She’s Back, and She’s Laying
November 14th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Posted in Blog, farming
We thought we’d broken this hen of her bad guest habit. After driving the laying hens out to the orchard, this girl kept coming back, walking some 300 yards to hang out around the house. Each night, we’d find her sitting behind some portable deer fencing leaning against the house and we’d drive her back to the coop to rejoin the others. Finally, there came a day we didn’t see her and we thought the problem was solved. But yesterday she was back and this time she had an announcement to make.
Chickens have a robust aria they sing when they lay an egg. Straight out of Barber of Seville, it goes something like this: “Look at me! Laid an egg! How about me! Really special!”
Yesterday morning the hen was making this racket right outside the kitchen window. Sure enough, she’d picked the same corner of the house that some of the hens favored for egg laying when last they were here. This time of year, it’s not a great spot. It’s on the north side of the house, so even when the sun is shining brightly, any eggs deposited there lie in deep shade and we’ve had a real cold snap lately. I forgot to collect this hen’s little prize when she first started squawking about it. When I came back for it later, it was almost frozen solid. The shell was cracking.
Last night around 7:30 we collected the hen again. Chickens go into a kind of trance after dark, so there’s very little resistance when you pick them up. We drove her back to the coop, me behind the wheel of the pickup, daughter holding the chicken. Into the coop she went. Will she be back today? We’ll know soon enough.
They do have a mind of their own don’t they Ed? And once they get set on a goal they’re often hard to shake off it.
She was barely out of the coop this morning, Joanne, when she took off trotting toward the house. She was detained briefly by one of the roosters, but soon was pecking around the back yard. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to shake her of this. My main concern is leaving her out at night to be eaten by something. She’s a big red hen and lays big eggs.