Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

What did this?

I mentioned yesterday that there had been an incident which is keeping the ladies in there run. Maybe you can all help me to figure this out.

Here is everyone enjoying quality time together as a family.
View attachment 2352854

Timing: this all takes place during the afternoon while the flock is free ranging.

When collecting eggs the other day there had been another smashed one. I removed the remains from the box when I gathered the other eggs. This does limit my egg smasher to be one of the three that have been laying, Aurora, Sydney, or Sansa. It's not Hattie (sorry for blaming you sweetie).

Well, having discarded the remains, I collected the eggs and went back in the house figuring I would deal with cleaning up the nest later. Aurora and Hattie took care of the remains for me.

This is what I found when I came back later to clean up.

View attachment 2352858

Something was missing. The green ceramic egg was missing. At first I thought they had kicked it into the main coop, but it was not there. It was nowhere to be found.

I eventually found it under the magnolia tree!
View attachment 2352876

Some how the egg moved from the nest box to the magnolia tree during the day. This is the distance it traveled.

View attachment 2352878

Now my chickens do not wear pants, so no pockets, they don't have purses or backpacks, so I think I can rule them out. They have no way to carry the egg.

What would enter the coop during the day and try to make off with an egg? What should I be watching for?

Most egg thieves work at night, like skunks. What could it be?

Whatever it was had to be very disappointed. The ceramic egg was not edible. So there is that. Perhaps that will discourage a return visit. Well that and a locked up coop and run.

Don't ask me how they do it but they do carry eggs.
You're left with; someone is playing a practical joke, or, one of you hens has got wise to you and the fake egg.
Lots of people say their hens will happily sit on golf balls., not here they wont. They aren't fooled by fake eggs either, I've tried. They just bomb them out. It gets worse. Some hens wont sit on anyone else's eggs but their own.
As you say over there, "go figure."

 

[Shadrach]

I have 2 theories..

1 is the squirrel. It wouldn't be hard at all for a squirrel to sneak in and even snatch up an egg.

2 is someone carried the egg under their wing. Perhaps the girls are tired of fake eggs and someone removed it from the coop.

My money is on #1 though

They can also tuck an egg under their chin.

 

[Shadrach]

Some hens are more demanding than others. Some have no patience at all!
This Mel. She's seen me put the bread under the grill and get the peanut butter out. I had the door pushed to because I was sweeping up behind it. I could hear her tapping on the window.

 

[Ribh]

Some hens are more demanding than others. Some have no patience at all!
This Mel. She's seen me put the bread under the grill and get the peanut butter out. I had the door pushed to because I was sweeping up behind it. I could hear her tapping on the window.
View attachment 2353427View attachment 2353428View attachment 2353430View attachment 2353431

She did get some, didn't she?

 

[BY Bob]

This is out of my league but I do know our curlews, who nest on the ground not in trees, are supposed to be able to tuck an egg under their wing & move it some distance.

Did your cameras not pick up anything?

The cameras are not always on. They are not wired as the coop is not wired; they are battery operated. I would go through billions of batteries if they were always on and armed for motion detection. Phyllis alone wanders through the coop checking herself out in the mirror 20 times a day alone.

I arm them when I suspect something or feel the need to monitor something. In this instance they were not armed as things were operating normally. I will arm them the next time I let the ladies out to free range and keep them armed until I catch whatever did this. For now, I am left guessing.

 

[BY Bob]

Some hens are more demanding than others. Some have no patience at all!
This Mel. She's seen me put the bread under the grill and get the peanut butter out. I had the door pushed to because I was sweeping up behind it. I could hear her tapping on the window.
View attachment 2353427View attachment 2353428View attachment 2353430View attachment 2353431

It's only because she loves you and wants to spend time with sharing something you both enjoy.

 

[Shadrach]

It's only because she loves you and wants to spend time with sharing something you both enjoy.

Yeah right.

 

[BY Bob]

Don't ask me how they do it but they do carry eggs.
You're left with; someone is playing a practical joke, or, one of you hens has got wise to you and the fake egg.
Lots of people say their hens will happily sit on golf balls., not here they wont. They aren't fooled by fake eggs either, I've tried. They just bomb them out. It gets worse. Some hens wont sit on anyone else's eggs but their own.
As you say over there, "go figure."

It is fairly well documented here that the ladies know they are fake. The blue egg has been tossed out of the box and into the coop numerous times. That is why I moved the greenish one to this box to replace the blue. It is also why I checked the coop for the egg first.

If they can tuck an egg under the wing and carry it, where I found it makes sense. When released from the complex, that is the first place they go, the magnolia tree. I can see them dumping it right as they stopped their initial sprint out.

As for golf balls, I can personally tell you this is true but I believe I can explain it. When I was a young lad on the farm, my hen Speck raised thousands of meat chicks for us. Every spring she would go broody. She would start out sitting on eggs laid by our flock. My Dad did not want her hatching eggs from Rooster Cogburn and the other ladies, he wanted her to raise meat birds. So as soon as she decided to sit, I would remove the eggs and replace them with golf balls. She would set the golf balls until 3 weeks later when one night we would remove the golf balls and stuff her full of chicks.

Speck was either not a chicken mathematician or she just loved being a mom because 4 or 5 eggs would turn into 12-13 chicks. She did not care. She would raise them with pride and take care of every one of them. She never lost a chick.

So how does this relate to explaining why hens will sit on golf balls? I actually think @MaryJanet Ivy has explained that to all of us as she is trying to hatch, nothing! What is the difference between golf balls and nothing? If you will hatch air why wouldn't you hatch golf balls.

For those of you who have never seen it (read this thread from the beginning), here is the only picture I have of myself as a young lad with my two best hens, Speck (on my right shoulder) and Brownie. Sadly I have no pictures of Rooster Cogburn.

 

[Shadrach]

She did get some, didn't she?

Of course. She likes a bit of warm toast in the mornings. So does Treacle.
Treacle usually says hello when I let him out in the mornings and goes for breakfast with the rest. About half an hour after breakfast, which is about when I get back from letting the others out and putting their breakfast out, he heads for my house. I can usually hear him coming. Both his dad Cillin and he are pretty noisy. Treacle is often accompanied by one or two hens getting ready to lay an egg either in the house nest box or the maternity unit outside. Dad (Cillin) takes the rest of the hens down to the bushes by the bread oven these days. Sometimes they all turn up at my door together in the morning but it's rare now.

 

[Shadrach]

It is fairly well documented here that the ladies know they are fake. The blue egg has been tossed out of the box and into the coop numerous times. That is why I moved the greenish one to this box to replace the blue. It is also why I checked the coop for the egg first.

If they can tuck an egg under the wing and carry it, where I found it makes sense. When released from the complex, that is the first place they go, the magnolia tree. I can see them dumping it right as they stopped their initial sprint out.

As for golf balls, I can personally tell you this is true but I believe I can explain it. When I was a young lad on the farm, my hen Speck raised thousands of meat chicks for us. Every spring she would go broody. She would start out sitting on eggs laid by our flock. My Dad did not want her hatching eggs from Rooster Cogburn and the other ladies, he wanted her to raise meat birds. So as soon as she decided to sit, I would remove the eggs and replace them with golf balls. She would set the golf balls until 3 weeks later when one night we would remove the golf balls and stuff her full of chicks.

Speck was either not a chicken mathematician or she just loved being a mom because 4 or 5 eggs would turn into 12-13 chicks. She did not care. She would raise them with pride and take care of every one of them. She never lost a chick.

So how does this relate to explaining why hens will sit on golf balls? I actually think @MaryJanet Ivy has explained that to all of us as she is trying to hatch, nothing! What is the difference between golf balls and nothing? If you will hatch air why wouldn't you hatch golf balls.

For those of you who have never seen it (read this thread from the beginning), here is the only picture I have of myself as a young lad with my two best hens, Speck (on my right shoulder) and Brownie. Sadly I have no pictures of Rooster Cogburn.
View attachment 2353492

Great memories. I sometimes wish I had pictures of the tribes at my uncles farm. I used to look after the free rangers when I was still living at home.