So, a few days ago, Coco in the corner coop laid an egg that was mostly soft and shell-less, which reminded me that I never put their calcium tub back in there after they finished laying for the winter. Whoops! Instead of using their old tub that was small and they were always dumping and kicking everywhere, I got a milk jug and rinsed it out, cut some holes in the side, and put their oyster shell in that instead. Those birds are terrified of it.
This morning, I opened their pop door and, as usual, Coco, Bella, and the yet-unnamed birthday pullet all darted out the door to get past the scary calcium container as fast as possible. No sign of Pete, but I could hear him shifting around in the coop, so I wasn't worried. I figured he just needed to gather his nerves, but would brave darting past the scary calcium container eventually.
About 5-10 minutes later, I was finishing up and just double-checking that everyone had everything they needed for the day. Still no sign of Pete outside of the coop, but I could hear shuffling around in the coop so I knew he was alive at least. The window by the perch still has a feed bag stapled over half of it for the winter, so I couldn't really see the perch to see what Pete was doing. Thinking maybe he got his foot caught or something, I figured I'd better check.
As soon as I opened the human door to peek in, I hear Pete's typical 'byark-urk-urk?' from... somewhere. I step in because I didn't see him at first, and there he was, stuck behind one of the nest boxes.
Their coop was built for ducks originally, so it doesn't really have a proper nest box setup, it has a low shelf that is now their dropping board for their perch, which underneath was a communal nest box for the ducks but I put two of my bucket nests under there for the chickens to use. Because of this setup, there's a narrow gap, about 3-4 inches wide, behind and next to the nest boxes. A stud in the wall was blocking him from just walking out the front way, and apparently he couldn't figure out how to back up and go back around the bucket. So there he was, stuck, head peeking out from behind there, looking rather sheepishly toward me for help.
I moved the nest box and he walked out looking, well, less than proud of himself, then puffed himself up outside and joined his ladies to dance and chirp for them. I guess the girls not witnessing the whole thing was enough to keep Pete from being embarrassed for too long. Goofy rooster!
I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that Judy might be the only one actually laying out of the girls I separated out to collect eggs from, so it might just end up being a whole batch of baby Judy Booties
yes! That's my gorgeous Judy Booty girl! I can't wait for you to set eggies!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, they are going to be such adorable floofs! I hope Wyatt has been doing his job also, we need Judy Booties hatching!
I don't think anyone pecked it off as they've all been leaving her alone thus far, but someone must have pecked her head afterward because there was blood there at roost time last night. I'll spoiler these pictures for the blood, but she is okay, does not look like she's been beaten up on again or anything, and she does not seem to be being harassed or pecked at now. I think someone just pecked her once and it started to bleed again, as the scalp and comb tend to bleed a lot even with minor abrasions. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on things today to be sure!
What a smart young lady! One of the other Cochin pullets has been laying her eggs on the floor at the corner of the deck, another one in the hutch that I use as a broody buster or integration pen, so apparently laying in the nest boxes is hard to figure out. 
