This has been a funny week for the girls. It basically boiled down to one chicken and a great short story: The Mystery of the Missing Eggs. Where was Royal? Why isn't she laying eggs? Why did the chicken cross the alley? Shall we do some sleuthing and find the answers to these questions?
Whenever I'd come home, I'd be down to 6 chickens. Missing one. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. It was always Miss Royal. I'd walk around the block looking for her, and by the time I'd end up back home, she'd be walking around the yard like she was queen of the flock. Yesterday, I finally found where she was. She had been flying the coop and walking over to where the old coop was. She was homesick, I guess! She also stresses out really easily, so I wonder if she still hadn't recovered from us uprooting her home, and moving her into a strange, albeit nicer, location. I chalked up her recent lack of egg laying to her being stressed.
That answered the question, "Why isn't Royal laying eggs?" Much to my surprise, when I picked her up to move her, I found 18 eggs buried in a homemade nest, where Royal had been secretly laying! Can you believe it? I did the fresh egg test, and all but 2 were good. I've kept an eye on her all day, and she never escaped. She did act like she was having a tummy ache, though, and her egg today was soft shelled. I'm keeping an eye on her to see what's up.
Now...the question we've all been waiting for...Why did the chicken cross the alley? Because my neighbors have really cool shrubs for my chickens to hide under! Okay, that's a joke from this summer. They really don't cross the alleyway anymore.
And that, dear friends, are the mysteries solved with my chickens today.
Whenever I'd come home, I'd be down to 6 chickens. Missing one. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. It was always Miss Royal. I'd walk around the block looking for her, and by the time I'd end up back home, she'd be walking around the yard like she was queen of the flock. Yesterday, I finally found where she was. She had been flying the coop and walking over to where the old coop was. She was homesick, I guess! She also stresses out really easily, so I wonder if she still hadn't recovered from us uprooting her home, and moving her into a strange, albeit nicer, location. I chalked up her recent lack of egg laying to her being stressed.
That answered the question, "Why isn't Royal laying eggs?" Much to my surprise, when I picked her up to move her, I found 18 eggs buried in a homemade nest, where Royal had been secretly laying! Can you believe it? I did the fresh egg test, and all but 2 were good. I've kept an eye on her all day, and she never escaped. She did act like she was having a tummy ache, though, and her egg today was soft shelled. I'm keeping an eye on her to see what's up.
Now...the question we've all been waiting for...Why did the chicken cross the alley? Because my neighbors have really cool shrubs for my chickens to hide under! Okay, that's a joke from this summer. They really don't cross the alleyway anymore.
And that, dear friends, are the mysteries solved with my chickens today.
RSS Feed