Today my 7 yr old daughter was outside walking around with the chickens when one of our favorite, an EE named Bluebell, was bokking loudly at her and walking away and would stop and look at her and bok like she wanted my daughter to follow her into the woods. So she did and Bluebell led her to what my daughter called the jackpot of eggs under a fern just off of the pathway. 8 eggs of all different sizes and colors like in a community nest. She ran to go get my husband and Bluebell was still waiting for them by the eggs bokking away. They did the water test and they were all fresh. It was such a sweet story that I had to share and just wanted any thoughts of why Bluebell did this and wanted to hear if anyone had something similar to share.
