My largest pullet, Attila, is trying to lay her first egg today... I’ve got six other pullets, all hatched on 15 April, who have been laying for several weeks now, and her majesty is finally deigning to join in the breakfast making. Or so I thought!
Every morning, just after dawn, I open the pop door and let the big girls out (they’re sharing the coop with eight Littles who hatched on 15 July) into the yard. The Littles usually follow them out of the coop and get to play in the run while the Bigs search for bugs and grass.
This morning, all Hell broke loose when the Littles ran out into the yard with their Big sisters! They are not quite integrated into one flock yet, and the Bigs will sometimes chase the Littles around just to piss me off, so I wasn’t keen on having all 15 chickens out in the unfenced yard.
Anyway, I got all the Littles rounded up and back in the run and started scooping poop. Attila followed me into the coop and went into one of the nest boxes. I went outside to give her a little privacy and was doing other chores and the little sneak left the nest box and went around the side of the coop next to a stump and dug out a nest! (Which I did not know at the time - I thought she was still in the nest box...)
I gave her a few minutes and then went back in the coop to finish cleaning and saw what I thought was Attila’s fuzzy booty in the nest box. Shortly after I finished cleaning, I called the Bigs into the coop and realized she was missing when I did a head count. I knew she wasn’t in the yard, so thought maybe she had snuck down over the hill to scratch in the leaf litter. Nope. Maybe she sneaked up to the house? Nada. Maybe eating the grass we just planted? Nyet. Where in the world was she?!? Not anywhere to be found! I looked and called and banged the treat bucket like a madwoman for thirty minutes before heading in to ask my DH (Darling Hubby) for help.
Naturally, just as he’s coming down the hill to help look, I see her peeking up at me through the tall grass and weeds... I guess one of the other pullets gave her the stink eye while she was deciding whether or not she wanted to drop a butt nugget in “that” particular spot in the nest box and she decided to opt for more privacy. In the woods. On the far side of the coop. Next to the old tree stump where the ground is all soft. Where the grass and weeds are three feet tall and the same color as a GLW. And where I would never have found her!!
Every morning, just after dawn, I open the pop door and let the big girls out (they’re sharing the coop with eight Littles who hatched on 15 July) into the yard. The Littles usually follow them out of the coop and get to play in the run while the Bigs search for bugs and grass.
This morning, all Hell broke loose when the Littles ran out into the yard with their Big sisters! They are not quite integrated into one flock yet, and the Bigs will sometimes chase the Littles around just to piss me off, so I wasn’t keen on having all 15 chickens out in the unfenced yard.
Anyway, I got all the Littles rounded up and back in the run and started scooping poop. Attila followed me into the coop and went into one of the nest boxes. I went outside to give her a little privacy and was doing other chores and the little sneak left the nest box and went around the side of the coop next to a stump and dug out a nest! (Which I did not know at the time - I thought she was still in the nest box...)
I gave her a few minutes and then went back in the coop to finish cleaning and saw what I thought was Attila’s fuzzy booty in the nest box. Shortly after I finished cleaning, I called the Bigs into the coop and realized she was missing when I did a head count. I knew she wasn’t in the yard, so thought maybe she had snuck down over the hill to scratch in the leaf litter. Nope. Maybe she sneaked up to the house? Nada. Maybe eating the grass we just planted? Nyet. Where in the world was she?!? Not anywhere to be found! I looked and called and banged the treat bucket like a madwoman for thirty minutes before heading in to ask my DH (Darling Hubby) for help.
Naturally, just as he’s coming down the hill to help look, I see her peeking up at me through the tall grass and weeds... I guess one of the other pullets gave her the stink eye while she was deciding whether or not she wanted to drop a butt nugget in “that” particular spot in the nest box and she decided to opt for more privacy. In the woods. On the far side of the coop. Next to the old tree stump where the ground is all soft. Where the grass and weeds are three feet tall and the same color as a GLW. And where I would never have found her!!
