When I walk past my chickens every day with a big see-through basket of their eggs, do they KNOW I'm stealing their precious, just-layed-eggs? What is going on in their little heads?
If I take an egg from under a hen, she stands up and looks all around, even stretching down and in back of her through her legs. She makes a soft "bock?" sound, but their little brains forget about it all til the next time. Silly girls.
Unless it comes to food... Obelisk can recognize the Main Street Deli sub bag by the time I get in the house.
Out of sight, out of mind... (That's why when someone has been missing from the flock for a few days, they're considered a stranger..) If it's not where they left it, they don't know if it is their own. Now if you ever try to take a broody's eggs and she sees it you have to deal with this --> -Kim
I know I certainly felt guilty the first few eggs I took from my girls. I felt like I was kidnapping their children. However, since I have no one broody, they almost seem to just give them to me, unless they just laid it, in which case I just wait until they get up.
Yeah, I feel a tiny bit of guilt too, because basically it's *all* a set-up to fool them into laying eggs for US.
I don't know about the chickens yet, but my ducks know,,, and they do not appreciate it! They call me names and move their nests. K