They have all been sneaking around, to the front of the house, when I am not looking. They crawl under the porch, with the hobo spiders and the black widows and lay their eggs in the corner. I found 11. Double bagged them with zip-loc bags and hucked them in the garbage can. My chickens do not lay eggs with expiration dates so I have no way of knowing which ones are good and which will ruin the resale value of my home, when I open them.
I caught one chicken hiding on the nest and extricated her, against her will. I boarded up the fence gap she was getting through and she did not like that at all!
I showed her the place she used to love to lay eggs but all she did was angrily peck the golf balls, REALLY hard. Those pecks had swear words in them.
Due to all this, I went to Staples and bought two milk crates and tipped them on their sides and made nests out of grass. I can't believe how easy it is to do that! Long grass bends into just the right shape. Drop it on the bottom and it makes a nest shaped bowl! It was amazing. Then I put some fresh lawn clippings in the very bottom and it looks like a professional was called in. I showed it to the chicken and I swear she rolled her eyes at me. Like I curled the grass counterclockwise, or something.
Hopefully they will like the new nests and more importantly, stop using the front porch. I have to put on welding gloves and squeeze all my fat under there, with lots of huffing and swearing. I know there are hobo spiders under there, b/c their webs are all around. There are fat black widows this year, too. I am sure they are waiting above my head, to jump onto the back of my neck.
After I collected the eggs, I covered the opening with plywood (leaned it against the ivy to hold it in place, until the chickens forget about it).
I caught one chicken hiding on the nest and extricated her, against her will. I boarded up the fence gap she was getting through and she did not like that at all!
I showed her the place she used to love to lay eggs but all she did was angrily peck the golf balls, REALLY hard. Those pecks had swear words in them.
Due to all this, I went to Staples and bought two milk crates and tipped them on their sides and made nests out of grass. I can't believe how easy it is to do that! Long grass bends into just the right shape. Drop it on the bottom and it makes a nest shaped bowl! It was amazing. Then I put some fresh lawn clippings in the very bottom and it looks like a professional was called in. I showed it to the chicken and I swear she rolled her eyes at me. Like I curled the grass counterclockwise, or something.
Hopefully they will like the new nests and more importantly, stop using the front porch. I have to put on welding gloves and squeeze all my fat under there, with lots of huffing and swearing. I know there are hobo spiders under there, b/c their webs are all around. There are fat black widows this year, too. I am sure they are waiting above my head, to jump onto the back of my neck.
After I collected the eggs, I covered the opening with plywood (leaned it against the ivy to hold it in place, until the chickens forget about it).
